Over at Last Amazon there is this post on an interesting Toronto Star article.
A resounding W.T.F. ?!?! must be sounded to the folks at the Star. What a bunch of goofs. Liberal fear-mongering at its apex.
"A plan to legalize thousands of undocumented workers in Canada's underground economy would be in jeopardy if the Liberal minority government falls as a result of a non-confidence vote on Thursday, says Immigration Minister Joe Volpe. The Toronto MP has already signed off on a final draft of the long-anticipated "regularization" plan, which is now "in the queue" for the cabinet's feedback and approval — provided there isn't an election call."
Oh, but wait, the Star writers must have picked one strange example concerning just how lucrative the underground economy is in Canada:
"According to Vilma Filici, president of the Canadian Hispanic Congress, part of a community coalition that has been negotiating with the government, the two sides had a consensus on the basic plan.
"We are very concerned that this (plan) won't happen if there is a vote of non-confidence by the opposition in the parliament," Filici said. "With a new government, we'd be back to the drawing board again and start from scratch."
Filici fears a Conservative government could dump the plan as, he says, the Tories tend to view undocumented workers more as security risks than as potentially valuable contributors to Canadian society.
Daniel Castro, his wife and their two teenage sons from Argentina are among those living in limbo. The family arrived here in early 2001 and had their refugee claim rejected last May.
Together they earn $6,000 a month, which they take in cash. Savings are stashed under a mattress because they're afraid to keep a bank account. They don't get to know neighbours because they move every few months to keep ahead of immigration authorities."
Now, that's not bad money at all.
When eldest son Walter was robbed of his pay at gunpoint near Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. W. last summer, the 18-year-old didn't dare go to the police.
"Our life is between work and home, but we are grateful when we see everyone home in one piece at the end of the day," Daniel Castro said. "We pray the family will still be together the next day."
Their lives are typical among those in the underground economy, who do jobs Canadians often consider undesirable, particularly in construction, the hotel and hospitality industries, domestic help and general labour. They don't qualify for social assistance or employment insurance, and if they get sick they pay for care out of pocket.
Yeah, just like they would have had to pay in their home country, only now they have doubled, tripled, quadrupled their real wage rate.
"They literally live their lives out of a suitcase — often for years — fearing every moment that they will be stopped on the street by police and deported from Canada. Authorities sometimes sweep down on construction sites, where undocumented workers help fill a shortage of skilled workers."
Uh, yeah, because they are here illegally.
What seems lost on the moonbats at the Star is that once these people enter the "legit" economy, their employer's wage bill will go up due to wage requirements and payroll taxes. But their disposable income could actually decrease as taxes eat up their previous cash earnings. That $6,000 a month translates into $36,000 for each wage-earner. That's the Canadian average GDP for cryin' out loud.
