Human Resources Committee on May 8th, 2020

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Vaughan.

To clarify, under the current non-essential travel ban that exists with the United States, we have entered into a concurrent arrangement whereby we are returning to the United States those who arrive at official points of entry. When they arrive at the official point of entry, the safe third country agreement continues to apply as a means of ensuring due process and the rights that would apply in those circumstances.

In between official points of entry, we have successfully sought and obtained assurances from the United States that those protections will be in place, but at the same time that those who are turned back will be allowed to return to Canada should they choose to pursue their asylum claim.

In terms of the additional numbers, if you'll just give me one moment, I will provide you with an update, but I will say that the numbers have been quite manageable in the interim. I think it is a reflection of the fact that the agreement is working, that our system is working.

If you'll indulge me and move on to your next question, I will continue to get those numbers and provide them in my subsequent answer.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Sure.

Just to confirm, the support for the Toronto shelter system, combined with our annual allotment of $157 million and the top-up from our department, the $42 million extra that's being sent to the City of Toronto, amounts to almost twice what they received last year. Is that part of the negotiations that you're involved with in terms of looking for additional top-ups that may be required to accommodate some of the pressures that large cities face?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

First, thank you for highlighting the additional financial commitments and supports that have been delivered to the City of Toronto, and indeed to municipalities right across the country.

Yes, of course I will continue to make the case for those supports as required, because municipalities are an important partner when it comes to the work that we do in landing refugees.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

In terms of the numbers that have come in, what are the arrival numbers in the last month?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

In terms of the actual physical individuals who have come in, what I have here is that we had 12 at our airports, four who arrived at our marine ports and 37 by land. That is just within the COVID-19 period.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

In terms of irregular claims, the Conservative member referenced a concern. How many irregular claims across land bridges have we had in the last month?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Vaughan, I will have to come back to you with that precise number, but in the last report it was in the low teens.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

In my understanding, it's 11. Would 11 people be consistent with the number that you've seen for people who have come across the land bridges?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

It would be. I just don't want to commit to that number, because it was a few days ago, but I'm confident in saying that it's in that range.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

In terms of the impact on the shelter system, would that significantly reduce that pressure for cities like Toronto?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I think that the logic follows. Of course, that doesn't mean we don't have an obligation to our vulnerable populations. As I pointed out in answer to Mr. Turnbull, and as you well know, Mr. Vaughan, because you are a vociferous advocate in this area, we are continuing to provide that support to municipalities to take care of every person who is in those vulnerable populations.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

I have one last question on temporary foreign workers.

We know that under the Conservatives, a number of fast food restaurants availed themselves of this program. I'm just making sure that we're not staffing up service jobs, which could be filled by Canadians, with temporary foreign workers, and that the temporary foreign worker program is focused on highly skilled labour required for the agricultural sector.

Is that the priority?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

It is, but just before I come to the rest of my answer, I have an update on the question you just asked. It appears that there are 24 individuals who have sought claims, and that is the most recent number we have.

Yes, of course, the temporary foreign worker program is designed, as I say, to ensure that we fill those gaps for which it had been difficult to recruit domestic labour. There are programs that put the appropriate focus on the seasonal agricultural sector as well as the seafood sector precisely to achieve that end.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Vaughan.

Ms. Chabot, you have two and a half minutes.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Is this the second round?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Yes, this is the second round.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Great.

Minister, I would like to emphasize a point. You are right in saying that the situation in the agricultural industry is urgent. As you said, temporary foreign workers are essential in the processing and fishing sectors. When the first of these long-awaited workers arrived, there was a problem, and these sectors count on those workers.

The first problem is that you handed the responsibility for quarantining these workers over to farmers, who were given a nominal amount to do so. In our opinion, that was a mistake. We already know that there is a shortage of workers. We want to ensure that all of the jobs in this sector are filled as quickly as possible and that the government takes responsibility for the quarantining and health of these workers.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Ms. Chabot, we share that objective. As I said, there are resources in place to help the industry. We implemented protection mechanisms to help temporary workers. I gave several examples. We will continue to look for solutions.

I would like to say a few words about support for

the seafood workers.

My colleague, Minister Jordan, announced recently $62.5 million in initiatives that will provide maintenance and inventory supports that will add additional storage capacity and will also address health and safety conditions. This is in addition to all of the support that my colleague, Madam Bibeau, has announced in the agricultural sector for farmers.

When you take all of these measures together, Madam Chabot, you see that our government is really fulfilling our commitment to the sector and to the workers who are arriving here in a great number, as I said. There was good progress in April, and we will continue to make that progress going forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Chabot.

The last questioner is Ms. Kwan, for two and a half minutes.

Ms. Kwan, you have the floor.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

On the issue around open work permits, I hope the minister will expedite changing those permits for workers who have been impacted from an employer-specific work permits to open work permits across the country.

On the question around migrant workers and undocumented workers—those who have an expired social insurance number or those without a social insurance number at all—can the minister give us a quick update on what progress has been made in supporting these workers?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

My understanding after engaging with CRA and ESDC is that if the individuals in question meet the criteria for eligibility under the CERB, they can apply using their SIN, which does not expire for tax purposes, regardless of the status of their work permit. Depending on their situation, they might or might not be able to apply online, but they will be able to do so through the call centre.

As I mentioned in my conversations with you, we are looking at ways to ensure that all vulnerable populations are receiving access and eligibility to the programs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Would those workers with an expired SIN, though, who would not be eligible, as well as those who are undocumented workers, be able to use their ITN, their individual tax number, to apply for emergency benefits?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I'm sorry. I don't have a definitive answer for you on that last question, but I do know that my staff is continuing to engage with our colleagues in different department to try to get some clarity.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I have two quick questions.

It has been brought to my attention that IRCC's phone line for MPs for non-emergency cases has ceased. When will that resume?

Second, can you give a quick update on what's happening with the application process for parents and grandparents? It has been delayed since the beginning of the year. No doubt COVID has impacted this as well. When can we see that program resume?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

First, I'm happy to speak with you offline about any service interruptions. If you have concerns, you can always send me an email and we'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

With regard to the parents and grandparents program, we remain committed to our work in reuniting families. No government has done more. We've had to defer the relaunch of the program. It was our intention to do so at the beginning of April, but because of COVID-19, we've pushed that back. I'll have more to say going forward.