With respect to multiculturalism, there are a few key concerns with a continued increase in temporary foreign workers. As it stands right now, many of those workers find themselves in vulnerable situations. They don't have access to the settlement services that are in place for immigrants. They are largely excluded from Canadian society, and they find it very difficult to integrate, because they're not really supposed to; they're supposed to come here, do the work, and then leave. That's predominantly the case for all of the low-skilled foreign workers I'm talking about.
So that imposes significant problems already, without Bill C-50. With Bill C-50, my concern is that we'll see an expansion of that, and there would be nothing to address the present problems that are already a real concern and have been voiced by NGOs, migrants, and other researchers.
The other point is that with the discretionary powers, you have a situation where foreign workers don't have any particular path for permanent residency. Let's say they do apply. They are often without their families for prolonged periods of time. They're seen as workers, not immigrants or families--potentially not as people connected to others. I think for multiculturalism, if you have people staying in a country for two or three years or longer—in a seasonal agricultural worker program, the average is between eight and ten years to participate in the program; those people don't integrate into society. It creates more conflict, because you have groups that are basically outside the system. That's a real problem.
Also, foreign workers cannot sponsor their families, and there would be no obligation with Bill C-50 for the minister to consider that either.