Help Wanted Signs
Everywhere that you look in the city of Saskatoon, you see Help Wanted signs. They make tempting offers of bonuses and choice shifts. There was never a better time to be a teenager in need of a job. Employers are crawling all over each other, looking for employees. The starting wages offered are nowhere near the minimum wage of $8.60. It is obvious that we are in the midst of a labor shortage.
What we need are more immigrants to fill all of these jobs. So why are we making it so difficult for them to come here and then pay off their travel fees? In the case of Phillipo Kijori-Amisi and his family, they are extremely grateful to be living in Canada and attribute their luck to the goodwill of God. Burundi was torn apart by Hutu-Tutsi violence and the family fled to Canada.
They are happy to be in Canada yet I can’t help but be angered by the fact that these families get trapped by debt. That just seems wrong, especially at a time when there are so many jobs. But with the housing shortage and high rents, adding a travel debt seems really wrong. Immigrants will become taxpayers and we definitely need more of those. Make it easier to come here, not harder.
