Mr. Barrett is shaking his head. They cannot collect?
Evidence of meeting #18 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was worker.
Evidence of meeting #18 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was worker.
3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Mr. Barrett is shaking his head. They cannot collect?
3 p.m.
Researcher, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
They cannot collect. We confirmed that with CPP.
3 p.m.
Researcher, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Yes.
3 p.m.
Liberal
3 p.m.
Researcher, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
The person I spoke to at CPP--
3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Sir, you're wrong. They can. If you pay into Canada Pension, you can collect Canada Pension. There are a lot of agreements with a lot of countries where you can get it directly. You can get Canada Pension, if you contributed to it, with a 25% deduction when you turn 65.
So get your facts and figures before you say anything to the committee.
I have a further question, Mr. Peppard. You talked about tracking, and Mr. Fairey you also said something about tracking. Can you tell us what you mean by tracking?
3 p.m.
Executive Director, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Tracking?
March 31st, 2008 / 3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Tracking. Both of you mentioned tracking undocumented workers. What exactly did you mean?
3 p.m.
Executive Director, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
No, sir. I haven't used the word....
I'm saying that for the temporary foreign workers, once the LMO is accepted and the workers are brought into the country, CIC does their check and that's about it. When they come into the country, they go to work for an employer.
We have alleged incidents right now, a number of alleged incidents, where employers have been taken to task by labour brokers, who are being used as vehicles for getting people into the country.
We have no tracking. When I say tracking, I mean we don't have a list of all the people who come into the country as temporary foreign workers. We don't know where they are, or even if they're working for the employer they said they were coming to work for, or what monitoring and enforcement conditions they're working under.
3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
So what exactly are you insinuating? What are you suggesting? What kind of tracking do you want?
3 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Under the live-in caregiver program in British Columbia, live-in caregivers have to be registered with the Employment Standards Branch. If the same program were required under the SAWP, for example, or any of the temporary foreign worker programs, then the Employment Standards Branch, which is the principal enforcer of employment standards and rights, would know who those workers are and where they are, and then could target their investigations and enforcement activities.
3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Investigate whom, the foreign workers or the employers?
3 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Investigate the working conditions.
3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
So what you're suggesting is a tracking system whereby when somebody comes into the country as a foreign worker, they automatically report where they are, what work they do, and what conditions they're working under.
3 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
The employer who sponsors them, who has an agreement with the Mexican government, would register those employees and their workplaces with an agency.
3 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
A temporary worker who comes to Canada, or somebody who gets a temporary work permit, gets a temporary work permit that's specific to a particular employer. Am I correct on this?
3:05 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Under some programs, yes.
3:05 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Most programs, yes.
3:05 p.m.
Liberal
3:05 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Well, I'm referring to the SOP and those programs where there is employer sponsorship. Now there are other programs where you can come in, and I'm not sure what the arrangement is.
3:05 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
In the 1960s, there was a program of foreign workers who were allowed to go to Germany, and there was tracking. Every night, as temporary workers—or people who had gone to Germany to work on a work permit—we had to go and report. If that's what you mean by tracking, I have difficulty with it.
3:05 p.m.
Researcher, Trade Union Research Bureau, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
No. I think we're talking about the agencies that are responsible for enforcing the working conditions and the laws of Canada. They should know where those workers are, who they're working for, and what their names are. That's all. Right now the program fails because—
3:05 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Should the same thing also exist for Canadian workers?