Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Burnaby—Douglas has done incredible work as the former citizenship and immigration critic for our party in fighting back what has been the hypocrisy of the Conservative government.
Essentially, what it has created is a situation where foreign workers were brought into Canada in conditions of indentured servitude. They simply cannot leave their employer regardless of how bad the working conditions are and if they are fired, they are sent out of the country. So these workers are particularly vulnerable. They are indentured servants brought in, paid below minimum wage, and forced into conditions that have nothing to do with Canadian standards or the Labour Code.
A company which would do that is not a company that is responsible. Yet, the government is encouraging those companies which would act this way by undercutting the Labour Code and labour standards. It is saying it will fast-track the process, five-day turnaround, and will approve foreign worker qualifications regardless of whether or not there are Canadian workers available to do the job.
I do not think anyone would object if those foreign workers actually were subject to Canadian labour standards and were not being treated like indentured servants. However, essentially they are. Instead of taking action to stop that, the government is encouraging it which is cause for concern for all of us. How can the government take human trafficking seriously if it allows these conditions of indentured servitude?