Tory MP sorry for 'no-good bastards' remark

What the hell could this guy be possibly thinking?

Right. Wasn't.

Could have been worse. He might have bowed a little to deeply. The forum would need a whole truck load of tissues to clean up ridens crying if that had happened.

This guy was a Con? Oh, nevermind then. This is obviously a tempest in a teapot and an example of left wing media bias.

Lol.. Bowed lower that Iffy's polling numbers?

Keddy may not have been thinking but he is right to a degree. He just should have been a little more tactful in his assessment.
The thing is, this isn't an isuue just in Halifax. Many farm areas in Southern Ontario( and probably much of Canada) rely on migrant workers as well. But they don't rely on them cuz it's cheaper labour. They rely on migrant workers because they will actually DO THE WORK!

Sure, farm work can be back breaking labour but too many unemployed or under-employed Canadians feel that it's beneath them to do that job. They'd rather sit on their ass on pogey or welfare rather than put in a hard days work.

As for the people that live on the street in Halifax, or any other city for that matter, in my experience I've learned that most of these people suffer from mental or emotional disorders that would make them unemployable to begin with. Yet, these are the people that Keddy basically attacked, showing his complete ignorance of their plight.

Canadians are lazy sloths, they just don't want to hear the truth. Why are we importing labour for these 10 or 12 dollar an hour jobs while unemployment equals that of the Liberal years?
Where are the starving students and the unemployed youth?

I don't think that is quite true, at least the first part (not the street people stuff). Growing up I actually worked on a few farms (picking asparagus and strawberries and such) as a student. I only knew about that because my parents suggested it for extra cash and they only knew about that because my dad grew up on a farm.

I think unemployed people living in the city might not be looking to farms for work because they simply aren't thinking that way. They may not have any experience in that area and such don't know about it. They might not have transportation either.

Backpacking in Australia there are lots and I mean LOTS of farms that rely on backpacker labour. I heard the same stuff over there when politicians wanted to make a statement about Australia's EI/welfare problems saying that Aussie citizens should be doing these jobs but they are too lazy.

Problem is that none of these jobs pay living wages. Most are very transient with erratic hours and per work pay that falls below minimum wage for reasons not limited to work ethic. They are fine for backpackers on a working holiday visa as it simply keeps them in beer as they rely on the money they were supposed to bring.

I do agree with you to a point Derb. Now, things may have changed since my younger days but, in southwestern Ontario, it's pretty much farmland. When I lived in Windsor, anyone that wanted to do farm work but didn't have transportation to get there, was provided transporation to get there, usually by the farmer or one of his/her family members who would come and pick you up.

I was just talking to my wife about this subject and she reminded me that at one point UI was discouraging Canadians from doing seasonal labour, such as farm work, but that was back in the day when pogey was easily abused.

As for your last statement, yer absolutely right, very few of these jobs, if any, pay a living wage, BUT, that's because, say a Mexican for example, is happy getting paid that wage because it's still more than they'd make back home. BUT, if more Canadians would do those jobs, then farmers would be forced to at least pay minimum wage.
Now, I can't speak for the rest of the country but in Southwestern Ontario, you'd be hard pressed to find a farmer that was poor or having trouble making ends meet.
The money is there to pay decent wages but they don't pay them because, well they don't have to where migrant labour is concerned.

What do you mean by "Liberal years"? The unemployment rate in Canada has fluctuated over the past 50 years with no correlation between that rate and the party in power. But, I guess it's okay to just make shit up.

His point was perfectly valid, he just didn't need to make the geographical reference. That's a Canada wide problem.