The Canadian Press and Canadian Waters

Federal Court Vancouver: The Canadian Press has learned the union intends to ask the Federal Court in Vancouver on Tuesday for a judicial review of the practice of issuing the foreign sailors temporary work permits, according to Huffington Post Canada. The union points to the 60,000 ton, Greek-owned tanker Almathea, which was just in the Port of Montreal and licensed to be transporting crude oil in Canadian waters until Sept. 13. The labour group, which represents unlicensed sailors in all of the country coastal waters, has been firing warning shots for month over the growing refusal of shipping agents to hire Canadian crews - something to which the federal government has allegedly has turned a blind eye. Fourteen employment contracts, obtained by The Canadian Press, show hourly wages for non-licensed crew members range from as little as $2.13 to $8.80, depending upon the job and before overtime. They're giving work permits to foreign workers on ships in Canadian waters when the law says those jobs should go qualified Canadians first." Canada Border Services Agency last year issued 142 exemptions to foreign ships so their crews could work legally in Canada, even though the union says shipping companies made no attempt to hire Canadian sailors. Seafarers union president Jim Given said such exploitation is common in international shipping, where companies will hire sailors from the Philippines, Indonesia or other poor countries for a tiny fraction of what Canadians would make. "The Government of Canada is letting foreign ships replace thousands of qualified Canadian workers at a time when 25 per cent of our workforce is unemployed,'' said Given. "The law is very simple. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.