Justice for OINP workers

On November 14 last year, almost 2,700 applicants working in skilled trades to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) had their applications canceled and returned to them by the OINP office at the Ministry of Labour. The government claimed they had identified “systemic misrepresentation and/or fraud relating to Skilled Trades Stream eligibility criteria” in the applications, suspending new applications and canceling and returning thousands of applications.

 

No clarification or evidence was provided to justify the decision, nor was any attempt made to verify the details of any of the applicants. These workers are telecom technicians, tool and die makers, CNC machine operators and horticulturalists (to name a few).

 

In response, hundreds of OINP applicants protested on November 17 at the Ministry of Labour building in downtown Toronto. The protesters are in a range of different situations: some still have valid work permits and continue to work; others have had their work permits (and health cards) expire; some have been in the program for almost 2 years even though the applications are supposed to take 90 days to approve.

 

If approved, an OINP applicant gains enough “points” to smooth their pathway to permanent residency. There is no appeal process for canceled applications, and many feel their time in the program has been wasted when they could have pursued other pathways.

 

One protester called out the fraud allegations by asking if his employer, Bell Canada, was a fraud. He challenged the competency of the OINP office, and why no attempt was made to verify the application details. Other OINP applicants had worked for Beanfield (an Internet Service Provider), connecting offices in the legislature building!

 

Kuljinder Singh called for Ontarians to ask their government “why they are spending more and more funds of tax-payer money on skilled trade investment” when there were already skilled immigrant workers in the province.

 

The workers are engaged in a relentless protest movement, meeting each day at the Ministry of Labour or at Queens Park demanding that the Ford government reverse the decision.

 

The day after the close of the legislative session, 60 applicants received notification that their applications had been approved, showing that the protests had been effective.

 

Fairness

 

This is an issue of fairness for workers who came here based on a promise that they could possibly receive permanent residence status. They uprooted their whole lives for the opportunity and to have the program canceled is unjust.

 

The protest movement that these workers started follows in a line from the protest by the Post Graduate Workers Program (PGWP) last year who held an encampment in Brampton in the freezing cold to ask for justice and to be given a fair chance to stay in Canada.

 

Under the banner “Good enough to work - Good enough to stay”, the PGWP activists became an important voice for immigrant workers who are being attacked by all levels of government.

 

Mark Carney and the Liberals are calling for a huge reduction in immigration based on the erroneous notion that immigrants are to blame for the cost of living crisis in this country when it is in fact the billionaires who are squeezing workers across the board.

 

For Doug Ford, the attack on the OINP workers is part of his attempt to stoke more racism which helps him to cement support with his base.

 

Immigrant workers are on the front line in this fight. They are pushing back against racism and scapegoating. They deserve our support and solidarity.  

 

Find info and send a letter to your MPP at:

https://fairpath.ca/#action

 

photo: Amardeep Kaur/Guru Nanak Jahaz