Evidence of meeting #6 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was application.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting you, Ms. Kwan, but your time is up.
Based on the time left, we will end our second round of questioning with two minutes for Ms. Dancho and two minutes for Mr. Dhaliwal.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Chair, I'll cede my time to MP Hallan because I took all of the time in the last turn.
6:10 p.m.
Conservative
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
Thank you, MP Dancho.
I'd like to get the witnesses' opinions on something we see very regularly now. We've seen how essential most of these temporary foreign workers are, especially during the pandemic. Many truckers have had to go through hardships. They have been transporting life-saving supplies all across the country and have had to work without washrooms being open. They couldn't get through the drive-throughs because they were in big trucks. These people, alongside most front-line workers, are temporary foreign workers. When it comes to dignity, a job is a job, and they should be held to that high standard. Sometimes we talk about low-scale or high-scale.... I don't think we should classify them as that because we've seen how essential they are.
Is there a pathway we can find for these essential workers that would help them get their PR? I'd love your opinions on that.
6:10 p.m.
Lawyer, Holthe Immigration Law, As an Individual
I'll step in here. For a long time, Alberta had a long-haul truck driver stream that was designed to facilitate individuals in that exact situation. Now the world has been turned on its head. You see what's happening in Alberta. Our “do not process” list basically excludes pretty much everyone. It's exceptional if someone isn't excluded. We need to take care of them. There has to be a pathway forward and the way IRCC has things set up right now, it is not designed to accommodate anyone who's not C or D.
6:10 p.m.
Lawyer, Clarke Immigration Law, As an Individual
I will add that the EMPP program here in Manitoba does have some good programs for long-haul truck drivers. We have a very good community of truck drivers and they're on the path to PR. We helped many of them. As you said, it's a very tough job. I've had conversations with clients and they're basically living off snacks in their cab because the—
6:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting, Mr. Clarke. Your time is up.
We will now end our round of questioning with Mr. Dhaliwal.
Mr. Dhaliwal, you have two minutes.
November 18th, 2020 / 6:10 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
My question is for Mr. Holthe.
Earlier we spoke about the strategy of our government to use creative methods to reach our new immigration-levels target of 1.2 million over the next three years, and our government will have to explore transitioning temporary work permit holders already in Canada to permanent residency.
You mentioned that the immigration system focuses only on highly skilled workers. Do you believe that putting a higher emphasis on lower and medium-skilled workers as part of increasing economic immigration is good place to begin a pathway to permanent residency?
6:10 p.m.
Lawyer, Holthe Immigration Law, As an Individual
Yes, I agree.
I love the express entry system. I think it's fantastic, and I think it has the ability to adapt quickly and to pivot when needed. I think that we really need to create a pathway for those lower-skilled individuals. Personally, right now, with the emphasis needing to be on Canada, I think that we need to do more CEC draws. We've had a string of open ones, and the comprehensive ranking system scores are off the charts. I think we need to do more CEC draws, and then look at opening up a program to accommodate these lower-skilled individuals.
6:10 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Earlier, Ms. Kwan mentioned the agricultural workers. Today if we look at this.... You know, every year in British Columbia, particularly in the Fraser Valley, we need hundreds and thousands of those workers, and we can't meet that demand. We bring people from Mexico on a temporary basis, and it didn't work during COVID.
How do you see these people's getting into the system if we still have this express entry? Those points are only assigned to the highly skilled, but at the same time, we want to make sure that we are able to achieve the economic prosperity that we are looking for.
6:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Sorry, Mr. Dhaliwal, for the interruption. Your time is up.
With this, we come to the end of our round of questioning.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the three witnesses in the second panel for their important testimony and discussion as we continue our study on the impact of COVID-19 on immigration.
Before we adjourn, members, the clerk would like to speak for a second with regard to the witnesses to be scheduled for Monday's meeting.
Mr. Clerk, please let the members know about the scheduling of the witnesses.
6:15 p.m.
The Clerk
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
I'd just like to let the members know that the current witness list might not have enough witnesses to fill the panel for November 30. I'll be emailing the members the updated witness list and the calendar for November and December tomorrow morning. If members could follow up with me at their earliest convenience, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
If the members could let the clerk know, that would be really great.
Thanks again to the witnesses for appearing today. Good night.
Thank you to all of the members. Have a good day, and stay safe.
The meeting is adjourned.