Liberals to JobWave: You're Fired
$8 million job training contract cancelled; work goes to B.C. competitor.
Premier Campbell gives plaque to JobWave graduate in 2005.
The company that pioneered private job placement services in B.C. for people receiving welfare has lost an $8 million government contract in the province's Interior.
A message sent on Aug. 8 by ASPECT-B.C.'s Community Based Trainers to its members working in the sector said the Ministry of Housing and Social Development had cancelled the Interior region contract with WCG International Consultants Ltd., which runs the JobWave program. The company continues to provide B.C. Employment Program services in other regions of the province.
Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman is away until Sept. 2 and was unavailable for comment. A ministry media contact said nobody could speak about the cancelled contract in his absence. "It's at that level."
JobWave's main media contact is Robin Adair, WCG's vice-president of communications and government relations. The former television reporter worked on the campaign of a winning Liberal candidate in 2001. Adair did not return calls.
"The BCEP contract for the Interior is currently being re-tendered to a select group of two organizations that are currently delivering BCEP services in other areas of the province," said the message to the community groups. The government had asked GT Hiring Solutions (2005) Inc. and the B.C. Society of Training for Health and Employment Opportunities to bid on the contract. "The goal is to have a new contractor determined as soon as possible to ensure no gaps in service."
A THEO B.C. official said the company learned on Aug. 26 that the contract had gone to GT Hiring Solutions.
American owner
A year ago, Tucson, Arizona-based Providence Service Corporation bought WCG. The company, which specializes in providing social services paid for by governments, has a reputation for never losing contracts. The WCG purchase was Providence's first foray into Canada.
A Providence official said she would pass questions on to CEO Fletcher McCusker, who was in a meeting. He did not call back.
In 2007-2008, according to the detailed schedule of payments included with the province's public accounts, the B.C. government spent $30.9 million with WCG. WCG's largest competitor is GT Hiring Solutions (2005) Inc., which runs the Destinations program and did $7.1 million in business with the government that year.
There have been concerns about WCG's JobWave program in the past. In April, NDP critic Jagrup Brar focussed several hours of questions on the $30-million sale, alleging the Liberal government had helped "their friends" get the company ready to sell.
A 2004 government report found JobWave and other private sector employment programs were unlikely to deliver the government the savings they'd promised. The government redesigned its employment programs in 2005, but continued working with the same main contractors.
Expansion plans thwarted
A few years ago WCG had plans to expand JobWave style programs throughout North America. It opened JobWave America, but never won any business in the United States. The branch was folded when Providence bought the company.
WCG won a contract in 2005 to provide a pilot project, JobsNow, in Ontario. The pilot ended over a year ago and has not been renewed. The Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services prepared an evaluation of the project but has not released it. Originally scheduled for a fall 2007 release, the ministry's website now says it will be released in summer 2008.
WCG parent company Providence Service Corporation released its second quarter results in early August. A week earlier Providence had cut its profit outlook, causing investors to dump so much of its stock that the company lost nearly half of its market value.
The B.C. government made changes to the welfare system in 2002 that were meant to move people from income assistance into jobs. It spends about $70 million a year on job programs, mainly with private contractors, plus over $25 million to administer the programs.
Related Tyee stories:
- Brar Targets Job Program Sale
NDP critic raises concerns about timing, client privacy. - 'Welfare to Work' Didn't Work
BC Libs sat on own report showing no real gains. - Libs' Welfare-to-Jobs Program a Bust, Reveals Delayed Report
Loses $13 million, high failure rate and neediest not served.
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15
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Frank
3 years ago
Note to JobWave
Not to worry, there's help available to teach you how to be a better employee so you don't get fired. Also, don't be down, we'll write you a better resume asap and although you might not make as much as you did before we can find you something not too demeaning.
Bailey
3 years ago
Dear Frank
Some, questions occur to me from reading your short post. My curiosity is getting the better of my better judgement, so I'll ask.
-Who are you talking to? It reads like an answer, but it's the first post, so...?
-You refer to yourself as 'we'. Are you:
involved in the corporate programs described above?
an editor?
the Queen?
identifying a mite too hard with this?
-What exactly in your estimation would be
would $6 an hour do it? $8?
Frank
3 years ago
Bailey
Jobwave. Which is why I said "Note to JobWave" Just as you addressed your post to "Frank" which I assumed meant me.
I'm speaking to JobWave the way the people in these programs speak to their "clients".
Bailey, I'm sure you know people that have been forced into stupid government mandated programs before they can collect their benefits. I know I have. They're treated like they're idiots or children. Very demeaning.
Yet these "clients" are forced to be there or they don't receive their benefits. Ever seen an older worker being treated like he's an imbecile by a 20 year old member of the Young Liberals who is supposedly there to teach him how to get a job? Its not pretty.
The article sounds to me like the shoe is on the other foot. A large corporation has lost a job.
My only regret is that another company gets money from the gov't instead of people who need it.
Unless you've invested in a Liberal campaign worker's company I don't see why you'd find my post annoying.
ted...
3 years ago
funeral any one ...?
I know of a person who was "cut-off" welfare,
and forced onto one these FAKE JOB PROGRAMS....!
The company told welfare that the client,
wasn't co-operating
The client wasn't able to pay-rent,,,
and they were evicted...
They lived on the streets of a week-end ,
before taking their own life ...!
----- Sadly suicide death's are NOT QUANTIFIED
they are NOT reported...!!!!!!!!!
I mean ,
other-wise , we'd see the direct result
of these "PIE-IN-THE-SKY " programs...
We see the depravity of the Cambell liberals ...
(desperately seeking success , in programs
that are punitive & demeaning... ! )
---- as Frank points out -----
the neo-con operator's of these programs,
act like Hitler-Youth.
---- Go talk to Doctor Natal
@ victoria's Street-Link Clinic
and you'll find out ,
how many suicide-deaths he tries to prevent
each & every week ...!
he'll also let you know ,
how welfare is the major cause of it...!
-------- Talk to Rev-Al Tysick
he'll tell you about the funeral's,
he attends every week ...
Rev-Al also knows the cause ...!!!!!
-------- Funerals any one ...?
attend one of these funerals...
you'll meet friends of the deceased ,,,
certainly , they'll tell you about their buddy's last days ...!!!!!
- lastly ,
who pays the "Carbon-Tax" on the cremation
of poor people who give up ...?????
ted...
(aren't you happier now...?
, it's one less mouth to feed )
One less factor ,
shattering our fragile economy eh ...!
>>> not that your next <<<
when they attacked the Union's,
I wasn't in a Union , so I said nothing.
When they came after the senior-bus-passes
I said nothing because I wasn't that old ...
When they went after the poor & people on welfair ,,,?
I said nothing because (you know )
But when they came after me ...?
there was nobody left to protest...!!!!!
>>>>>>>> sound familiar ...?
think about it ...
bob the cat
3 years ago
righteous brother
Thats it Ted...depraved..you got it
Great post man...thanks
Bailey
3 years ago
So much for my sense of irony...
Dear Frank; Sorry, on first reading I just missed it. Reading back, it's clear what you were getting at, but at the time it just seemed so odd. Mea culpa.
I completely agree with your premise. It's impossible for private interests to be hired to protect society from the consequences of the commercial/military mindset that permeates the private sector.
The cannot afford even to consider the extent to which they cause these problems, giving them public money to attempt to fix it places them in a profound conflict. In fact, public money is probably the crux of the whole thing. It's fiat money. It isn't earned, it's created. Or collected from those who earned it, same thing. To convert it into profit for somebody just corrupts the whole system from top to bottom.
The public service is a guarding brief. We give money to servants to provide us with protection from the consequences of profit driven interests. To give a private company money to eliminate the problem that they then depend upon for continued funds is entirely stupid.
It all reminds me of Lewis Carroll's admonition to try to believe several impossible things each day before breakfast.
Frank
3 years ago
Bailey
Thank you, I had hoped it was just a misunderstanding caused by the way I worded it.
ted...
3 years ago
thanks Bob the Cat ...
thanks Bob...
it hard enough to convince ,
Dr Frank & Rev-Al to continue their work.
they remind me ,
that it's people like yourself
people out-side the "victom's" circle
of friends and family ,,,
people who speak up
and feel something ....!
they give them their energy ,
their hart ,
and it gives them what they need
to carry-on ...!
--- something that can't be Carbon-Taxed
comodified , or "bought & sold"
on the open market...!!!!!!
ted...
no1important
3 years ago
Job Wave was a joke anyway.
Job Wave was a joke anyway. If you did not find a job in your field within a week they expected you take the first minimum wage job that came up first.
I dealt with them once and they were terrible.
ted...
3 years ago
like they did for so many clients
I don't know ....
there are too many sad case's
too many destroyed human be-ing's
--- My thoughts = opinion is ... ----
when politician's take money,
because they say they are going to do X-Y-Z,
and they don't ?????
we should be able to
,,, tow away their stuff...!
----- uhmmm ,
it called fraud ,
(obtaining "Good's or service's" under fraudulent means)
ie: telling lies when your NOT registered,
as a Lobbyist "Entertainer" or Busker ...
it's the same criminal-charge they
apply as a threat ,
to people who are on those so called ,
"welfare-to-work" programs ...
Programs , they seem to be addicted to...
Program's they seem be spending ,
" a lot of money promoting " ...!
----- wait a minute , hold on
the "game" they seem to be playing ,
is called "politics"...
and "We-the-People" get to wait
until May-28-2009
"to have our voice's heard"
(or not )
not like "we the people" have been waiting
, a very long time as it is ...!!!!!
( or that we voted each & every chance we got )
or that the rules about Our political-comment's were reduced to ( 60-day's )
or that where we vote ,
and how we vote ,
or for that matter who votes ??? ,
has all been questioned/evaluated
and evolved ... !
----- People ,
it's just a game of musical chair's
and the music end's May-28th 2009 ...!
ted...
;{-
. happy labour day
.
G West
3 years ago
Andrew
Do Ian Ferguson and his wife still have matching Mercedes? Or is he still leasing an Infiniti?
After selling out to Providence I guess they maybe aren't so interested in 'doing well' by 'doing good', eh?
bcliberals_suck
3 years ago
More of the Same, Insert Different Name
This is all just about more BC Liberal friend and insider deals. The patronage and shell games are just so tired, sordid and ugly.
Robin Adair, former CHEK TV government affairs reporter was a busy little Liberal campaigner. In 2001 he campaigned for Shirley Orr, and paid lobbyist for WCG International Ltd. on privatizing and outsourcing income assistance programs. And lucky Adair, became WCG's vice-president of communications and government relations after they landed the multi-million dollar contract from the BC Liberals.
Robin Adair & Ian Ferguson, CEO of WCG knew each other through the Victoria Chamber of Commerce and I’m sure through other Liberal connections.
Marisa Adair, Robin’s wife, also just happens to be Campbell’s Executive Director of Communications Services for the Resource Sector. According to Public Accounts for 2007/08 Ms. Adair was paid $106,553 for her communications expertise.
More on our blog:
http://bcliberalssuck.blogspot.com/
Stump
3 years ago
Arthur Griffiths
Hey y'all!
visit the blog above... and when you do, make sure you click on the Arthur Griffiths ad that Google serves up, just to the right of the content. Each click costs him money AFAIK.
Oh, then try to read the "Message from Arthur" without throwing up in your mouth a little.
G West
3 years ago
Whoops!
The Google ads change regularly...nothing from little artie just now stump
i'll check back later - after i've eaten
Lefty
3 years ago
Gordocchio
The BC Fiberals really do suck, we knew that before Glen Clark got reamed by BCTV and the RCMP.
In case anybody missed it, I just returned from the site above http://bcliberalssuck.blogspot.com/ the antics of Gordocchio and the BC Fiberals sure make the Grant Devine cons look like Angels. Here is the link again http://bcliberalssuck.blogspot.com/
Privatizing of employment services sure is weird, what exactly is being done to protect the confidentiality of the records? And just why does this service, to the public, being paid for by the public, have to carry the additional burden of a profit for a select few?
This is a new twist indeed, I've heard of making money off employed people and now their are dividends being paid out off the unemployed.
This government would sell a rat's ass to blind man as a wedding ring. I have met a couple of supporters whom I loathed even before they started telling me about their psychoanalysis. Their commonality is the fetid air of corruption only afik, I fled.