I'm happy to hear there is a desire to take action to reduce the delays in processing times. I would still like it if you could submit a report for Quebec, to include a table with the number of LMIA applications filed in all months in 2020, 2021, and, if possible, 2022, the number of decisions made, the number of positive and negative responses, and the number of suspended decisions. Then I would like the reasons why those LMIAs were refused in Quebec to be shown, with the number of refusals for those years and for each of those reasons.
In addition, given the labour shortage, which also seems to be affecting federal government departments, I would like it if you could submit a report on LMIA cases in Quebec that includes a table showing the number of employees who worked on examining LMIA applications in 2020 and 2021, the average time each employee spent on a case, and the number of cases that the department believes an employee should assess each week. I think that would help us understand why the process is so slow.
In addition, Ottawa's refusal to transfer the LMIA process to Quebec is purely political, in my opinion, and the federal government is making businesses in Quebec pay the price. There is nothing in the LMIA process that Quebec is not capable of doing and is not already doing through the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail. Obviously the federal government can issue the work permits and do the security checks. Those are its only responsibilities.
Why not recognize the labour market information, the LMI, and avoid these pointless duplications that result in wasted time and money for our SMEs, particularly if it would enable you to put your energy into other equally essential matters?