A Dime a Dozen Blog

I think it was New Zealand’s Helen Clark who coined the term ‘puberty economics’.  The term is used to describe the practice of using immigration as an engine for economic growth.  So rather than restructure the economy to be more productive, the government just brings in heaps of foreigners and their cash.  You get immigrants where there were no immigrants before, and your economy goes through a temporary growth spurt.

It was bandied about in the early 90’s, but the tech boom killed the idea.  The only place it does seem to be alive and kicking is in the Conservative Party.  Since they’ve been in power, we’ve seen a return to puberty economics.  Two announcements from them this week are typical:

Canada welcomed an unprecedented number of permanent and temporary residents in 2008, according to preliminary data released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) today.

“While other countries are talking about taking fewer immigrants, today, I am pleased to announce that in 2008, we increased the number of new permanent residents to Canada,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.

Canada welcomed 247,202 permanent residents in 2008, 70,000 more than in 1998, and well within the government’s planned range of 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents for the year. An additional 193,061 temporary foreign workers and 79,459 foreign students resulted in a combined total of 519,722 newcomers for the year.

Half a million people.  It’s a huge number and next year it will go up again:

Canada will admit more foreign students but fewer foreign workers this year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said here Friday…  Currently, only about 3,000 Indian students are admitted to Canadian institutions each year, as against about 40,000 in Australia and about 80,000 in the US.

Compared to Canada, the minister said, Australia admitted 10 times more students from India each year.

On general principle, I want to be critical of this, it’s the lazy man’s way to economic growth.  But I can’t – it’s sensible.  At least for the students, it’s a minor change in regulations or quotas that has a huge spin off to the rest of the economy.  It also means money in my pocket.  My company works with foreign students and recent immigrants.  If I can work with about 5 of them per week, I can buy a vacation place in the Alps (Lake Como to be precise).  I’m very much in favour of bringing in more students, and also of sticking it to Australia.

Later in this parliamentary session, we’ll see another change – the youth mobility agreement between Canada and Poland.  This will allow an unknown number of young Poles to come to Canada to work.  They’ll be given open working permits – sans required job offer.  And judging by their recent treatment by the UK’s Labour government, they’ll be clamoring to get in to Canada. This comes on the back of an increase this year in the youth mobility quotas for Italy, France, Korea, and Chile.  All told the government is giving out at least 50,000 of these visas each year.  It’s another small regulatory change that encourages growth.

The next changes we need to see are the opening of the Canadian labour market to young Americans.  Currently, they are the one of the only Western peoples who can’t get an open working permit for Canada.  Danes can, Czechs can, Germans can – everyone but the Americans and the Iberians can show up and find a job.

I brought this up last week.   Just an observation then.  I had asked – obliquely – what was being done by the CBSA to deal with the Salvadoran take over.  This article from the Friday Vancouver Sun gives some answers:

Elmer and Jose Granados have snuck across the B.C. border four times in recent years to set up residence in Metro Vancouver.

Now both men are behind bars here waiting for separate judicial proceedings to decide their fate.

Jose, the younger of the Salvadoran gangsters, will have an admissibility hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board in Vancouver next Thursday.

Elmer will appear in B.C. Supreme Court Feb. 26 for an extradition hearing on a U.S. warrant for allegedly shooting a gang rival in the face outside a Tacoma dance…

Bowns said Elmer … wore the blue and grey colours of the MS-13 — considered the most vicious drug gang in the Americas…

Not only did the Granados brothers arrive here last year, but an admitted MS member who said he killed at least four people in El Salvador also made a bid to remain in Canada. Jose Francisco Cardosa Quinteros was deported last June.

Also in June, Toronto police arrested 21 people in a gun distribution network who investigators said had a link to MS-13.

Other MS members are still in B.C. jails or awaiting refugee cases to determine their status. The Federal Court of Canada has already ruled that members of the notoriously brutal gang are not eligible to remain in Canada due to membership in a criminal organization.

Sgt. Shinder Kirk, of the B.C. Integrated Task Force, said the expansion of such a violent drug gang in Canada is always worrisome.

“Migration has occurred,” he said. “We are concerned about it. We do know the links between organized crime groups extend across borders.”

Read the rest.

NB – Issues:

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I don’t like snow anymore.  This is on the way to work.  Chinatown, Vancouver.

So after a few months of non-stop arguments with my employer (who seems intent on driving the business into the ground) I have been very unceremoniously ‘fired’.  By email.  At the airport.  En route to a vacation.  Which is pretty rude.

So what to do?  Not many people hire in December, so I could just take the month off, but bills do continue to pile up.  I could file a lawsuit, I have a case on a few points. Or, I could take the money and run and do something else (and maybe sue later).

So here’s the plan:  Step 1. return to Vancouver.  Step 2. find business partner.  Step 3. open business.  Step 4. Operate at loss for 2 or 3 months, then see profits.

I need to do steps 1 thorugh 3 by Tuesday evening.  Which is what I’m doing at the moment.  FYI.

Seen in Toronto’s fashion district today.

That’s a picture from Indigo books here in Toronto. The current events section.

Note the objectivity.

FYI – you may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much lately. Insomnia + depression. Both character flaws of mine. My head is too dis-orderly with this to think properly. Advice is NOT welcome.

Yesterday in Vaughn, Stephane Dion revived an old Green Shift slogan, and in an appeal to Green Party voters said, if you want to ‘go green, vote red’. A search for the term on Google news shows that in the last couple days it’s become an integral part of his stump speech.

This slogan might sound familiar to some people as it was (switching red for blue) the 2006 election slogan of the British Tories.

I can’t find a single example in Canadian history where a party has stolen a slogan from a foreign party. Astonishing.

You can watch a video from the vote blue, go green campaign here – the key part is in the last 15 seconds.

First, I fully expect the Tories to turn things around in this last week and cone back with 143 seats. I’ve got money on that. The Tory numbers crashed last night on the UBC election stock market. They fell from 140 to 123 in only a few hours. The Liberals went from 77 to 93 during the same period.

I have faith in the upcoming platform and ad blitz – and more importantly, I think the Thanksgiving dinner effect will carry the day.

So today I’m at a couple meetings, then work begins on drafting our company’s survival plan for the recession. I think if we work this right, we’ll come out if this thing bigger, richer, and free of any bottom feeding competitors we might have. But planning is very important and job cuts are neccesary in the short term.

I write the plan with government stability in mind. I know what the Tories will do and we can work with that. If the Liberals some how win or tie, oh holy f@ck. We’d be screwed. They’d be weak and would have to rely ok the NDP too much. How can I plan for that? I have no idea what Dion would do. He doesn’t even know – he just talks about meetings. When things get bad, you don’t have months to spare waiting on the outcome of meetings.

Harper knows what he’s going to do and has a concrete plan for dealing with the crisis right now. The platform and the rest of the campaign need to say that.

Off to Midtown.

I’m at the Toronto Centre all candidates meeting. Everyone but the NDPer is here.

It’s a bit boring. No, actually it’s a lot boring. Bob Rae is making a lot of the plagiarism thing. That’ll be funny later.

The Tory, David Gentili just said he disagrees with the Communist Party. No kidding.

I didn’t realize the Greens want to raise the GST.

Gentili said he couldn’t say which parts of the platform he disagrees with for “obvious reasons” that got a big laugh.

What !? A harsh question specifically for the animal rights party candidate.

Another big laugh about the Tory platform. Bob Rae said the Tories are “just waiting to get it translated from the original Australian.”. Applause and laughs all around.

Everyone is attacking Bob Rae on education – this is the fourth question. Man, these kids couldn’t have been five years old when Rae was premier – long memories.

The independent – Gerald Derrom – has said that we need a strong army in case of alien invasion. Awesome.

The Communist gave a really gross answer to a question about human rights in China. Gentili laid into him. That didn’t go over well with the crowd. Maybe too easy a target. Very left crowd though.

The second deaf person to ask a question tonight. Should we add American Sign Language to the official languages act?

Huge gaffe – the Marxist Leninist wants to make Italian an official language! They’re ruined – it’s over man. No breakthrough this year.

Closing statements, very boring.  The Marxist Leninist took a swipe at the Communist candidate and he used the word bamboozled – which I thought creatively retro.

Video from the event

Bob Rae on the Tory platform:

David Gentili (Conservative) talking about human rights.  They don’t take kindly to that kind of talk in Toronto.

Waiting at an empty union station. Only one green sign in evidence. Elizabeth May should be here any minute.

My question: “is it racist to support Hezbollah?” Or “is Hezbollah a terrorist organization?”. Whichever I remember.

Update: she’s not here till eleven now. Delayed.

Updater. Hockey hall of fame and I can’t find a Canucks jersey. Some guy is rubbing people in a massage chair near some trophies. It’s sparsely attended. I have jet lag and I can’t fake interest in organic produce for another four hours. Tindal confirms, she’s not here till past eleven. Like the trickle of people moving past me – I’m going home.

FYI – yes, mother I got permission to take pics at the event.

… But how many people here at the air show did that Al Gore black out thing or tell pollsters they think the environment is a major issue? The numbers don’t add up – there’s like a half million people here watching flying SUVs make pictures with exhaust – and according to the polls like 80% claim to worry about their carbon footprints. So that would mean that either 80% of people are massive hypocrites or 80% of people are dumb. I prefer to think it’s the former.

[posted via iPhone]