Canadian consultants here on migrant recruitment drive
Guyana Chronicle
May 25, 2004
A RECRUITMENT team of Canadian Immigration Consultants is currently in the country to conduct 'interviews' with Guyanese, especially teachers, doctors and entrepreneurs, who would like to live and work in Canada.
The two-member team - Mr. Eduardo Furtado, an Immigration Consultant based in Toronto and his partner, Mr. Doug Maloney - met with reporters at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel yesterday to make their intentions public.
Furtado and Maloney are expected to be in Guyana over the next seven to ten days during which they will be interviewing Guyanese who are interested in going to live and work in Canada.
Local media practitioner Mr. Clem David, who chaired the news briefing, indicated that the interview process will be conducted at the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) hall on Regent Street, Georgetown at 10:00 hrs tomorrow. Another interview is scheduled for Saturday, May 29 at Mahagony Hotel in Berbice.
"Putting it in a nutshell, this is all about recruiting qualified Guyanese to be able to go, live and work in Canada, one of the best countries in the world to live in according to the international experts," David told reporters. He said, too, that the team is looking to get teachers, nurses, caregivers and clerks and other categories of skilled workers to live and work in Canada.
"We are not taking anyone back to Canada. What we are doing this trip is to (explore the human resource market here)," Furtado asserted.
"We will be asking people to fill out a questionnaire and that will be taken back to the office where we will review it, so we wouldn't be making any decisions on this trip. You see, when we look at an application we want to see what is the best way for this person to apply and we will be informing that person of his chances based on the points system," he added.
According to him, if you are a skilled worker then you can apply to Canada based on a points system. "Our point system has been reduced from 75 points to 67 points as of September 18 last year. So now is a good time for persons to immigrate to Canada since the Government is being very flexible or much more flexible than it was in the past," he contended.
Canada has, in the past, assisted Guyana in developing the local education and health sectors but observers felt this move by the 'recruitment team' is defeating the purpose and intention of the Canadian administration in genuinely trying to help our country move forward. Observers also felt that this 'brain-drain' can only push us further back in the developmental process, rather than to move forward.
Asked why they chose Guyana for such an exercise, Furtado cited the English Language and the 'pull factor' of Guyanese wanting to go to Canada or North America as reasons for coming here. He said, too, that because Guyanese speak English, this country has a distinct advantage over the other South American countries.
The team will also be targeting skilled persons from Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico, among other countries. (Mark Ramotar)