Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Minister. Thank you for being with us this morning.
I am going to talk about labour, particularly in the pork production sector, which, as you know, is very important in Quebec and Ontario.
One employer in my riding employs 1,200 workers, but it is currently short 300 to meet the need. The labour shortage translates into overflowing piggeries, and the farmers are seriously starting to consider euthanasia.
The percentage of hirees who can be foreign workers has been raised from 10% to 20%. At the beginning of the year, you announced that the process for integrating these workers was going to be simplified and improved. But last year, the employer I just mentioned was short 200 employees, and it is now short 300. So the situation has not improved.
What is happening in the departments? Why can the foreign workers not be brought in as quickly as possible?