Foreign Service - Strike?

[DaveSav]

Nepotism is a lot more serious than just working on student visa apps before PR apps, even more so in the middle of a strike!

Working on student visa apps can cause delays of months while PR apps aren't being processed. This has been painfully obvious in the Manila office with their throughput before and after the school season started.

One person jumping ahead inline doesn't cause nearly the same delay. It sucks but the student visas being processed while PR's sit there is likely causing more of a delay than a few people jumping ahead in line for most of us on this forum.

Besides processing the student visas ahead of PR's for the sake of schools and businesses is just another form of Nepotism

 

[user828]

Could we please stick with the topic of this thread? Start a new thread about health care if you want.

Why is no one interested in the fact that nepotism is alive and well in the Canadian foreign services? That notwithstanding a strike someone can jump the queue leaving all the rest of us in the dust??!!

I think its the student factor, so there is a Parents/Dependent case Parents are in India waiting and dependent is a student in Canada, NDVO ask for Passports but student in Canada so request for passport at end stages,. NDVO ask for passport from student, who leaves for India, sends passport and waits. Now his semester begins again, but the case is pending. He leaves for New Delhi, passed secutity who was reluctant to let him in, fills a form, talks to the staff explaining that they haven't lived up to their promise and will lose semester, temp job internship etc. They promise to get back to him, call him back in 4-5 days, the entire family visa is ready!
he is told he wasn't priority and at this time, its been given to those who is nearing medical expiration

 

[zardoz]

Two people are having a p...g contest, it doesn't belong here.

Nepotism is a lot more serious than just working on student visa apps before PR apps, even more so in the middle of a strike!

You are flogging a dead horse with that subject.
The "old boy network" has always existed and always will. There is nothing that you can do about it. Look at the Masons for example..
By the way, Nepotism is only when "relatives" are involved in the transaction.

 

[costaudjoe]

Could we please stick with the topic of this thread? Start a new thread about health care if you want.

Why is no one interested in the fact that nepotism is alive and well in the Canadian foreign services? That notwithstanding a strike someone can jump the queue leaving all the rest of us in the dust??!!

It's a bit of a stretch to say it is alive and well from one example of what is most likely hearsay.

 

[Nell1236]

If you had read the article, you would see that it's unlikely to be hearsay, considering that the journalist is the Globe's specialist in education issues and would have to stand by his story. Where there's smoke there's fire, and it's naïve to think it doesn't exist. Unethical, unfair and even in this single instance someone should be held accountable. Every person who jumps the queue jumps ahead of us.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/many-international-students-still-waiting-for-visas-to-study-in-canada/article13947335/'

"After being admitted to McGill University, Sara Awad, 18, put in her visa application in mid-July through an agent in her hometown of Cairo, Egypt. She was stunned to learn it would take six to seven weeks – she was supposed to be on campus by then.
“My friends who are going to the U.S., they got their visa in three days, or even people going to France, they got it in 10 days,” despite the political turmoil that has engulfed Egypt, she said. “It was a bit difficult.”

Ms. Awad worried she might not make it to McGill in time, and considered the American University in Cairo as a backup plan. Luckily, her father had a contact in Cairo’s Canadian embassy whom he pressed for help, securing her a visa just last week. She is relieved, but will still arrive late in Montreal, and “will miss some parts of the orientation week,” she said."

 

[costaudjoe]

If you had read the article, you would see that it's unlikely to be hearsay, considering that the journalist is the Globe's specialist in education issues and would have to stand by his story. Where there's smoke there's fire, and it's naïve to think it doesn't exist. Unethical, unfair and even in this single instance someone should be held accountable. Every person who jumps the queue jumps ahead of us.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/many-international-students-still-waiting-for-visas-to-study-in-canada/article13947335/'

"After being admitted to McGill University, Sara Awad, 18, put in her visa application in mid-July through an agent in her hometown of Cairo, Egypt. She was stunned to learn it would take six to seven weeks – she was supposed to be on campus by then.
“My friends who are going to the U.S., they got their visa in three days, or even people going to France, they got it in 10 days,” despite the political turmoil that has engulfed Egypt, she said. “It was a bit difficult.”

Ms. Awad worried she might not make it to McGill in time, and considered the American University in Cairo as a backup plan. Luckily, her father had a contact in Cairo's Canadian embassy whom he pressed for help, securing her a visa just last week. She is relieved, but will still arrive late in Montreal, and “will miss some parts of the orientation week,” she said."

Unless the journalist confirmed with CIC that in fact "her father's contact" was able to move the visa process forward it is hearsay (information received from other people that cannot be adequately substantiated).

There is no need to be alarmist. This, even if it were true, is one example from one embassy. Hardly empirical proof that nepotism is "alive and well".

 

[automaton82]

When I was growing up, our near neighbours were: Ukrainians, Indians (from Goa), Greeks, Germans, Latvians, Jamaicans, Jewish Canadians, Italians. How can Canadians be "somewhat against" immigration? We all got along fine, they were all friendly, all looked after their lawns and had gardens, and they cared about fitting in and they did fit in. Not by losing themselves but by adopting the ways of their new country and being interesting to people like myself for their differences. That was Toronto. Maybe the Yukon is different?

If there are individuals speaking up against immigration then it's likely because they are ignorant of other cultures and languages and prefer to remain that way or the newcomers are not fulfilling their responsibilities by learning Canadian values while maintaining their own identities. Keeping an identity does not mean disrespecting or rejecting the values of the adopted country.

And see what we're getting into with this strike? Idle hands and all that.....

Yea, the north of Canada is pretty ignorant and racist.. Have you ever been to Thunder Bay? Even as far "south" as that it exists. Having spent a lot of time in southern ontario (GTA), I agree that many cities there are very accepting of immigrants, usually.. I lived in Brampton for awhile, and I would say a lot of people there were rather angry about the influx of Indians.. so..

Here's an article on the study, I think it has a direct link to the source in it somewhere
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/

Thanks! A very interesting article. I went back to the source data, as linked (http://www.wvsevsdb.com/wvs/WVSIntegratedEVSWVSvariables.jsp?Idioma=I), and then I went to "Neighbors: People of a different race", which I think is the question they used to base the map on.

I looked at Canada (2006) data, and found this table:
0 Not mentioned 2102 97.1%
1 Mentioned 62 2.9%

From this we can deduce that only 2164 people replied, which is a very small subset to base the study on. In addition, the wording of "mentioned"/"not mentioned" seems to indicate they were using a different answer to infer this quality, rather than ask directly.

Anyways, interesting stuff!

 

[Nell1236]

You are flogging a dead horse with that subject.
The "old boy network" has always existed and always will. There is nothing that you can do about it. Look at the Masons for example..
By the way, Nepotism is only when "relatives" are involved in the transaction.

I see you are no activist. With that attitude nothing will ever change, anywhere, and no one need be accountable. I hold my country to a higher standard.

Break out your dictionary zardoz - Oxford English dictionary definition of nepotism: the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs [italics mine].

 

[costaudjoe]

Latest News!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/09/13/pol-public-foreign-service-workers.html

PAFSO wins its case with the labour board, ie Clement et al were negotiating in bad faith.

 

[DaveSav]

Latest News!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/09/13/pol-public-foreign-service-workers.html

PAFSO wins its case with the labour board, ie Clement et al were negotiating in bad faith.

Thanks for the link, good news.

 

[roomonfire23]

Thanks for the link, good news.

I personally think this is bad news. We were all hoping that the PSLRB would force both sides into binding arbitration. They did not do that. PSLRB ruled that the Treasury Board bargained in bad faith and then "encouraged" both sides to come to an agreement.

All these weeks of waiting for nothing. What the hell are the people at PSLRB getting paid for?

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/09/13/pol-public-foreign-service-workers.html

 

[GatorSPO]

I personally think this is bad news. We were all hoping that the PSLRB would force both sides into binding arbitration. They did not do that. PSLRB ruled that the Treasury Board bargained in bad faith and then "encouraged" both sides to come to an agreement.

This. I'm not encouraged at all.
A non-binding resolution, given the government's approach to the union thus far, seems pretty much useless.

 

[zardoz]

I see you are no activist. With that attitude nothing will ever change, anywhere, and no one need be accountable. I hold my country to a higher standard.

Break out your dictionary zardoz - Oxford English dictionary definition of nepotism: the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs [italics mine].

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nepotism and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nepotism both state an alternative definition.

 

[roomonfire23]

It's all very interesting... The final hope for most people is that the government legislate PAFSO back to work in October, but if the government were to do that they would force themselves into binding arbitration with PAFSO. This is exactly what the government wants to avoid.

As long as the Canadian public doesn't care the Conservative government will continue to do what it's currently doing, nothing. Once the union's reserves run out and they can no longer pay striking workers it will be interesting to see what happens to PAFSO members. If the government can hold out long enough the union will eventually fold.

Lots of speculation on my part, but I'm personally not expecting the strike to end anytime soon.

 

[user828]

Michelle Zilio @MichelleZilio
Alright, just spokes to PAFSO Pres. Tim Edwards. Job action, including strikes/pickets, WILL continue. #cdnpoli #dipstrike