Only a major influx of foreign workers can save Canada

( Addendum 25.08.13  The following is excerpted from a Canadian Press article. The slanty script is my commentary.  Please read this for clarification.)

The Canadian Press
Published Friday, August 16, 2013 5:07PM EDT
CALGARY -- Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney says a chronic shortage of skilled trades workers, especially in Alberta's oilsands, can only be solved by a major influx of carpenters, electricians and welders from outside of Canada.

Because as we all know, Canadian teens want to grow up to be rocket scientists, politicians, and video-game designers, not carpenters, welders, and electricians. That's why governments across this land have connived for forty years to shut down high school vocational programs.

The program is aimed at people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade. To apply they must have work experience in a specific trade and meet several other requirements.

The program is aimed at providing skilled trades without having to invest in Canadians.

Kenney said one of the challenges facing Canada is that young people are not going into the trades and its creating an "acute shortage" of electricians, welders and boilermakers.

They are not going into skilled trades because they have been told for generations that a good future requires a university education. Nor have employers been encouraged to train apprentices.

"Because Canada has always been a country of immigration we believe we can use our immigration programs much better to attract tradesmen who have practical skills and can literally help us build our country," he said.

With the political will we could easily train the Canadians we need to build Canada.

"We see some of the most acute labour shortages in the construction trades in the Athabasca oilsands region because we're talking about multibillion dollar mega construction projects there. We simply do not have enough qualified trades people in Canada to fill those labour needs."

It's just so much easier to import them willy-nilly from around the world rather than invest in training Canadians.

"According to different industry councils, we're looking at shortages of hundreds of thousands of construction trades people in the next decade," he said.

We have 1.5 million Canadians unemployed. It is a disgrace to import workers. Politicians should stop short-changing Canadians and start working for their constituents.