Christy Clark was quoted in a Times of India story, saying, "India needs a million skilled workers every year. We can help. If we can help train 3,000 and 300 of them help us build an LNG industry, it's good for you and it's good for us."
The NDP says her comments prove she plans to bring in cheap labour, instead of ensuring LNG jobs go to British Columbians first.
Responding to the allegations Thursday, Clark says her comments were taken out of context by the opposition NDP.
"We believe that British Columbians have to be first in line for these jobs, but it's also true that there will be some need for some temporary workers to come in and support these projects when there are peaks in production and construction because we simply don't have enough people," said Clark.
"I am really troubled by the NDP's hostility to people who come here on temporary credentials."
Officials in the premier's office say Clark's comments referred to the possibility of B.C. universities setting up satellite campuses in India, along with student and faculty exchanges.
"There's no agreement for 3,000 training spaces or 300. I wasn't referring to any agreement at all, when I was talking about that;" said Clark.
There are currently 74,000 temporary foreign workers in B.C.
Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: cbc
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