A Commentary by Doug Draper
Oh, now he is sorry, is he? And he really wants to “apologize.”
Gord Nixon apologizes to the Canadian people .. oh sorry did I get the wrong picture… that was Richard Nixon apololgizing to the American peope, right? And some of us may remember how much that was worth. Oh jeez, sorry. Got the wrong Nixon here. We wiill get the other Nixon from the bank in a photo below.
This rare baring of the corporate ass is coming from Gord Nixon, the president and chief executive officer of the Royal Bank of Canada, but only after it finally took a few whistleblowers from his bank and Canada’s CBC news network (and thank God it is still around) to expose RBC’s use of a bogus Canadian Foreign Workers Program administered by the Stephen Harper Conservative government to bring workers from other countries into Canada to replace our jobs for less wages and pay.
So now Thee Man from one of the big, multi-storey banking towers in Toronto – you know the ones where these soulless buildings with their one-way glass tell the rest of the world outside, as the late American author Norman Mailer once said of these corporate monoliths; ‘Whatever happens in here, we reveal nothing’, is apologizing.
You got to know that this is only because large numbers of people that kept accounts in the Royal Bank of Canada looked at what they were doing to screw their own employees – to literally train foreign workers to replace them – and said; ‘That’s it. I don’t care if I have to go to a regional bank or finance company or wherever else, but I am getting my money out of here.”
If you watch the CBC national news on television, you may have seen some of those people doing it – literally standing outside an RBC bank and saying this is my last cheque involving them. There have been Facebook and other sites that you can easily look up on Google that ask you to boycott this bank, and as it turns out, other major banks in this country for taking advantage of Harper’s program to kill Canadian jobs.
But enough of this. Here is the ‘apology’ from Royal Bank of Canada CEO Gord Nixon, whose bank saw a profit increase over the past year of more than 70 per cent and who himself is clawing in a base annual salary, before all the perks, of more than $12 million. And all he can give back to people who save money in his bank is a few dripping percentage points in interest?
Sorry once again to get the Nixons screwed up. Here is the real Gord Nixon, the Royal Bank of Canada guy, so upset here that press this week has Canadians who give a shit removing money from his bank.
Read Gord Nixon’s apology and share your comments below on Niagara At Large.
The Royal Bank of Canada issued the following open letter today to Canadians to appear in Friday’s national papers in response to an CBC News exclusive report this week that revealed dozens of employees at the bank were losing their jobs to temporary foreign workers.
An Open Letter to Canadians
RBC has been in the news this week in a way no company ever wants to be.
The recent debate about an outsourcing arrangement for some technology services has raised important questions.
While we are compliant with the regulations, the debate has been about something else. The question for many people is not about doing only what the rules require – it’s about doing what employees, clients, shareholders and Canadians expect of RBC. And that’s something we take very much to heart.
Despite our best efforts, we don’t always meet everyone’s expectations, and when we get it wrong you are quick to tell us. You have my assurance that I’m listening and we are making the following commitments.
First, I want to apologize to the employees affected by this outsourcing arrangement as we should have been more sensitive and helpful to them. All will be offered comparable job opportunities within the bank.
Second, we are reviewing our supplier arrangements and policies with a continued focus on Canadian jobs and prosperity, balancing our desire to be both a successful business and a leading corporate citizen.
Third, our Canadian client call centres are located in Canada and support our domestic and our U.S. business, and they will remain in Canada.
Fourth, we are preparing a new initiative aimed at helping young people gain an important first work experience in our company, which we will announce in the weeks ahead.
RBC proudly employs over 57,000 people in Canada. Over the last four years, despite a challenging global economy, we added almost 3,000 full-time jobs in Canada. We also hire over 2,000 youth in Canada each year and we support thousands more jobs through the purchases we make from Canadian suppliers. As we continue to grow, so will the number of jobs for Canadians.
RBC opened for business in 1864 and we have worked hard since then to earn the confidence and support of the community. Today, we remain every bit as committed to earning the right to be our clients’ first choice, providing rewarding careers for our employees, delivering returns to shareholders who invest with us, and supporting the communities in which we are privileged to operate.
I’d like to close by thanking our employees, clients, shareholders and community partners for your input and continued support.
Sincerely,
Gord Nixon President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Bank of Canada
(Niagara At Large invites you to join in the conversation by sharing your views on the content of this post below. For reasons of transparency and promoting civil dialogue, NAL only posts comments from individuals who share their first and last name with their views.)
Niagara At Large 
Couldn’t help but notice the word “Prosperity” snuck into this business case for Bank greed…did the Harper government loan a speech writer over to this greedy Executive? If you weren’t banking at a Credit Union and supporting local businesses, maybe this will empower you to start giving local proprietors the tools to create equitable working conditions in our own neighbourhoods, and start stripping these mega corporations of their power to betray our interests.
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Sure he’s sorry. Sorry he got caught. Sorry this might affect his employment. There’s so much to be sorry about.
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The people of Ontario do have other options, they are called Credit Unions and they offer nearly all of the services that Banks do, and have terrific hours and friendly , capable staff. They also have US dollars accounts, they lend for mortgages they do the whole deal. Meridian, DesJardins just to name a few.
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Atrocious, but what about Bell, Rogers and all the other big banks and insurance companies that have sent service center jobs to India and the likes?
How about the manufactured products we buy from China at the expense of Canadian jobs?
Funny thing though, the Chinese products are crap and have you ever dealt with an East Indian CSR on the phone?
Just sayin…. It’s all WRONG!
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Regardless of how shallow Gord’s apology is , it is also important to point out RBC is not the only culprit here. Many Cdn businesses (33,000) take advantage of the TFW program to shed operational costs and organizational responsibilities.. This offshore outsourcing of Cdn jobs has been happening with the Cdn government’s blessing. Citizenship & Immigration Canada even have a guidebook on how to hire Temporary Foreign Workers TFW). The fact foreign workers are paid less while here and are not required to contribute to our social benefit programs is wrong as well. If they are working here then CPP, and EI should take their money as well as their employers portion just like their Cdn competitors. This raises another question; how can a Cdn company compete without hiring TFW? PM Harper now says he will bring in new rules to stem the tide of TFW. The question is; how long would this have gone on if Cdn RBC employees had not gone public? Its not like it was on the PM’s to do list. Also, some TFW are here to actually take the jobs with them when they leave. Look out Steve, this one is going to cost you votes. I hope!
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He’s just sorry he got caught, and Harper is pissed that he screwed it up for all the Neo-Cons who are using the Temp Foreign Worker program to pressure Canadians to accept lower wages.
As to RBC “taking things to heart”;
My family’s business operated for 25 years, with a business account at Royal Trust. When RBC took it over in 1993, they sent red-suspendered hatchet men out to clean out all the mortages they weren’t interested in servicing. We were NOT in default, yet were still given 60 days to pay in full, or they would seize our business. Our accountant tried negotiating with the new Royal-Bastard-in-Charge, to no avail (quote; “Wow, what an A-hole”)
We managed to find a customer for the building just under the deadline (surprise! another banker who knew all about our plight ?!!), and wound up filling our house with the stock before eventually selling it off. This humiliation pretty much killed my Father, he was never the same afterwards.
Calling them “Reptilian Slime-Suckers” insults the cold-blooded creatures live in ooze and DON’T ruin people’s lives.
Tim Bork (theEARLofSWIRL)
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Why don’t we send a link to this discussion to Jason Kenny, Isn’t he responsible for this type of issue?
Again, everyone has to bear in mind that Canada is being sold to foreign interests by the pound! This is just the tip of the iceberg!
We live in a country that:
1) allows the sale of strategic resources to government owned corporations who are waging a war on us electronically (Nexen/CNOOC).
2) we allow the sale of key Canadian real estate exclusively to offshore interests at the expense of housing affordability to Canadians (Vancouver/BC/Asian investors).
3) we are providing the means to hostile countries, through the purchase of their second rate products, to acquire key national resources at the expense of our sovereignty.
This country could use a little dose of nationalistic pride and protectionism. You would think corporations like the RBC could lead by example in this regard.
You would think our government would be encouraging that through effective legislation and policy.
You guys must be getting tired of reading me, but just sayin……..
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