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> The South Africans are here for diplomatic reasons more than anything So it's just a Trudeau-like "diversity" hire or something? Not to say that in a mean wa
by MichaelGG 10y ago
> The South Africans are here for diplomatic reasons more than anything
So it's just a Trudeau-like "diversity" hire or something? Not to say that in a mean way, just that they are not the most qualified and have only received minimal training.
I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't being praised as "South African government sees it as repaying a debt to the Canadian people for their support for the anti-apartheid struggle"[1]. Let's just call it an aid program and be done?
1: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/300-south-african-firefighters-are-trained-and-headed-to-fort-mcmurray/article30197182/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/300-south-afric...
- Kluny 10y agoYeah, they need experience and training, so they're here to get it.
- MichaelGG 10y agoThey're also getting paid for it. I'm not against it, just annoyed how it's being published. The real story is "Canada gives South Africa over $2M, trains firefighters". Not "South Africa helps out Canada; pays back apartheid debt". It's shameful to spin it like that.
- sintaxi 10y agoI for one am very grateful they are here to help. Should be a clear win for both sides.
- astrodust 10y agoTalk about experience. That's got to be crazy for them.
- rpgmaker 10y ago> So it's just a Trudeau-like "diversity" hire or something? Are you implying that they're all black because they're from South Africa?
- MichaelGG 10y agoWhy wouldn't they be "diverse" (as in different) if they were white SAs? Though every picture and video seems to imply there's probably few to zero white firefighters that came over. But that might just be selective photography. (To be fair the pictures don't seem to show any women either, but the official number is around 60, or slightly greater than 20%.)