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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly EDIT<br />
08<br />
November 24, 2017 | Toronto<br />
<strong>The</strong><br />
Need to bridge gap between<br />
w w w . canadianparv asi. c o m<br />
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Minimum Wage<br />
<strong>The</strong> hike in the minimum wage in Ontario<br />
is a welcome step because the rising cost of<br />
living is making life difficult for struggling<br />
low-income families.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problem becomes even more acute<br />
when you are a new immigrant family who<br />
is trying to make both ends meet and build<br />
future in this country.<br />
Under the changed labour laws, employees<br />
will start getting $14 minimum wage from<br />
January 1. <strong>The</strong> minimum wage will rise to<br />
$15 by January 2019 and then go up according<br />
to the inflation. <strong>The</strong> current minimum wage<br />
is $11.60 per hour.<br />
Employees also get so many other<br />
benefits, including paid leave and the right<br />
to refusal in some cases without fearing any<br />
consequences.<br />
On the other hand, there are some<br />
stiff penalties in store for employers and<br />
companies that violate labour laws.<br />
All this is fine.<br />
But there will also be bad consequences<br />
because lots of employers won’t be able to<br />
afford the hike.<br />
Nearly 90,000 jobs could simply disappear<br />
by 2020 thanks to the wage hike, says a<br />
TD report. Even Ontario’s own economic<br />
watchdog - the Financial Accountability<br />
Office- has hinted at the loss of over 50,000<br />
jobs because of the wage hike.<br />
Politicians of the left, the right and the<br />
centre always work with an eye on their<br />
vote-bank. <strong>The</strong> reality of these politicians<br />
is very different from the reality of small<br />
business owners. It is much more difficult to<br />
run a small business and make it a success<br />
than being the premier or prime minister of<br />
this country. Because politicians have all the<br />
systemic support but small enterprises are<br />
on their own. <strong>The</strong>ir everyday reality is very<br />
harsh, and they are the creators of most jobs,<br />
not politicians and the government.<br />
Thought for the week<br />
Happiness is impossible without gratitude<br />
~Dennis Prager<br />
Punjabis and Punjabi diaspora<br />
Brig Nawab Heer and<br />
Ms Preet Heer<br />
Three decades ago, NRIs were<br />
respected a lot back in India.<br />
But today, has the NRI diaspora<br />
lost their sheen ? Do they still<br />
matter for India?<br />
During the eighties when the<br />
Indian economy was in doldrums<br />
because of poor foreign reserves<br />
and heavy imports ratio to exports,<br />
the NRIs created a window for<br />
Indians to emulate how other first<br />
world countries had progressed<br />
thanks to good governance.<br />
Remittances by NRIs were the<br />
big foreign exchange booster for<br />
purchasing many urgent essentials<br />
of the country including payments<br />
for defence equipment.<br />
Everyone started looking at the<br />
NRIs with respect and more and<br />
more brainy persons desired to<br />
emigrate to the West. Back then,<br />
India needed NRIs and respected<br />
them.<br />
In Punjab, post-Green<br />
Revolution, Punjabi farmers<br />
started looking at ventures in<br />
the rest of the world. During the<br />
eighties they migrated in hordes<br />
to the Gulf, North America and<br />
Europe.<br />
Suddenly, remittances from<br />
NRIs boosted the economy of<br />
Punjab and India. Every winter<br />
large number of NRIs would visit<br />
their homeland and spend their<br />
hard earned dollars to show off<br />
and entertain friends. Many NRIs<br />
purchased properties in Punjab to<br />
multiply their savings faster.<br />
That's why NRIs became a<br />
respected brand in Punjab too soon.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y impressed upon their folks<br />
about how good governance was<br />
needed for progress. <strong>The</strong>y started<br />
improving their village schools,<br />
hospitals, created some new parks<br />
and undertook charity works.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se NRI actions were lauded by<br />
all.<br />
But NRIs also brought some<br />
negative things to Punjab. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
showed to Punjabis how to drink<br />
hard in public, how to conduct<br />
lavish marriages and how to have<br />
singers singing to huge gatherings<br />
with drinks in hand.<br />
Some NRIs also started cheating<br />
gullible parents by marrying their<br />
daughters by claiming that they<br />
were qualified professionals back<br />
in North America ( which they<br />
were not )and later they abandoned<br />
these girls. Many NRIs gave very<br />
false promises to youngsters when<br />
they visited India that, they will<br />
help them in getting immigration,<br />
exploited these young ones as their<br />
ever ready companion during their<br />
visit and later forgot about them on<br />
reaching foreign land. This see-saw<br />
battle continued amongst NRI’s<br />
and their kith and kins back home.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir kith and kin in India really<br />
bent backwards to look after NRI’s,<br />
take them around and treating their<br />
guest NRI’s as if having become<br />
NRI’s they had become demi-GOD.<br />
NRI’s very smartly enjoyed their<br />
false status given by the Punjabis,<br />
even by the Government bodies and<br />
left behind many western culture<br />
ills. <strong>The</strong> fact remains; a large<br />
percentage of NRI’s and also large<br />
percentage of Punjabi’s exploited<br />
each other.<br />
Seeing wide spread influence<br />
of NRIs on the Punjabis,suddenly,<br />
politicians also penetrated<br />
very deeply into NRI-Punjabi<br />
relationship and when they visited<br />
NRIs abroad gave them false hopes<br />
and enjoyed their hospitality to<br />
forget the same when they came<br />
back in Punjab. Smartly the<br />
politicians carved our NRI related<br />
schemes to include yearly NRI”<br />
Sammelan” to give false honor to<br />
NRI’s for getting funds and good<br />
time when they visited them abroad.<br />
However, very soon this false<br />
marriage of convenience fell apart<br />
when NRI’s found that Politicians<br />
had done nothing to make viable<br />
progress in Punjab. With a pure<br />
aim to ensure that Governance in<br />
Punjab improves, they supported<br />
PPP first and later AAP party to<br />
experiment changes in Punjab<br />
polity, they have been partially<br />
successful in APP experiment with<br />
hope it can sustain.<br />
In my opinion, NRIs have gone<br />
wrong on two scores. Because of<br />
freedom of speech and expression<br />
in North America, they attempted<br />
to scuttle the voices of a few Akali<br />
Dal leaders visiting North America.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y held protests in many cities<br />
where these leaders were to address<br />
public rallies and did not allow<br />
them to speak in public functions.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y could protest in any manner,<br />
but they should not have stopped<br />
the Akali leaders from speaking to<br />
their followers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second occasion was when<br />
one New York- based organization<br />
succeeded in going to court against<br />
Captain Amarinder Singh to stop<br />
him from visiting Canada.<br />
During that period, the role of<br />
many Punjabi <strong>Canadian</strong>s, elected<br />
leaders and social leaders was<br />
questionable. <strong>The</strong>y should have<br />
spoken against such unwarranted<br />
actions of the said organization<br />
claiming themselves as protectors<br />
of the Sikhs. <strong>The</strong> same incident<br />
later created a chain of reactions<br />
from both sides, some unwarranted<br />
remarks came up during Mr.<br />
Sajjan’s visit to Punjab and India<br />
and the same has resulted that it<br />
become overnight a- We verses<br />
<strong>The</strong>y battle- although both are WE.<br />
<strong>The</strong> situation today is that,<br />
In my opinion, NRIs have gone wrong on two<br />
scores. Because of freedom of speech and<br />
expression in North America, they attempted<br />
to scuttle the voices of a few Akali Dal<br />
leaders visiting North America. <strong>The</strong>y held<br />
protests in many cities where these leaders<br />
were to address public rallies and did not<br />
allow them to speak in public functions. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
could protest in any manner, but they should<br />
not have stopped the Akali leaders from<br />
speaking to their followers.<br />
both the main parties of Punjab<br />
have abandoned NRIs. <strong>The</strong>se are<br />
adversely affecting interests of<br />
Punjab, interests of many NRIs and<br />
interest of the Global Sikhs. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
is a dire need today, firstly for the<br />
Media to make amends and stop<br />
anti-Punjab propaganda forthwith.<br />
Media must play their positive<br />
role in soothing strained relations<br />
between NRIs and Punjabis.<br />
Secondly, all elected leaders<br />
from Punjab and in Canada must<br />
work towards reconciliation, not<br />
divisions.<br />
Thirdly, political leaders must<br />
refrain from indulging in purely<br />
religious affairs and mixing up<br />
church and state affairs.<br />
Fourthly, social leaders<br />
and business persons from<br />
North America must evolve and<br />
undertake projects in Punjab. I<br />
appeal to the Government of Punjab<br />
to create a friendly environment<br />
for NRIs to regain their confidence<br />
and support for the development of<br />
Punjab. Everyone must ensure that<br />
we have to again work for promting<br />
good relations between NRIs and<br />
Punjabis.<br />
(Brig Nawab Heer can be contacted at<br />
nawabheer@gmail.com)<br />
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