Pardon my absence from this forum, but my son and I went away for a week and it was awesome , even though the kkkanadian media are trying to scare everyone from travelling to the u.s.
In my opinion "premier" eby is a fucking racist and a whiny fearmongering douche, just like his buddy , "prime minister" carney .
A friend of mine is from Nepal working under the foreign guest worker program, and there's a chance he might not be renewed because the government is cracking down on that program . He works in the food service sector. Eby says that this program is causing undue stress on shelters, housing, and the health care system. Nonsense. This is "trump-lite" political posturing, and I really doubt that the shelters are being overwhelmed by people on the foreign guest worker program.
The idiot "premier" hasn't made any friends in the Indigenous Nations, what with saying that they're not "real people" and immediately panicking when the courts decide in the Indigenous Nations' favour. Fucking dipshit . "Reconciliation" is just a word, and when it becomes real the politicians panic. Keep your superficial "land acknowledgement" until something concrete is actually done .
Fuck eby and carney both .
B.C. Premier David Eby is standing firm, following his comments about Canada's immigration system and the temporary foreign worker program.
"This is part of a larger conversation we need to have about our immigration system. We need to have an immigration system that lifts people up, supports people when they get here, protects them from exploitation and ensures that programs like the temporary foreign worker program aren't used to drive down wages," Eby told CBC News Tuesday afternoon.
It follows growing backlash over his comments blaming Canada's immigration system for filling up food banks and homeless shelters — including criticism from within his own party.
Last week, during a press conference about school funding, Eby went off script and urged the federal government to cancel or reform the temporary foreign worker program, which has been beset by fraud.
He also criticized the federal government's policy on immigration more broadly:
"We can't have an immigration system that fills up our homeless shelters and our food banks. We can't have an immigration system that outpaces our ability to build schools and housing. And we can't have an immigration program that results in high youth unemployment."
Eby's position closely aligned with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Both Eby and Poilievre made clear they're not blaming the workers, rather a system that exploits them for cheap labour.
Eby's comments prompted an angry rebuke from Katrina Chen, a former NDP cabinet minister who co-chaired Eby's leadership campaign in 2022.
"I'm furious about this," she wrote on Facebook. "It happens all the time: government underfunds services, then points fingers at immigration through flawed policies government created. This fuels bias and discrimination."
Chen told CBC News that Eby's comments left her "shocked."
"By pointing fingers, by saying that a certain community is taking more resources than another, it's just not right. It's divisive," she said.
Chen said Eby's comments: "separate the immigrant community to what some call the 'regular' or Canadian community."
However, Chen also praised Eby for the work he's done on anti-racism initiatives in B.C.
Sukhi Sandhu, a life-long New Democrat who has volunteered for the party during several election campaigns, said Eby's comments do not align with the party's values.
"The premier needs to step forward and acknowledge the harm of his comments." said Sandhu, who was appointed by cabinet to serve on the government's anti-racism committee.
Eby dismissed criticism from some within the party, denying that his comments are at odds with NDP values.
"New Democrats for many years have fought for the dignity of temporary foreign workers and others who are at risk of exploitation in our immigration system," he said.
Those who work at some Downtown Eastside shelters in Vancouver say Eby's comments aren't supported by the facts.
Nick Wells, spokesperson for Union Gospel Mission, says about 10 per cent of the shelter's clients are immigrants.
"I think the statement that newcomers are filling up shelters is off base," Wells said. "I don't think it's helpful to blame or scapegoat anyone who uses our services."
Amanda Burrows, executive director of First United, said the vast majority of the shelter's clients are Canadians, with a disproportionate number of Indigenous people using its services.
"It does create a bit of harm when it creates these myths that it's one group that is using our services, when we know it's policy failure, it's system failure," Burrows said.
Food banks, however, have reported seeing increased use of their services by newcomers to Canada, though they don't specifically note the number of clients who are part of the temporary foreign worker program.
A recent report from Food Banks Canada shows that newcomers to Canada make up about a third of food bank clients, a rate which has doubled since 2016.
"In the last few years we have seen a pretty significant increase in immigrants and refugees coming to food banks," Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks B.C. "Those numbers are reflective of the general increases in many different client populations and it's a reflection of the increasing bite of this cost of living crisis."
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank reported in 2024 that 35 per cent of its clients were newcomers to Canada, a rate that has increased in the last five years.
CBC News was initially told Eby was not available for an interview on Monday or Tuesday, but was then granted an interview late Tuesday afternoon.
The premier was asked for evidence that temporary foreign workers are taking jobs from young Canadians, as some in the tourism and agriculture industry have said those workers fill jobs that Canadians do not want.
Eby criticized a Starbucks coffee shop in Vancouver and Boston Pizza restaurant in Richmond for applying for a labour market assessment to hire temporary foreign workers for a management position.
"Surely they can find someone on their team to train and promote," he said.
Eby also pointed to the problem of fraudsters selling fake labour market assessments, in order to get approval from Ottawa to hire temporary foreign workers.
"They're being used for positions that this program was never intended for."
Byron Cruz with Sanctuary Health, a non-profit that works with migrant workers, said temporary workers already feel disposable and Eby's statement creates further division between them and Canadians.
"He went too far," said Cruz. "This time it seems the premier in British Columbia is on the same channel as the Conservatives."
B.C. Green interim Leader Jeremy Valeriote said Eby should apologize.
"We were just floored by the fact that the premier would echo the Conservative party leader," Valeriote said. "It's not a constructive way to look at our society."
