In a recent interview, Mulcair suggested a strong natural resource sector was bad for Canada because it threatened manufacturing jobs in Quebec and Ontario. When asked about her federal leader’s blatant attempt to win votes by pitting one region of Canada against another, Saskatchewan NDP Energy and Resources Critic Cathy Sproule replied by passing the buck, saying, “If there are issues around economics, that's something the federal government would have to deal with.”

That statement provides a great deal of clarity and understanding in regards to the Saskatchewan NDP’s inability to grow our province’s economy during their 16 years in power. They had no plan, because they expected the federal government to drive economic development. Now they seem to be willing to put your future into the hands of people like Thomas Mulcair, who think our strong resource sector is a “disease” that can only be cured by slowing down our potash, mining and oil sectors, killing thousands of jobs.

Report from the Legislature

This type of language puts much at risk. Not only is Saskatchewan expected to be one of the growth leaders in Canada this year, with the fastest growing GDP in almost 15 years, a record-high population, record-low unemployment and some of the highest average weekly earnings in Canada, we are also unique in that we have the only balanced provincial budget country. One of the reasons that budget is balanced is due to the strength of our resource sector. Comments such as Mr. Mulcair’s threaten that strength, which in turn threatens the sustainable spending our government has been able to commit to on programs and services important to you and your family: scholarships for high school students, tax breaks for first time homebuyers, lowering surgical wait times, increased access to cancer treatment and more support for seniors and people with disabilities.

We don’t need this type of economic prescription for Saskatchewan and Canada from the federal NDP leader – and we don’t need that sort of abdication of responsibility from the provincial NDP. A strong resource sector is good for the entire country. It’s good for the Saskatchewan Advantage. We will continue to take action to protect the advantages that make our province the best place in Canada to live, work and raise a family.

And of course, the province is starting to take on that boomtown glow once again. People are spending, industry is investing and companies are hiring.

The dreaded labour shortages

But with the boom times comes the predictable and familiar problem of labour shortages. The lack of available workers is not as severe or widespread in Alberta as it was in 2006 (remember the stories of the donut store workers earning $20 an hour, or the motels closing due to lack of staff). Still, labour shortages are already starting to choke Alberta’s economy.

To take some of the pressure off, Ottawa responded with changes around foreign temporary workers this week. The federal government committed to responding more quickly to employer requests for highly skilled workers by reducing the wait time for a Labour Market Opinion from 12 to 14 weeks to within 10 days. (A Labour Market Opinion is the approval required from the federal government for bringing a foreign temporary worker into Canada).

And not only will the wait time be shorter, Ottawa is altering the rules on how much Canadian companies must pay foreign workers. Currently, they receive the “average wage” that’s paid to a Canadian worker in the same region. However, under the new framework, employers are allowed to pay foreign workers up to 15 per cent less.

Alberta’s provincial government has applauded the changes to the federal framework, and for good reason. This province is the most afflicted by a shortage of workers, particularly in the north and within the energy sector.

But the federal government’s changes are causing controversy – and criticism. Some argue reducing the wait time for companies to bring in foreign workers also reduces the amount of time a domestic worker has to find a job within Canada. Take, for example, an unemployed welder in New Brunswick or Ontario. He or she may consider working in the oil sands, but finding that job in Alberta may take more than 10 days. If the window of opportunity is shortened, it could discourage interprovincial migration of domestic labour.

Critics also argue that allowing companies to pay foreign workers up to 15 per cent less will put downward pressure on average wages throughout the economy, even for domestic workers.

Both of these arguments have some merit. However, without these changes the result is likely lower overall economic output, which would have an even greater negative impact on employment and wages in the long term. If energy projects are unable to proceed because there is simply not enough workers – or worse, if wages rise so high as to make those projects uneconomic – investors may scale back or cancel them altogether.

If that seems improbable, consider what happened in 2009 when dozens of investors did just that. Activity came to a screeching halt (largely due to skyrocketing cost) and overall unemployment in the province jumped to 7.5 per cent.

Wages very high in Alberta

Additionally, if wages are brought down slightly by the new rules, allowing companies to pay foreign workers a bit less, that hardly seems catastrophic. Last week Statistics Canada also reported on average weekly earnings in Canada and paycheques in Alberta are a stunning 19 per cent higher than the Canadian average. In Alberta’s oil and gas sector, the average weekly wage is $2,434 – more than two-and-a-half times as high as the average Canadian weekly wage. Wages here could stand to be brought down a bit closer to earth.

Overall, the regulatory changes to foreign temporary workers make economic sense. Alberta needs the workers, and thousands of eager labourers from around the world would love the chance to work in Canada – even if temporarily.

What cannot be lost in the debate, however, is that these foreign workers are not commodities: they’re people. Even though they may freely choose to come here for work, their safety, needs and respect as human beings must remain the number one priority of their Canadian employers.

Troy Media business columnist Todd Hirsch is Senior Economist with ATB Financial.

"We're not going to be discouraged, nor are we going to be dissuaded," Norris said Thursday in response to comments made by federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

"There is a real momentum here to make sure that (federal leaders) understand that Saskatchewan needs to continue to move forward on immigration."

Among the province's requests of Ottawa is an increase in the number of nominations allocated to the province for the Saskatchewan immigrant nominee program, Norris said.

"We're capped at about 4,000 right now," he said. "What we've said is we'd like 6,000. We can handle that. With more than 11,000 jobs open and available today, we see that there are broad-based needs. We know there are more improvements we can be making here, but quite candidly, many, many sectors are firing on all burners."

While there is "no intention" to reduce Saskatchewan's allocation, Ottawa doesn't have immediate plans to increase it, Kenney said in a phone interview Thursday.

"Certainly, Premier (Brad) Wall and Minister Norris have strongly advocated for that and we take their perspective very seriously," he said. "Our first priority is to address some of the weaknesses in the provincial nominee program."

Those include the nominations "creeping into" areas where other federal immigration programs apply and the need for minimum language requirements, which Norris endorsed earlier this month.

"Provincial programs play an important role," Kenney said. "But we do think there's an important nation-building dimension to immigration and we do want to maintain a significant federal role in selection."

"Once we've seen improvements in the provincial nominee program and once we've reformed our federal programs, we'll certainly be open to looking at possible further increases to the provincial nominee allocation," Kenney added. "It's not easy, though. Every province wants more allocations and, overall, Canadians don't want us to raise immigration levels."

Kenney cited polling data indicating 10 to 15 per cent of Canadians support increasing immigration overall.

"For too long we've seen declining economic results for immigrants — bringing in newcomers to face unemployment and underpayment," he said.

But Norris said "the broad brush strokes probably don't apply here in Saskatchewan, because certainly what we've heard from employers, what we've heard from newcomers and what we've heard from communities is actually a very, very consistent spirit of welcome.

"We're seeing the reinvigoration of communities that were having challenges of decline. Now we know there are challenges associated with growth, but those are the challenges that we welcome."

Kenney said the "employer-driven" federal reforms "will be disproportionately beneficial to a high-growth province like Saskatchewan," with programs to court "economic immigrant" investors, entrepreneurs, skilled workers and graduates of the province's two universities.

With the potential for more federally selected immigrants coming to Saskatchewan, Kenney said he does "anticipate that we'll continue to see an increase" in immigration in the province — though "not as quickly as in the past five years, because you can't sustain that velocity of growth."

jcouture@thestarphoenix.com

From The Star Phoenix

Read more: http://www.actyl.com

The program, which will begin this week will allow the HRSDC to process LMO applications within 10 days from the date of submission for eligible employers who are seeking workers for managerial and high-skilled positions.

“We are thrilled to launch this Accelerated LMO program, which will allow us to process applications quickly for potential high-skilled workers who are seeking occupations in Canada,” said Adrian Schulz, spokesperson for Actyl Group. “By working with us now, you can be one of the first to use this unique, innovative process.”

The Accelerated LMO program comes just in time for the summer season, when many employers will be seeking individuals to fill key roles in their organizations. Actyl Group has many resumes for construction workers in its system, including for plumbers, electricians and carpenters who are based in Ireland.

“Despite the economic downturn, provincial and federal governments in Canada have recognized that there is a labour shortage in the western part of the country,” said Schulz. “We are providing a solution for those companies who have a significant need for skilled, talented workers.”

Actyl Recruiting provides international recruiting services by utilizing the Foreign Worker Program. The firm, along with its international country partners, is able to recruit well-educated, experienced candidates for Canadian firms. To learn more, please visit http://www.actyl.com.

Another year and another Agribition came to an end last week.

Last year Agribition showed less people coming in with really cold weather. The number of who all visited Agribition last year was 125000 which showed a drop of roughly 11000 people. (Leader Post). This year there seems to an increase in the number of traffic because of the spring like temperatures. Marty Seymour (CEO) of Agribition says that it is the biggest show in the country and it pumps almost 27 million CAD to the Regina economy. And the board is absolutely sure that they have no plans of moving outside Regina for the Agribition.

“It’s a sign of the vibrancy of agriculture (and) the food business that we’re in,” Marty Seymour said

Planning has already started on next year’s Agribition, slated for Nov. 19 to 24.
More and more national programs like this contribute to the growth of Regina`s economy and especially with Regina ready to host the Grey Cup in 2013 its going to get more noticed and hopefully a lot more to come.

Saskatchewan's urban housing starts in the first 10 months of 2011 were up by 33.2 percent when compared with the same period last year, the highest percentage among the provinces. (Enterprise Saskatchewan News Release, November 8, 2011)

The Program allows:
b) allow eligible spouses/common-law partners ofTFWs engaged in work within the NOC C and D skill categories in BritishColumbia to receive open work permits;
c) allow eligible dependents, aged 18-22, of all* TFWs in BritishColumbia to receive open work permits