It is now clear what Premier Christy Clark was talking about during her trade mission to China.
She said that the Chinese would be investing large sums of money in a couple of new mining operations in Northeastern B.C. and that the projects would result in thousands of new jobs.
She didn’t say the jobs would be for Chinese workers, not Canadians.
A press release dated Nov. 11, 2011 sums up the announcement: “Premier Christy Clark announced financing worth $1.36 billion for two major investments which will eventually create over 6,700 jobs. This investment shows how confident China is in British Columbia’s world-class mining resources and strong investment climate. These two projects support our BC Jobs Plan and according to the companies will create over 6,700 jobs and other economic benefits for British Columbians.”
What the premier didn’t tell us was that most of the mining jobs would go to temporary workers from the coal mining area of China. They are being brought to Canada under the federal temporary foreign worker program.
The Canadian Dehua International Mines Group (CDIMG) in the Tumbler Ridge area of northeastern B.C. will employ some 2,000 Chinese.
They will come as bonded labourers for two years with an option to extend their contracts. Three hundred of them will soon be working to obtain coal samples.
CDIMG was established in 2003. It presently owns coal properties in northeast B.C. and intends to invest in developing coking coal. The company’s stated objective is to supply five million tonnes of coal products annually for the world market.
Strong negative responses to the news on the Chinese workers have come from unions who decry the loss of jobs to Canadians, environmentalists who argue that the coal should not be mined and First Nations who reject coal mining in their territory.
Steve Hunt, director of the United Steelworkers for western Canada, says the government has permission to import cheap labour. Hunt believes the workers are open to exploitation and expects that they will be paid $10 to $15 an hour less than unionized Canadian miners.
This is not the first time that Chinese men have come to British Columbia.
They did so in the 1800s during the gold rush and the construction of the Cariboo wagon road to Wells and Barkerville. They also worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway. The men who built the railways and roads weren’t allowed to bring their families and they did not have the rights of other Canadians. At the time they had to pay to come to Canada to work.
Similar conditions exist for the Chinese miners today. They will not bring their families to Canada and it has been reported that they are paying $12,000 for the privilege of working in Canada.
The decision to bring Chinese mine workers to northeastern B.C. should be an unsettling proposition for British Columbians and Canadians.
However, Pat Bell, the Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation for B.C., supports it, saying that skilled workers are not available in Canada.
To its credit the B.C. government is offering a skill-training program to young people who may be interested in mining jobs. In the case of Dehua International Mines Group, the government has known for five years that the mines would be opened by 2015, ample time to train a cadre of workers.
It’s a return to a 19th Century practice and it is not designed to have an advantage for the workers.
If British Columbians are concerned about the outsourcing well-paid jobs in the resource sector, they will be equally concerned with what might come down the red carpet that Prime Minister Harper laid out for China during his recent visit.
– Roy Ronaghan is a columnist for the Grand Forks Gazette
