Madam Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleague for his question. As I am very familiar with the file, I perhaps did not express myself well and I took shortcuts. I will explain again, from the beginning.
When the Haiti earthquake occurred, Haitian nationals may have been working or studying in Canada. They were living temporarily in Canada.
Take the example of someone working on a temporary visa. The government said that, upon the expiry of the temporary work visa, the individual could renew it or apply for a new one if they had completed their studies, for example, in order to be allowed to work in Canada and have an income. That was the government's reasoning and it was completely logical. We are not talking about an inordinate number of applicants; we are simply talking about the Haitians who were temporarily in Canada. We could not send them back to Haiti. We are simply asking why this measure was not extended.
Some of them may be able to obtain a labour market opinion, but others may not. For example, for jobs requiring fewer qualifications, it is obviously more difficult to prove that an individual is the only one qualified for the job and that there is a shortage of labour in Canada in that area.
I understand that we cannot invent jobs. That is not what I am suggesting. If a Haitian national is currently living here and cannot be deported or returned to that country because of a moratorium, he should be allowed to find a job. That will not affect the job market. The purpose of the labour market opinion is to prevent massive waves of temporary workers from destabilizing the job market and depriving Quebeckers and Canadians of jobs. We understand this measure, but it is not justified or necessary for the few workers that might be affected. I do not have the figure at hand, but I am sufficiently versed in this matter to know that the number of Haitians would not destabilize the job market.
The government understood this because it took that step, but then terminated it. The government was on the right track and should have maintained this measure, just as it is maintaining the moratorium on deportations to Haiti. When the situation is deemed to be stable enough to lift the moratorium on deportations, then we can also rescind the special measures allowing those persons, who are prisoners of sorts in Canada, to be employed.