Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 10th, 2008

[Pierre Lemieux]

I wold contact the people at my farm employment centre in the region and I would ask them to help me find 25 employees. As producers, we need seasonal labour, primarily during specific peak periods. First, there is the planting period, then harvesting, when there is a very substantial need for labour.

As far as the process, the people at the farm employment centres try to find us local workers, but very often their response is not fast enough. That is why we bring in workers from outside, whom we are authorized to employ. There are certain basic criteria, however. We still have to demonstrate that there is a shortage of workers locally before we can hire foreign workers.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Do you pay them the same rate as local workers?

[Pierre Lemieux]

Yes. Under our farm employment centres policy, the same criteria and the same conditions of employment apply.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Do they pay employment insurance and CSST premiums, for example?

[Pierre Lemieux]

Yes.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Okay.

Sylvie Gravel told us earlier that there was a lot of harm: there is practically 20 times more cancer among foreign workers than among local workers.

[Pierre Lemieux]

Twenty times?

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Twenty times higher.

[Pierre Lemieux]

You're talking about productivity?

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

No, I'm talking about cancer or cancerous conditions.

Have you seen cases where people have lost a hand or fingers, but didn't report it and they were put on a plane and sent back home?

[Pierre Lemieux]

No, not to my knowledge.

Ms. Varvaressos?

[Hélène Varvaressos]

Are you talking about cancers that developed here?

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Yes. According to Ms. Gravel, that is what studies show.

[Dr. Jill Hanley]

Her research dealt with migrant workers in general. That is something I have seen among home help workers. The Jewish General Hospital has even set up a working group on cancer in women. It has something to do with stress and the fact that these people have temporary status. They have trouble accessing preventive health care and they are seen once the diseases are more advanced.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

When Ms. Gravel talked about it, it seemed to relate more to temporary workers in the agricultural or forestry industries. That is how I understood it. You have nothing to report in that regard?

[Pierre Lemieux]

No. There are very few foreign agricultural workers in forestry. There are very few workers in that field. To my knowledge, there aren't any. That is not encouraged, either.

There are more foreign workers in agriculture. Those workers are there to do the harvest, that's it. In general, they are no more exposed to dangerous working conditions than the other employees. They all work together.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

It's the same thing.

The Canada Labour Code applies to federally incorporated undertakings. Are you covered by the Quebec Labour Code or the Canada Labour Code.

[Hélène Varvaressos]

We are covered by the Quebec Labour Code.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Okay.

Does the service you receive from the federal government meet your needs?

[Hélène Varvaressos]

Are you talking about the Temporary Foreign Worker Program?

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Yes. Does it meet your needs? Could it be improved?

[Hélène Varvaressos]

Some changes have been proposed and put into effect. They include the on-line application for foreign workers. Filling out a form on line when you live in a rural area is unrealistic, because there is virtually no high-speed service in Quebec. I imagine it is the same in the rest of Canada. It takes a long time and we are not ready to apply on line yet.

What is important is that we continue to help producers prepare their applications, get their paperwork together and assess the various options before thinking about the last resort solution, which is hiring foreign workers.

[Pierre Lemieux]

Particularly when the Quebec businesses are smaller than average. There are other factors too. We talked about training producers in human resources management. We have done that, but there is room for improvement.

Social integration in small communities is another factor. Quite often, we hear people saying that their conditions are not good, but they are not talking about their working conditions only. The area where they live after their workday does not offer many social activities. The small communities are not equipped to meet those needs. In future, we should put more emphasis on helping small communities so they can take in 200 to 300 foreign workers during a specific time of year.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Thierry St-Cyr]

Thank you very much. We will move on to the second round.

Ms. Folco.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to come back to a question I asked before.

Ms. Varvaressos, you talked about the UPA and your group in particular, and how it is trying to establish criteria. Is disciplinary action taken against employers who do not comply with the criteria you have laid down yourselves? Do the employers know that if they don't comply with the criteria, they will be facing disciplinary action?