Thank you.
Thank you, Minister, for appearing before the committee today.
I want to start my questions with the temporary foreign worker program, specifically the seasonal agricultural worker stream. I know it's under another department, but this has to do with agricultural workers and the farms they work on. I've been meeting with a lot of stakeholders who said their applications used to be processed in about six weeks. It has gone up to 20 weeks. We're in a situation now where you have farmers who are in dire need of a labour pool, you have workers who want to work, and they are dealing with a perishable product.
I would like to know, Minister, what are you, and what is your department, doing in working with other ministers to get a resolution to this problem so both labourers and the people who employ them can fill these jobs. I recognize we need to safeguard the rights of workers, but I would like to know what you specifically are doing to try to make this an easier time for both interested parties, please.