Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and honourable members of Parliament. On behalf of the Canadian Centre for Global Professionals, please allow me to express my highest enthusiasm for presenting something to you that I've been dreaming of for years.
The objectives of our presentation are to share the experiences and recommendations of effective and proactive ways of dealing with the challenges of employability in Canada. I will focus on three important points: first, our approach to employability; second, our recommendations; and third, why we think we will be successful.
First, I have a couple of words about us. The Canadian Centre for Global Professionals is a unique initiative of new Canadian professionals. It offers professional skills and knowledge, in an organized and innovative way, to government organizations, academic institutions, and research and development centres.
I will focus on the successful diagnosis of the problems.
Michael Bloom, from the Conference Board of Canada, completed several powerful and very interesting studies about employability. We are in agreement that a conservative estimate of lost immigrant income is more than $3 billion to $5 billion per year. In his work, Dr. Malek and Dr. Ahmed from the University of Ottawa did a wonderful job.... Here I have the full scientific work from the Canadian scientist: Dynamic Model for Population Distribution and Optimum Immigration and Job Creation Policies. Unfortunately, none of these recommendations has been applied.
Secondly, provincial and federal governments do not have a consensus about underutilized foreign credentials. It is our understanding that if this concept is not implemented properly, it could send a message to the rest of the world about this catastrophic mismanagement of human resources. It is almost like inviting guests to your home and then going out and leaving the guests to fend for themselves.
These are our findings. However, we have a successful solution. Our slogan is “Stop Complaining, Start Contributing”. Our organization is built in such a way that its goal is constructive cooperation. We are looking for your cooperation to work with us.
In Ottawa, we have organized a teachers worker cooperative called Alive Education & Consulting. We have more than 12 foreign-trained teachers who are waiting to be members of our organization. In Toronto we have three organizations. One is working for the technology transfer to foreign countries, the second is working in the field of finance, and third one is in the field of education. At the federal level we have an organization called ICAN: Immigrant and Refugee Community Action Network, and we have more than 40 members there.
Now, allow me to go to the recommendations. I have six recommendations but I will touch on only one or two.
The first recommendation is to invest in new Canadian professionals with a global perspective. I'm talking about an action plan for the development of export- and import-related businesses in new technology--for example, renewable energy, nuclear technology, nanotechnology, etc., which will be a practical solution for job creation inside and outside of Canada. As you know, new Canadians bring their knowledge connections and linguistic and cultural skills that are used by these talented people who have left their countries of origin. We need to remind ourselves that there are billions of people in China, India, and Africa, and there are tremendous resources waiting for us there.
The second recommendation is about supporting alternative methods of job creation.
The third recommendation is about having a proactive and effective immigration system.
The fourth one is on support systems in education.
The last one is on Canadian working experience.
I believe we will be successful, and l will express my optimism by talking for a minute about a success story. This is about Professor Muhammad Yunus, who got the Nobel Prize last year. Through his creative enterprise he has made it possible for about eight million to ten million people with no qualifications to find real solutions to their economic problems.
Honourable members of Parliament and leaders of Canada, I'll never understand why we in Canada, one of the richest, largest, wealthiest countries in the world with the brightest, most talented, and skilled people in the world, would not be able to change our lives. Many of us experienced specialists are just surviving, but I believe that if we work hard we can change our lives. I will be working until the end of my life in this wonderful world, and that is why I believe I will be successful.
I appreciate my friend Dr. Abdul Malek, who is working hard with us.
Thank you very much.