These are very difficult issues, Mr. Chair, and there's no denying that more work needs to be done in these areas.
When it comes to the activities of recruiters overseas, it's very difficult for CIC to have enforcement action taken against foreign-based recruiters. For example, we would require the cooperation of local law enforcement agencies that may in fact be operating in full compliance with local legislation. That does make it problematic should we think that temporary foreign workers could have been mistreated.
As part of our moving forward with regulatory changes, however, we recognize that there are situations where employees who have come to Canada will find themselves in situations of distress not of their own making. We would want to look at appropriate remedies, so that the employer, or the employer because of their activities, is penalized for any action that has caused distress or made the worker more vulnerable, and not penalize the worker. So we would look at some sort of regime to provide a safety net for workers in those types of situations.