The Liberal party’s promise to promote and protect Canada’s national parks falls short of what is needed particularly because it encompasses a proposal to create 5,000 youth jobs at the expense of secure and stable employment at Parks Canada.
The Liberals have indicated that they will address staff shortages by hiring young workers as guides, interpreters and in other positions at Parks Canada instead of creating regular employment opportunities.
“We are concerned that this approach will lead to unfair working conditions for younger workers, and it does not constitute real and meaningful reinvestment in our national parks,” said Doug Marshall, president of the Union of National Employees, a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Students who are employed by Parks Canada are paid separate and inferior wages under the Federal Student Work Experience Program. In the name of gaining work experience they are paid less than the workers they replace yet they perform the same work as regular employees.
Job creation is not about trading one type of job for another. Good jobs for young workers should not be created at the expense of workers already employed.
PSAC calls on the Liberal Party to create good jobs for young workers that are stable, paid a fair rate and provide career opportunities but not at the expense of the current workforce at Parks Canada.