Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for sharing their valuable time with us today.
Mr. Webster, thank you for being with us. I got to know you and your mother, Muriel. I'm very happy that she reached the ripe age of over 100 years of age. Your whole family was very respected in our community, but your mother had roots here in Ottawa; I believe it was in the mid-sixties that she was in charge of the Ottawa Cancer Clinic in Ottawa. She was a very well-respected nurse and radiologist. Then the family moved out to Langley, where we were happy to have you as a family live and grow up.
We're here today to talk about the temporary foreign worker program and changes that are needed.
You mentioned, Mr. Webster, that the process you went through to get your mother a live-in care provider in the home took 14 to 16 months and then you had to ask to get your application reinstated. The total process took 21 months.
We had an official from Citizenship and Immigration Canada here on Monday, two days ago, and we were told the process takes 56 days, yet you shared that it was 14 to 16 months, and it then became 21 months. There's a huge discrepancy between 56 days and 21 months.
The government is considering having those who apply and qualify for a TFW, after an LMIA, immediately get permanent resident status to deal with the issues of people not being well cared for, which we've heard some very sad stories about. Even now we've just heard a very sad story.
We heard that the process for getting permanent resident status is, according to CIC, about a six-month process, as opposed to a 56-day process, because you have to go into more detail for permanent resident status. The government's now considering having permanent resident status come with the TFW approval. Then the big question is, is it going to take longer to get a TFW, or is the process going to be streamlined so that then we would not be screening adequately?
If the government moves ahead so that your approval for a TFW comes with permanent resident status, what do you think of that idea? Will it slow the process down, or speed the process up? Could you comment?
In your case, you showed incredible compassion and care, particularly to the women who had worked and cared for your mother, Muriel. Even after her death, you treated them like family members to make sure that they were taken care of, even with accommodation. How do we make sure that we create a system that protects TFWs and avoid some of the very sad stories that we've heard? You're a prime example of how it's done right, so could you comment.
Thank you.