QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
Temporary Foreign Workers
October 1, 2024
Leader, the Liberal Toronto Star newspaper reported that in January of 2022 the Trudeau government directed staff processing temporary foreign worker applications to apply streamlining measures designed to get faster approvals. Staff were instructed to skip routine checks meant to prevent fraud, including contacting employers to confirm that they had actually applied to hire a worker.
The Star reported:
. . . since the directive to speed up application reviews came down from national headquarters, staff have scaled back on approximately “50 per cent of what we’re supposed to read on the application” and that, while potential fraud is reported, “nothing” happens.
Which member of this NDP-Liberal government directed staff to skip these fraud-prevention checks?
As your question unfolded, senator, it took me by surprise. I thought you were adding the “Liberal Toronto Star,” to quote your words, to another institution that you have decided to disparage. I’m not sure what will be left when, finally, Question Period is over.
To your question, if you think about what we’ve been talking about today, the challenge is always about finding the right balance between the time that applications will take and the importance to businesses, to communities, to have the workers that they so desperately need. Although I don’t know the specific reasons why individual members dealing with these issues decided to work more efficiently on those applications, I will certainly raise the question with the minister.
Of course, only a Liberal would consider $8 million chump change or holding the Liberal government to account as disparaging.
The United Nations recently called the NDP-Liberal government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program a “. . . breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” That’s on your watch, Senator Gold.
Leader, don’t Canadians deserve a common-sense Conservative government that will put an end to this horrendous mismanagement of our immigration system?
This government has taken this seriously and has made significant changes to address the reprehensible treatment that some temporary workers have experienced at the hands of employers. It is working with provincial counterparts as well because of the shared responsibility, in many cases, that governments have for the welfare of residents within their territory, and they will continue to do so.
