Kenny Tells Employers to Raise Wages

Stop the presses; stop the presses!!!

Finally there is something that Jason Kenney, Federal Employment Minister, and I agree about (not that Mr. Kenney or anyone else cares what I think).

If the report in the Vancouver Sun Business section, November 14, 2013, "Kenny Tells Employers to Raise Wages" is an accurate reflection of Minister Kenney's beliefs on Canadian wages and employment training, then -- the issue of funding transfers aside -- I am with the minister on this one.

As a former adult educator, I am aware that it has been well known for years, if not decades, that Canadian employers have been riding on the back of public education when it comes to training for employment and even for employee upgrading.  Canadian employers when compared to other OECD countries have put much less into the education and training pot than has been the case in other economically-developed countries around the world.  And in whining about the lack of skilled employees, it is also clear that employers have been keen users of temporary foreign workers, and even immigrant workers while keeping wage levels low and not investing in home-grown people wishing to enter the workforce.  Some unions also may carry part of the blame.

Time for a change.

I am still not sure that the ham-fisted strategies and policies of the current Canadian federal government will be the tools that can be successful in turning around these decades of employer dependency, but I must say that hearing such ideas from Minister Kenney is at least a start.