America
Indo-Canadian politician clears air on job ad
Toronto, Aug 11
An Indo-Canadian politician
has come out with a clarification over a job posting by her party that
allegedly offered lower wages to Punjabi-speaking callers than their
English-speaking counterparts, said a media report.
India-born
Jinny Sims' New Democratic Party (NDP) had come under criticism after
the ad on classified advertisements website Craigslist, placed by
Express Employment Professionals, offering merely $13 per hour to
Punjabi-speaking callers while the party was paying $17 an hour for
English-speaking canvassers, Canada-based The VOICE reported.
Sims,
who represents the electoral district of Surrey-Newton in the Canadian
House of Commons, blamed the subcontractor for the discrepancy.
"The
NDP contracted with a company called Stratcom, who in turn
subcontracted with a job agency to recruit two (canvassers). We did not
know about the subcontractor. However, when Stratcom learned the
(canvassers) were paid less than $17 per hour, their salaries were
immediately topped up," Sims was quoted as saying in a statement.
"Contrary
to spin by the Liberals and Conservative, the subcontractor pays
exactly the same rate to all of its (canvassers), which is $17," she
added.
Sims was elected in the 2011 election.
She migrated
from India to England at the age of nine and earned a bachelor's of
education degree from the Victoria University of Manchester (now the
University of Manchester).