A nation where business unusual is usual business

Even after signing the dotted lines to work for a governmental or quasi-governmental agency in Ontario, Canada, it’s too early to jubilate. There’s a foot in the door; but there are what lawyers call consideration to getting a contract. A slew of tests, some physical and others online awaits. Depending on the job specification, a […]

Even after signing the dotted lines to work for a governmental or quasi-governmental agency in Ontario, Canada, it’s too early to jubilate. There’s a foot in the door; but there are what lawyers call consideration to getting a contract. A slew of tests, some physical and others online awaits. Depending on the job specification, a form sends you to a medical doctor to affirm to the state of your health. If you were a Naija, used to doing things the way Naija does things, you would say – no biggie, the doctor is my friend – right? Wrong.
In Ontario as in most parts of the developed world, the doctor takes his work very seriously. His license to practice depends on it. From the first day you registered at the clinic, a file stores your medical history. No matter how friendly your doctor they would never sign a paper giving you a clean bill of health if you have an ailment that might impede your satisfactory performance at the workplace. Okay, let’s put it simply, the doctor would not doctor your medical report. His signature could lead the withdrawal of license to practice and a number of judgment debts that could lead to bankruptcy.
Usually, because most immigrants (I use the term loosely) from the developing world have scant medical history, obligatory vaccinations records are obscured. You or your parents might have a religious obligation that makes you frown at MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), tetanus, whooping cough and the whole nine-yard of vaccines, but your DNA reveals the truth. So, the doctor sends you to the laboratory, which practically draws blood, run tests and sends the results back. If you are a human vector waiting to unleash, it is obligatory that a report is made to the appropriate channels who might invite you in for a chat that might include who you have been intimate with if the albeit dormant disease you’re carrying is contagious.
Gladly, Canadian government law protects your rights not to be discriminated against based on a sickness that may not unnecessarily impede your performance on the job, your age, gender, religious or sexual orientation. It would seem that the object of this is to ensure that you are physically and mentally fit to the job for which you are potentially being hired but more importantly, that you are not a vector terrorist whose medical condition could imperil or endanger the lives of other co-workers or members of the public. This is a cardinal responsibility of good governance.
After this procedure, another right is a tour of your prospective office. This ensures familiarity with safety and evacuation procedures in case of emergency, especially fire exits. You get to know if you have access to certain places or not and under what conditions. You are encouraged to ask a ton or more of questions – that is your right.
You must pass the Ontario Health and Safety Awareness Training for Employees, an online exam that comes with a video and written material stating your rights and duties in the workplace and those of your employers and supervisors. The test is obligatory and the certificate is valid only for a year. You must return annually to study the material and pass the test – your job evaluation and even pay is dependent on it – because safety is not an option, it is a duty.
Why we must travel this boring route would be obvious as we go along. I have been blessed with travels across most parts of the globe. Scholarships and study trips from groups and bodies that I hardly knew have come to me on merit. Loosely defined, I have been working since I was 13. I do not remember anytime where any orientation included how to comport myself in the workplace. Not even as a student in the university were my rights or obligations explained to me in Naija.
As a journalist, I have covered government agencies including stints as correspondent in Aso Rock (by the way the VP has finally qualified to make his first overseas trip to Papua New Guinea after a one year loyalty test  – ope o!). I do not remember ever schooled on fire drills even in Aso Rock and I challenge anyone to prove the contrary. Not once did I witness a fire drill. There was one within two weeks of my residency at Francis Rowley Court in England as a student and several others after that. Here, I am obligated to provide fire alarm on every floor of my residence and a flame detector at the kitchen level of residence – it’s the law!
I remember asking my children if they knew their evacuation point as pupils in a popular school in Abuja. They looked at me in shock and must have thought I was going bunkers. Today, they know all about lockdowns and what to do in case of an earthquake. I worked at The Dome, without fire drills. I see fire hoses in the Federal Secretariat, Abuja but no evil servant has EVER been tested on fire drills or evacuation procedures.
…to be continued