Eastward Ho!

Over the last couple of years, what with shrinking oil supplies and the recent unpleasantness in the Middle East, anyone with half a brain (with the possible exception of Ralph Klein, but I digress) could see that the price of oil would skyrocket. Further, as soon as the price hit over $60.00 per barrel, the oil sands would become very, very viable. As a result, people are heading westward in droves for greener pastures in the land of black gold

People from the Atlantic Provinces have been “going down the road” for employment for decades. However, this wholesale migration of the people leaving for the west is unprecedented in the history of the Atlantic Provinces. The reason for this is twofold and simple:

• Jobs
• Money

This has been the cause of some concern in the respective legislatures as the workforce haemorrhages westward and we are now, apparently, in the grip of a labour shortage. The Premiers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island has been making pilgrimages to Alberta to woo back their native sons and daughters. I am told that in Fort McMurray everywhere you look these days there are billboards urging Maritimers to “Come to Life.”

Now, given that the employment opportunities here in the Maritimes have not changed greatly in their absence, this does beg the question “Come home and do what?” In Fort McMurray these days you can make close to $18.00 per hour just pumping gas. If you can actually do something, your salary goes up exponentially, albeit with a much higher cost of living. Even with the astronomical cost of living, Fort McMurray and oil country is still the proverbial pot of gold.

In essence, our good premiers are asking people to leave jobs where they are making good money to come home to good jobs that don’t exist, low paying jobs that do, and Dickensian labour laws, where your employer can legally treat you like crap.

Yes, people are burning up the TransCanada to move back here. Not.

Yes, I’ve heard the promises that have been made about the future here. Forgive me for being cynical, but promises and $1.50 will get you a double-double at Timmy Horton’s. You won’t see anyone coming back until those jobs are actually here and not one moment before.

While we are at it, let’s take a look at this “labour shortage”. As I look around, there is a whole pool of workers, experienced, qualified and knowledgeable that can’t find jobs. Furthermore, these people are settled, not likely to “go down the road” and still they are unemployed. What is wrong with this picture?

They are over 50. Let’s face it, 50 is not the new 30 when you are looking for a job

They expect to be paid according to their knowledge and experience. The irony is that a lot of these people are the ones companies laid off when they found they could get younger people to do their jobs for less money. The same younger people, incidently, who have left for pastures anew.

In my opinion, as long as there is a huge pool of unemployed experienced workers, and Neanderthal employers can afford to drive away young people like Melissa Strong, there is no labour shortage. I strongly suspect that what is meant by “labour shortage” in this context is “we have a shortage of twenty-something’s who will work for peanuts and shut up.”

Bah.