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[itsem]

Just got this email.. worth a shot since the current one year visa is way too short..


I would like to thank you in advance for taking some time to sign our petition for changes to the working holiday visa program.



We are hoping to submit this petition this spring 2007 to the House of Commons in Ottawa for consideration.

You can find the online petition listed at the link below.





http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/amendm...sa-program.html





Amending the working holiday visa program is a realistic, attainable solution to help offset labour shortages with in the tourism and related service industries throughout Canada.



I encourage you to pass this email along to as many friends, colleagues, business associates, within your respected networks as possible.

[siscri]

OK, I've signed it...but I'm generally slightly skeptical when it comes to on-line petitions. I can't believe they hold much merit or are taken too seriously due to the ease at which they can be artificially generated. And sometimes you get the impression someone has just whipped them up on a whim and then entirely forgotten about them. Still, you never know, but I'd think seriously about it before spamming these things throughout your address book. Why not take the time to write an actual letter to the people who have a say in these matters?

[Jessica_CDN]

Here's the problem as I see it with online petitions.

They're international.

However, the people who vote for the government are not - they're all within Canada. More specifically, in our first-past-the-post system, unless a member of parliament gets a petition from his or her constituents, it is unlikely to have any effect. More to the point, unless MANY members of the current ruling party receive petitions from their constituents, it won't even be worth looking at.

So yeah....while you may have a point, it seems a little pointless.

[itsem]

Good news for those lucky enough to benefit from this - They have extended temporary foreign visas to two years!

[ScottWoz]

Really? For the working holiday visa? And the age restriction?

[wakingdream]

I searched for something re: the amendment but couldn't find anything. I did find this brief article from workpermit.com.

The Whistler Chamber if Commerce is also petitioning to completely eliminate the age restriction. I signed it too, but I would also question the effectiveness of the petition. We would need more provinces on board here, although Whistler is quite a major tourist hub and running out of labourers is a problem....