Evidence of meeting #92 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.
12:25 p.m.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
I want the rest of my time back, Mr. Chair.
I lost way too much time because of the technical problems.
The two and a half minutes will go by quickly.
12:25 p.m.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Would you say that Canada should follow the lead of those countries in reforming closed work permits?
12:25 p.m.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, United Nations, As an Individual
Yes, I agree that the workers should be able to choose their employers, if they wish, at their own will. That's what I have recommended.
12:25 p.m.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
You are telling me that those countries are an example for Canada. According to your logic, if Quebec were to obtain more immigration powers and eliminated closed work permits, it would become an example to be followed in the rest of Canada.
12:25 p.m.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, United Nations, As an Individual
Certainly. Quebec has the power to do so, and I think for consistency that should spread across the country at the federal level.
12:25 p.m.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
So we have come to the conclusion that the more powers Quebec has in immigration, the better off we are.
Thank you, UN rapporteur.
I'll give the rest of my time to my colleague Jenny Kwan.
12:25 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I just want to touch on the issue around undocumented workers. I think I heard you say that the government should be undertaking regularization for the undocumented workers. Can you expand on that just a little bit?
In addition, I want to ask about enforcement. Right now—and you touched on it in your opening statement—the government does these on-call type reviews as well as giving the employer advance notice. What do you think should be done in terms of the enforcement part of this situation?
12:25 p.m.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, United Nations, As an Individual
The regularization basically means to take the illegal status out of them so they will return to some kind of an immigration status allowing them to receive all the support that they need, particularly when they are being exploited. I think that's happening in various parts of the country. If they are victims, then they should be protected.
I think Australia just recently passed legislation on employer compliance and increasing the protection for undocumented migrant workers. I think that is a good move. I do hope that Canada could also move towards that.
On the enforcement, sorry, could you repeat that?
12:25 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Yes, on the question around enforcement, what do you think the government should do? Should the government be really embarking on practices of notifying the employer that they are coming or simply giving them a call, as opposed to visiting them unannounced on site to ensure that there are no violations?
12:25 p.m.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, United Nations, As an Individual
Yes, I think more unannounced visits should happen.
12:25 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Finally, some witnesses were suggesting that putting in a process for these workers to form a union would better protect their rights. Would you support that recommendation of unionization for these migrant workers?
12:25 p.m.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, United Nations, As an Individual
Absolutely, yes. That's a fundamental right guaranteed under international human rights and labour laws. They should have that opportunity equally with Canadian citizens.
12:25 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
One issue that people have raised is getting legal representation when they face exploitation. Many people can't afford it and don't have that advocacy. Would you support the government's providing resources to support migrant workers to access legal representation?
12:30 p.m.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, United Nations, As an Individual
Yes, I think that's a sensible move. I think that would be a very positive step forward.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you very much, Mr. Obokata, for appearing.
I'm going to suspend the meeting. We'll go in camera now.
[Proceedings continue in camera]