Evidence of meeting #82 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was abuse.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Not necessarily; the reality is that there are people who come here and there is no intention for them to either stay—
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
If we believe in international labour mobility, we have to look as well at partner countries and how they welcome similarly situated people who come to them from Canada.
I think, in a sense, with great respect, you are mixing apples and oranges. Whether we're talking about international students who may or may not want to stay here—
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Well, you cited numbers that have nothing to do with temporary foreign workers. Temporary foreign workers are only [Inaudible—Editor]—
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
There weren't 700,000 temporary foreign workers in that program in the last year. If you're talking about the international mobility program, we're talking about a million. That's a different regulatory category with open work permits.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you, Minister. Time is up.
We will move to the next round.
Mr. Maguire, you have five minutes, please.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Minister, you have been in your position for three months. Congratulations.
Have you visited a farm that employs temporary foreign workers?
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
As I mentioned to your colleague, I have met with representatives, but I have not visited a farm, no.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Neither has the special UN rapporteur.
You stated in a recent interview that the government needs to "cohesively and comprehensively" respond to the reality that temporary foreign workers are often exploited in the agriculture sector. You must have hard data to back up that claim.
I'm just looking for a number. Since 2015, how many farmers have been banned from using foreign workers?
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
We do have statistics for you, Larry, on various levels of enforcement, whether it is a ban or a regulatory citation. Just for reference—it's worth reading into the record—there are 310 employers that can't access IMP or TFW for a variety of reasons, one with a permanent ban and 18 with a temporary ban.
November 7th, 2023 / 4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Thanks.
A recent government report stated, and I think your number has just confirmed it, that almost 95% of businesses are fully compliant with the temporary foreign worker program. For the ones that are not, many of the concerns were administrative in nature, from the reports that I've read, and only a handful were deemed to be of a serious nature.
I'm just looking for a yes or no: Under your watch, do you believe there is wide-scale abuse being conducted by farmers?
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Look, I don't know who you're trying to defend here. We're trying to get the people who have committed some bad acts. I don't want to cast aspersions on an industry. Neither do you, but feel free, if you want.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
—if you have any kind of a number. I mean, 95% of your own businesses are saying they're compliant.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
But 1% is too much. I mean, that's the issue that we have to drive at. I'm not trying to attack an industry. There are some really good actors. That isn't the intention of anything that we're saying, but if there's one bad actor, we have to crack down on it. We're Canada.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Thank you, Mr. Minister.
To follow up on what my colleagues have said, the UN special rapporteur has said that the temporary foreign worker program constitutes “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”.
Under your watch, are you allowing forms of slavery to happen?
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Marc Miller Liberal Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
I don't agree with the sentiment. I don't agree with the statement, but as I have said, I am concerned about the people he spoke to. That's something I think we need to focus on as a government.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I'm glad of your answer.
With regard to the Criminal Code in Canada, the government passed three parts in 2017—section 279.011, section 279.02 and section 279.03.
How many cases of slavery are under investigation by the RCMP in Canada today?
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
