Evidence of meeting #85 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 employers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Ms. Brekveld, the time is up. Please give a short answer. Thank you.
4:35 p.m.
Chair, Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council
Rewards for working for a certain employer vary, but I've seen everything from special movie nights to providing transportation, setting up a soccer field, and a volleyball court, so that employees can be happy where they are. That is what agricultural employers do if they want to keep their employees.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you.
Mr. Possberg, as the statements you made were way shorter than four minutes, I'll give you 30 seconds.
4:35 p.m.
Kenton Possberg
Our challenge is that it's seasonal, and it's always going to be seasonal. It's never going to be full time. When the people go home, they have a life at home. They can only do that so often, because they need to start a family, or maybe they have a full-time job, so they're no longer able to come here.
However, it's the same reason we have trouble getting Canadian citizens to take these positions. Everybody wants to drive a tractor or a combine. They drive by, and think that would be a great job, but they can't raise a family on a six-month salary. They're not going to move to rural Saskatchewan.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you very much. I'm sorry. I have to stop you, Mr. Possberg. If you want to submit the answer to Madam Kwan, or Mr. Ali, you can submit that in writing.
With that, I want to thank both of you, on behalf of the committee members, for your contribution and for your time.
The meeting is suspended, so we can go in camera.
[Proceedings continue in camera]