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Two of Canada's big banks are supporting predatory lending by owning shares in payday loan and subprime operations, says a grassroots advocacy group.

But both TD Canada Trust and the Royal Bank of Canada yesterday questioned the accuracy of a report, entitled A Conflict of Interest: How Canada's Largest Banks Support Predatory Lending, to be released today by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

"Banks have created an economic apartheid and we demand that banks divest their stocks from all institutions that are part of the predatory economy, such as subprime mortgage and payday lenders," said Mohanie Ramanha, the group's leader.

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The Segregation of Native People in Canada - By: Michèle DuCharme

Economic Apartheidin Canada: The economic segregation and social marginalisation of racialised groups

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Creeping Economic Apartheid in Canada: the Economic segregation and social marginalisation of racialised groups calls attention to the growing racialisation of the gap between the rich and poor, which is proceeding with minimal public and policy attention, despite the dire implications for Canadian society. The report challenges some common myths about the economic performance of Canada s racialised communities, myths used to deflect public concern and to mask the growing social crisis. It points to the role of historical patterns of systemic racial iscrimination as key to understanding the ersistent overrepresentation of racialised groups in low paying occupations and low income sectors, their higher unemployment, and their poverty and social marginalisation. Historical patterns of differential treatment and occupational segregation in the labour market, and discriminatory governmental and institutional policies and practices, have led to the reproduction of racial inequality in other areas of Canadian life.

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Imperialism, Globalization, and Migration

The reality of migration is one that reveals the asymmetrical relations between “rich” and “poor,” and between North and South, where the effects of colonialism and corporate globalization have created political economies that compel people to move. Such forces are the same forces that have perpetuated genocide and dispossession of indigenous peoples within the colonial project of "North America." A salient example of the impact of capitalism and neo-colonialism on migration trends is the US-Mexico border. As part of its inclusion in NAFTA in 1994, Mexico was forced to adjust its constitution’s Article 27, which guaranteed rights to communal lands (ejidos). A symbolic illustration of NAFTA’s effects is the fate of Mexican corn: the Mexican government was forced to eliminate subsidies to corn, meanwhile corn produced in the US remained subsidized, thus making it cheaper to buy US corn inside Mexico than Mexican corn. Over 1.5 million Mexican farmers who subsequently lost their farms migrated North to work in low-paying sectors and maquila factories. Wages among California’s 700,000 farm workers, half of whom are undocumented, is approximately $6.75 an hour.

Furthermore, the nature of the refugee determination system is far from being a simple exercise in humanitarianism. It can more accurately be labeled as a manifestation of Canada’s aggressive foreign policy. For example, Canada towed the ideological line of the US by being slow to react to the admission of Chilean refugees who were supporters of Salvador Allende after the violent US-backed coup of Allende's socialist government in 1973. By comparison, Canada was far more “humanitarian” in accepting approximately 60,000 refugees from South-East Asia, Vietnam and Laos who fled Communist regimes in the wake of Saigon's fall in 1975.

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[ 26 March 2007: Message edited by: Cueball ]

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Originally posted by bruce_the_vii:
Academics telling us were a racist society are common. It's a formula theme. In general if there were aparthied there'd be a pool of labour that was cheaper -- more competative -- and the discriminating firms would be at a disadvantage.

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But on another thread recently, a poster was trying very hard to impress upon us that there was apartheid in Ontario, and specifically during the period 1991 to 1995. So I think it tends to be politically expedient to talk about racist government policies, depending on what political bias you happen to be susceptible to.

In our case, and next to the U.S. in a comparison of developed nations, Canada owns the next largest low skill, lowly-paid and non-unionized workforce. Add to this the fact that Canada owns one of the developed world's worst relative child poverty rates next to only the USA and Mexico.

On the contrary, Bruce, have you been paying attention to the NDP's calls for a minimum wage across Canada that should be more in-line with other developed nations.

As well, what's being suggested in the article above is that immigrants to Canada suffer disproportionately high unemployment and under-employment rates. And recently arrived medical doctors and engineers to Canada with internationally recognized credentials are describing racism in this country's professional associations.

The NDP pointed out before the last election that well educated immigrants suffer unemployment rates as high as four times that of lowly skilled immigrants.

And immigrant women to Canada will suffer a major health setback within the first 15 years of living here. And commentators have pointed to high levels of poverty among ethnic minorities as a one of the causes.

And that a country like Canada is world renowed for it abuse of native people is not a common problem if we compare Canada with Finland. Finland is one other northern latitude nation with an indigenous population. Racist federal policies toward native people and ethnic minorities is a theme common throughout Canadian history.

[ 26 March 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]

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Originally posted by Le Téléspectateur:
I have no idea what you guys are trying to say.

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Originally posted by Le Téléspectateur:
I have no idea what you guys are trying to say.

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You guys ?

It's a broad issue. I think if we look at the Declaration of Human Rights this country signed on to some time ago - compare it with racial inequality across Canada and with what exists in other rich nations - I think there's a case to be made against economic apartheid in Canada.

[ 27 March 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]

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In the Labour Force (NUPGE)

• The fastest growing forms of work are nonstandard jobs such as contract, temporary,
part-time, piece meal, shift work, or self-employment - there are fewer good jobs;
• There is an over representation of people of
colour in low-income sectors and occupations;
• Proportion of income from government transfers
fell from 19% in 1995 to 11% in 1998; and
• In 1998, racialized immigrants with university
education experienced 10.4% unemployment rate compared to 6.6% for non-racialized immigrants and 4.2% for nonracialized Canadian born – the rate for racialized Canadian born was 6.3%.

The Racialization of Poverty

• Throughout the 1990’s, racialized group members
and new immigrants were twice as likely
as other Canadians to live in poverty;
• The rate for racialized children under six years
of age living in low income families was 45%
- almost twice the overall figure of 26% for
all children living in Canada (1995); and
• In 1998, the annual wages and salaries of
recent immigrants were one-third less than
those of other Canadians.

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[ 27 March 2007: Message edited by: Fidel ]

[ 27 March 2007: Message edited by: bruce_the_vii ]

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Originally posted by bruce_the_vii:
And they should hire indigenous talent as do most other countries in the world.

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I remember John Roth quoted in the Ottawa Citizen that there was a shortage of skilled workers in Ontario in about 2000-2001. Nortel was offering to pay tuition and books for Algonquin's three year technology grads. Carleton grads were pretty much guaranteed a job then.

Has anyone noticed that every few years the "scandal" pops up where it is revealed that the Canadian and provincial governments have been stiffing immigrants by luring them here and then only after they get settled in, do they find out that the governments do not extend automatic recognition of foreign credentials earned at recognized institutions, forcing them to recertify at considerable time and expense while holding down some minimum wage job?

Some offiical always promises they'll look into it... and surprise, nothing ever quite seems to get done about this great shafting.

[ 28 March 2007: Message edited by: bruce_the_vii ]

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Some official always promises they'll look into it... and surprise, nothing ever quite seems to get done about this great shafting. Dr Conway

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Originally posted by laine lowe:
Do foreign-trained doctors (who have practiced medicine) from the UK or Australia have to do practicums before being licensed in Canada?

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Originally posted by Phrillie:

I know what you're getting at (do only dark-skinned doctors need practicums?) but I believe the UK/Australia situation is a little different because of our (Canada's & Australia's) relationship to Great Britain.

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Originally posted by laine lowe:
Well in that case, does that mean that all Commonwealth countries are treated the same?

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Every year 250,000 eager foreigners arrive in cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. After they do so, their careers, finances and lives are destroyed. Read the famous

"Dr. Khalid Rafiq, is one of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants in Canada forced to survive on the worst labour jobs the country has to offer. A Ph.D. graduate from Pakistan, he now earns minimum wage driving a taxi in Toronto for a living."

The stories of people being actively recruited by canadian officials is shamefull.

I have a freind whas actively recruited to come to canada just a couple of years ago. Promised that he would no problem finding work, virtually guaranteed employment. Then as soon as he got here he was givign the run around, and still cant work in his fieid of study.

He sold his business back home, and also quit a job to come here to this.

It is a racist scamm!! Economic enslavement.

In the past we (peoples of the global south ) were captured and brought here. Now we pay to come here, and the inhumane treatment continues. Despite all the rethoric about human rights.

If the govt and mainstream society were really about human rights, the deplorable treatment of First Nations people of Canada would not exist.

[ 12 June 2007: Message edited by: AfroHealer ]