Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the witnesses for being with us today. It is always good to debate issues that affect Canadians. Today we are talking, more specifically, about small businesses.
As members of Parliament, we are all being approached by entrepreneurs for help. Everyone is aware that we currently have a major problem in our economy that directly affects all small businesses: the labour shortage. No wave of a magic wand can solve this problem. As well, there is no single fact that can explain the labour shortage, and the problem exists around the world. However, there are things that can be done to accelerate certain processes.
Today, we have with us representatives of a number of organizations and departments: the Competition Bureau, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Statistics Canada, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
The subject I would like to address with the witnesses involves the representatives of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration more directly.
I think that all my colleagues, whatever their political allegiance, are having to deal with two main problems in their constituency offices. The first relates to passport applications and the second to immigration applications.
This week, Isabelle Turcotte-Genest, the constituency assistant who does a remarkable job in the constituency I represent, waited five hours and 20 minutes before she was able to speak with an officer to deal with a passport case. I have no doubt that my colleagues have all had cases like this in their own constituencies.
On the question of immigration, I'd like to address certain specific cases, but I will start with a case I learned about this morning. Walking on Parliament Hill to get to the West Block, where we are now, I happened on two tourists from Switzerland who were looking for some information. I introduced myself to them and we chatted a bit. It turned out that they had come to Canada to visit their son. He had obtained a visa and had come to discover the beauty and charm of our country, as many people do.
Why am I telling you this? You will understand shortly. Their son arrived on September 29, 2021, with a tourist visa that he has to renew every six months. Since Canada is a very welcoming country, the young man met his soulmate. That's good news. He also found a job, which is also a good thing. His employer wasn't a little neighbourhood restaurant, it was the Fairmont hotel chain. He was ready to work, but since he didn't have a work permit, he put his application in on November 9 of last year. He provided his biometric data and everything went well. But he has never received an answer to his application.
His work permit application was submitted on November 9, 2021, and seven months later, he still has not received an answer from the Immigration Department. Not only does he want to work, but he has also been selected by an employer, and not just any employer. He wants to settle here. His family has come to see him. All the ingredients for success are present. He is missing only one thing: efficiency on the part of the government of Canada.
My question is a bit blunt, but I will ask it anyway, since there are representatives of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration here today.
How is it that Canada, a G7 country, that employs hundreds of thousands of people, is not capable of handling a case like this, a case in which the person has all the necessary ingredients for success?