Saturday, September 02, 2006
Fish Out of Water: Cape Bretoners Caught in Calgary Sexual Luring Scheme
Calgary, AB (FN) - Charges were laid today in a Calgary court in a bizarre incident that served to underline the problems of Alberta's overheated economy.
Guy McCadoo, owner of a chain of Smitty's Restaurant franchises and Barry LaRue, McCadoo's partner in a number of nightclub and brewpub operations, faced charges of fraud and unlawful misrepresentation in their efforts to bring residents of Cape Breton to work in Alberta.
The oil-rich Canadian province is in the grips of an acute labour shortage that has seen wages sky-rocket and has led employers to go on mass recruitment drives overseas and in economically-depressed areas of Canada. Chief among recruitment target areas is Cape Breton, an Atlantic region that suffers from high unemployment and is known primarily for fiddle music, inbreeding and the hit TV series Trailer Park Boys.
McCadoo and LaRue are alleged to have brought hapless Cape Breton men to work in their restaurants by deceiving them into thinking they were going to work in the sex trade.
"I answered an ad that said 'Service rich older women in Canada's boomtown'. I had visions of being sent to a cheap brothel where I would be given room and board and have sex with women 10 times a day. Maybe they would even give me a few dollars of walking around money. Instead, I ended up waiting tables at Smitty's for $4,000 a month plus tips. It was humiliating," said former Sydney resident Archie McCauley.
Social workers say that many Cape Bretoners lured into the Calgary restaurant trade find it nearly impossible to get out on their own.
"These so-called 'employers' keep control of them by making their victims dependent on monthly paycheques. Not only do these cheques become addictive but they also leave the Cape Bretoners ineligible for government support and welfare benefits, making it all but impossible for them to return to a normal life back home," says Elizabeth Barlow, a social rescue worker in Calgary's uptown core.
For many Cape Bretoners, shame keeps them from attempting escape and returning home.
"No one in my family has had a paying job for three generations. How can I go home now and face my family after I've had someone pay me to do something? I'm damaged goods," says McCauley.
posted by Mentok @ 1:49 p.m.,
1 Comments:
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At 9:21 p.m.,
jamwall said...
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now if your a resident of britain and a major industry shuts down or experiences massive labor cuts, you can either bounce back by becoming a male stripper or you can play for a brass band.
i'm serious! i saw that happen in at least two movies!
