Debates of April 16th, 2013

Government Response to Petitions

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to 16 petitions.

2013 Boston Marathon

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and if you seek it I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That this House condemn the attacks perpetrated during the 2013 Boston Marathon and express its deepest sympathies to the victims of this senseless violence and to their families.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member for Yukon have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

(Motion agreed to)

International Aid

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition in the House today on behalf of dozens of members from my community of Hamilton Mountain on CIDA's role in funding Canadian private sector extractive projects and financial support for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

The petitioners are profoundly concerned about the government's new direction with respect to CIDA, including the latest changes in budget 2013, and they call upon Parliament to adopt the following policy goals: first, to explore innovative solutions to development challenges that would respect the Canadian Official Development Assistance Accountability Act; second, to prioritize CIDA funding to experienced NGOs that Canadians support and which have seen their funding cut; and third, to demonstrate international responsibility by recommitting Canada to contribute .7% of GDP to official development assistance.

Genetically Modified Alfalfa

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of hundreds of people from Alberta asking that Parliament impose a moratorium on the release of genetically modified alfalfa in order to allow proper review of the impact on farmers in Canada.

The Environment

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present this morning.

The first petition has to do with oil tankers off the coast of British Columbia.

The petitioners are from the Vancouver area and they call upon the House of Commons to place a permanent moratorium on the transit of oil tankers through the waters of northern British Columbia as has been protected through a moratorium federally and provincially since 1972.

41st General Election

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes from residents primarily of the Tofino and North Vancouver areas.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to ask the Prime Minister to create a royal commission into the robocalls that occurred during the 2011 federal election campaign.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Opposition Motion--Temporary Foreign Worker Program

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

moved:

That the House recognize that the use of temporary foreign workers to replace Canadian workers in jobs Canadians are qualified and able to do is an abuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and that it is the government's responsibility to ensure that this program is not abused in a way which threatens the wellbeing of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy; that a special committee be appointed, with a mandate to conduct hearings on this critical issue, to hear from Canadians affected by this practice, and to propose solutions to strengthen the rules around the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to prevent abuse; that the committee consist of 12 members which shall include seven members from the government party, four members from the Official Opposition and one member from the Liberal Party, provided that the Chair is from the government party; that in addition to the Chair, there be one Vice-Chair from each of the opposition parties; that the committee have all of the powers of a Standing Committee as provided in the Standing Orders, as well as the power to travel, accompanied by the necessary staff, inside and outside of Canada, subject to the usual authorization from the House; that the members to serve on the said committee be appointed by the Whip of each party depositing with the Clerk of the House a list of his or her party’s members of the committee no later than April 26, 2013; that the quorum of the special committee be seven members for any proceedings, provided that at least a member of the opposition and of the government party be present; that membership substitutions be permitted to be made from time to time, if required, in the manner provided for in Standing Order 114(2); and that the committee report its recommendations to the House no later than June 19, 2013.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased today to bring forward this motion on behalf of the Liberal Party. I thank my colleague, the member for Vancouver Centre for seconding the motion.

Most Canadians, if they had never been aware of the temporary foreign worker program, have certainly become aware of it in recent months. It is important that the issues around the program are given a fair and open airing. Moving forward, many aspects of the program can be addressed and fixed.

It is important to note that the program was brought forward by a Liberal government decades ago to address a particular problem within the Canadian workforce. What the government at the time tried to do was to set out a careful balance between protecting the jobs and wages of Canadian workers and protecting Canadians' access to employment opportunities first and foremost. Also, the intent was to assist businesses and corporations that have legitimate difficulty in finding workers. The third part of that balance was protecting the dignity of temporary foreign workers by ensuring they are paid a fair wage and are treated as fairly as Canadian workers doing that same job.

What we have seen over the last number of years, and what I hope to bring forward in my comments today, is that balance has been knocked out of sync. It has been destroyed. The government has skewed the system to favour the employer only, removing important protections for Canadian workers and treating temporary foreign workers unfairly. That is what has raised the ire of many Canadians from coast to coast to coast. That is what has raised concerns around the program. Hopefully, through supporting and adopting the motion, a committee of this chamber will be able to look into those many issues and aspects and we can get this program back on the rails.

What we have seen happen over the last number of months, and even the last couple of years, is that Canadians are starting to lose confidence. It is not only in this particular program. We have seen interventions made by the government that have caused Canadians to lose confidence in some of these government programs, whether by design, if it is purposeful on the part of the government, bad management, or just a bad idea. However, once we lose that public confidence, once it is breached, Canadians get hurt. When the confidence is shaken in that particular program, Canadian employers, employees, and certainly those who wish to become Canadian employees, all lose.

How surprised would the public be to know almost one in every seven jobs created by the Conservative Party is filled by a temporary foreign worker? That is a fairly significant number. How can this be, when we have almost a million and a half Canadians who are unemployed in our country? That is the question everyone has been asking, but the government has not been able to answer.

If the RBC controversy last week was the straw that broke the camel's back on the Conservative government's temporary foreign worker program, then maybe that is a good thing that it brought it to light.

We have seen this play out before. Last fall we saw the debacle of the HD Mining situation in B.C. where Canadian miners were not allowed the opportunity to gain those mining jobs because they were not able to speak Mandarin. Therefore, we saw the approval of an influx of Chinese miners to take these particular jobs.

When that happens we know there is something wrong with the system and it has to be evaluated.

The alarm bells were ringing on this program far before that. In 2009, the Auditor General issued a damning report, in part about the temporary foreign worker program.

With each controversy, the government's response has consistently been that it is concerned. When the Conservatives knocked the wheels off the employment insurance program, the government was very concerned and was taking it seriously. When anything goes wrong it is very concerned. It does not motivate the government to do anything about it, but it is very concerned.

We are not getting any action. Rather, we are getting a bucketful of concern. It has gone past the concern stage.

I know Canadians are concerned. When they see that the program has exploded by over 200,000 temporary foreign workers in the last six years they should be concerned. When the current government took over, there were 140,000 temporary foreign workers. Currently, there are about 340,000.

Every time this controversy swirls around this program the other response is that it is under review. We have never seen a review or the results of a review, but it is under review because the government is concerned. The government's words have long since become hollow and meaningless.

The Liberal Party realizes that this issue is too important to Canadian workers, Canadian business, and the foreign workers who themselves have to rely on the government's empty promises of reviews and reforms.

This program once had a legitimate role in helping employers deal with acute labour shortages. However, through government mismanagement, the program has gone off the rails and now needs to be fixed. That is why I moved this motion today and why we are debating it.

It makes no sense to have foreign workers increasing while the ranks of the unemployed are growing. Seven years ago in Toronto there were 20,000 temporary foreign workers. The unemployment rate was 7.2%. Now there are over 60,000 temporary foreign workers and the unemployment rate is 8.8% or 8.9%. The math makes no sense. Only a committee of Parliament can conduct an open and transparent review of the program to restore confidence that it is working in the best interests of not only business but workers, temporary foreign workers, and society as a whole.

How did we get in this mess? The Conservatives have allowed the TFW program to go from helping employers with short-term labour needs to one that is quickly becoming a permanent pool of submissive, low-cost replacement workers. That is what they have developed for the country. In the process, they are creating employer dependency on the program and robbing Canadians of work opportunities, especially those Canadians who are underemployed, those sectors such as aboriginal people, young people, and persons with disabilities. These people are being further disadvantaged by the creation of this large pool of temporary foreign workers.

The government loves to brag about the number of net new jobs it has created since the end of the recession. However, the dirty little secret about who is filling those jobs has not yet been told. As I said at the start of my speech, one in seven jobs created by the party since it took office in 2006 has been filled by a temporary worker. The number is unbelievable. It has increased by almost a quarter of a million under the Conservative rule.

Last week the RBC controversy symbolized what is wrong with the program. The rules have become so loose that an outsourcing company received permission to bring in foreign workers to help a Canadian company outsource high-paying, high-skilled jobs to India and then have the Canadian workers train those individuals. For an application like that to get through, either the checks and balances are not there or they were disregarded. It is one or the other.

Over three years ago the Auditor General delivered a damning report on the TFW program, saying it was not run efficiently or effectively and that it was not only failing Canadians but failing foreign workers as well. The government paid lip service to the AG's report and implemented some changes that did nothing to solve the problems then or to solve the problems we are seeing today. The government has repeatedly failed to take responsibility for the problems within this program. Each time a controversy arises, it is review and concern, but whatever changes the government makes, the problems seem to get worse, not better.

The Conservatives say the program is only used as a measure of last resort to help employers with short-term needs, when all the facts show just the opposite.

According to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, as late as last fall, she said, “The program is working well.” She thought everything was rosy. She thought everything was going along as normal. Well, when a company is allowed to hire 200 Chinese miners in B.C. because they cannot find Canadian workers who speak Mandarin, there is something wrong with the program. When we have to allow the breadth of the program and the number of foreign workers to expand when the unemployment rate for Canadians has risen, the program is not working.

I will pose a few questions to try to understand the mess the government has created with this program.

How did this happen? That is the first one we should address. How do we go from 140,000 TFWs in 2006 when the unemployment rate was 6.3% to 340,000 temporary foreign workers when the unemployment rate is 7.6%?

The answer can be traced directly to the misguided policy changes the Conservatives have made through their mismanagement of the program. They increased the number of eligible low-skilled occupations in the program. They fast-tracked applications for certain regions and accelerated the approval process to 10 days for many employers. In addition, they allowed employers to pay temporary foreign workers 15% less than the prevailing Canadian wage rate. They did all this without putting in place the proper checks and balances to ensure the program would not be abused. That is a recipe for disaster.

It is quite telling about the government's priorities and beliefs when we compare how it reformed the temporary foreign worker program with how it reformed the EI insurance program. The contrast it stark. On one hand, the government based its EI reforms around the fundamental belief that EI recipients are lazy and looking for ways to cheat the system. There are new measures that are based on this belief, including forcing people to accept jobs outside their skill range and expertise at up to a 30% pay cut.

The Conservatives now think it is fair and reasonable to send fraud inspectors unannounced to people's homes to investigate them when there is no suspicion of wrongdoing. To add insult to injury, they are cutting EI processing staff, which has caused EI processing times to be the worst since the government took office. It is now routinely taking five and six weeks to get a cheque to an unemployed Canadian.

The contrast is stark. Let us compare this to the changes the Conservatives made in the TFW program. They have loosened the rules in this program, including fast-tracking applications and last year's change that accelerated processing to 10 days for employers. They have allowed employers to pay less, not more, and finally, assuming employers would not abuse the system, taking their word on many applications that they could not hire local employees, that they could not hire unemployed Canadians. They have taken their word on that. That is certainly in stark contrast to the changes they have made in the EI system.

My second question is this: why did this happen?

The government has defended allowing, even encouraging, the explosion of TFWs because of the skills and labour shortage. That is the Conservatives' usual refrain. They have expanded and broadened the temporary foreign worker program as a solution to the skills shortage at the expense of building a sustainable, long-term skills plan.

Now the chickens are coming home to roost. When we do not develop a plan that focuses on investments to benefit employers and workers, provides accurate labour market information to help people understand where the jobs of today and tomorrow will be, increases workplace training to help employees be more productive and facilitates worker mobility to allow people to go where the jobs are and to have their credentials recognized, we end up with the problem that we have here today. It is a shame that the government has wasted seven years using short-term fixes and failed policies to try to address the long-term skills and labour shortage.

I mentioned some of the underemployed groups that have felt the effects of failed Conservative programs and misguided priorities. One of the groups that has come out a loser under the current government is the young people of our country. The government has simply failed Canada's youth. The youth unemployment rate now stands two points higher than it did seven years ago. There is actually a net loss of 50,000 youth jobs over that same period.

The government trumpets its youth employment strategy, yet it supports almost 50,000 fewer student positions now than in the last year that the Liberal government was in power. That number alone tells the story of failed policies and wrong priorities. How can the government justify that, especially when it encourages the rise of foreign workers at the same time? Put simply, the Conservatives have placed a higher priority on outsourcing Canadian jobs to foreign workers than on training our youth for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

The final question I would like to ask is this: what role should temporary foreign workers have in our skills and labour plan?

First, the program was used primarily as a last resort for employers while they found qualified people through offering higher wages, investing in training, and increasing worker productivity.

Second, without doubt certain regions of the country and specific occupations are facing real skills and labour shortages. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. We have a responsibility to fix this program for the employers who genuinely cannot find workers. We know that if it was not for temporary foreign workers in the agricultural sector in many areas of the country, we would not have an agricultural industry. That could be said in a number of other sectors as well. Properly used, the temporary foreign worker program is an important and needed tool in helping companies deal with legitimate and critical skills and labour shortages.

However, right now we must all agree that the system is broken and that it needs fixing. The program as is cannot continue on the same path. Instead of investing in Canadian workers and companies to create a highly trained and productive workforce, the government has turned to temporary foreign workers as an easy fix, and that has failed. The list of examples of companies abusing the temporary foreign worker program to reduce long-term labour costs instead of using it to solve legitimate temporary labour shortages is growing.

It has come to light and it is at the forefront of discussion across the country now. For us to neglect it as lawmakers and parliamentarians is to do a great disservice to business and to workers in the country. We are doing our society a great disservice.

This is what Parliament is all about. I would hope that the parties here in the House support this motion so that we can get a full airing of the issue and have recommendations brought forward to fix this program.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, back when the party of the member opposite was in power, there was an economic downturn as well. At that time the Liberals took millions of dollars out of the EI fund to balance the books. They balanced the books on the backs of unemployed people instead of providing skills training so that we would not be in a situation of having jobs available but not having people with the proper skills to match and fill the positions.

I wonder if the member opposite would remind this House of the number of millions of dollars they took from the EI fund to make it look like they were balancing the books.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague giving me the opportunity to shed some light on that. I think a little history lesson would be worthwhile.

Yes, there was a surplus in the EI fund. Prior to 1993, after those years of Tory rule when the unemployment rate was at 12.5%, when inflation was in double digits, when interest rates were in double digits, we were spending $48 billion more a year than we were bringing in, and the deficits continued to grow under Brian Mulroney. The national debt went from $140 billion to $540 billion under Conservative rule.

In 1992, the Auditor General said that we could no longer have a stand-alone EI fund. It had to go into the general coffers because, under the Tories, that fund was bankrupt, and we are seeing a repeat of that now.

The fund was bankrupt under the Tories, but under the Liberal government, the unemployment rate was brought down to 8.5%, 7.5% and 6.2%. More people were paying into the EI fund and fewer people were drawing out of the fund, which was in general revenues. Investments went into health care, transfers to the provinces, and programs and services for Canadians.

That was back in the good old days of balanced budgets and surplus budgets. I do not know what kind of mess we are going to inherit next time, but the sooner we get rid of these guys, the less mess there will be.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciated the comments by my colleague for Cape Breton—Canso. I do not at all question his sincerity in bringing the motion forward today.

It is true that Conservative mismanagement of our economy has led us to a place where we are now faced with high unemployment and a skills shortage, which really is something that should not be happening in our country and economy today. The temporary foreign workers program has played an important role in the past in dealing with skills and labour shortages, but the member is absolutely right that under this Conservative government, the temporary foreign workers program has been completely bungled.

I cannot imagine being in the shoes of one of the workers at RBC who was being thrown out of a job so that a temporary foreign worker could take that job at a lower wage. To add insult to injury, of course, the workers who were being thrown out of work were being asked to train the workers taking their place.

The temporary foreign workers program needs to be reviewed. It is a program that Canadians deserve action on when we have an unemployment rate that sees 1.4 million Canadians without a job. However, if the member shares this profound concern and dismay over the way the government is handling the temporary foreign workers program, why would he bring forward a motion that simply asks for the creation of yet another committee?

The committee he is asking for will be dominated, like every other committee in this House, by government members. They have the majority. How are we going to get to real action when all we are calling for is yet another committee to do more studying?

I think Canadians want real action. They want timelines. They want the government to get serious about it. They do not want more talk and, frankly, they deserve more action.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, having been able to sit with my colleague from Hamilton Mountain on the human resources, skills and social development committee for the last period of time, I can sense the frustration in her voice. In dealing with some issues in committee, some important ideas have been advanced by witnesses in some of the studies we have undertaken. There were recommendations that probably would have gone a long way, only to be defeated by the Conservative majority on that particular committee.

In answer to her question, I think we will at least get these issues out. There are good examples of employers across this country that are using this program as it was intended. They are complying not just with the rules but with the spirit of the program. What we are hearing from them anecdotally is that they would like to provide a pathway to citizenship for some of the temporary foreign workers. The reason for the motion is so that we can bring forward the employers and some of the labour groups that have concerns about the program and hear their views on these particular issues. Then they would be the public domain and we would be able to put some facts behind the particular positions the groups have taken and share them.

Hopefully the Conservatives can understand that this is a program that is broken.

We cannot simply call on the government to fix it. It said it was going to fix it in 2009 and did nothing. Last November, the minister said in the House that the government was going to review it and do something about it. It did nothing. I am awaiting a statement today saying that they are probably going to do something about it. They will voice concern and say that it will be reviewed. It is our responsibility as members of Parliament to get something done, put a back end on it and make sure that we report in June. Let us get it done and let us get it done right.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague's remarks. He certainly hit the point in terms of how the temporary foreign worker program is not working. It is severely broken right now. I support a committee of the House holding hearings, which would be an opportunity to show Canadians that Parliament can work properly. Maybe the government would, in its wisdom, allow some of the members on the back benches to actually speak out with their own voices for a change, and we could accomplish something as a committee.

There is a concern about the temporary foreign workers program. Some people attack it and say that it is taking jobs away, but in the agriculture sector, there is a real need for those temporary foreign workers. I would like to ask my colleague how we find the balance between the legitimate need for foreign workers in some industries and businesses that are clearly now using the program, condoned by the government, and the abuse of it in a way that undermines wages, labour rights, et cetera. How do we find the balance in terms of the legitimacy of the program?

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have two points.

Number one, the government has shown that its main motivation and what drives any policy development is ideology.

The member has been around this chamber far longer than I have and would know that when past governments were going to make a particular change in a policy, they would create discussions around the issue, whether it was through a green paper or a white paper. They would solicit expert advice on a particular issue and develop a policy going forward. We see none of that with this particular government. It is ideologically motivated.

I agree with the member. I spoke with a farmer who has brought in about 15 Jamaican farm workers for about 15 years, and those 15 farm workers support another 20 jobs within that community. It is a very successful enterprise. There are parts of this program that are very successful and should be continued, but only through a full hearing to get an understanding of the important parts and how we can not just fix it but improve it.

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Brampton West.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. Canadians will have the first crack at all available jobs. The original intent of the program was to help employers find temporary help in cases where there was an absolute, acute labour shortage.

We are concerned about the recent issues that have come to light and have presented a proposal in budget 2013 to fix the problem.

The temporary foreign worker program should only be used to respond to urgent and acute needs for labour in the absence of Canadians to do the work required.

Our government's priority is jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity. Among the largest industrialized countries in the world, such as the U.S., Japan and Germany, Canada has the strongest record of growth and job creation during the economic recovery. Since the depth of the global economic recession, the Canadian economy has created over 900,000 net new jobs, overwhelmingly full-time, well-paid jobs in the private sector. The economic recovery has been largely driven by the ingenuity and determination of Canadians and Canadian businesses.

At the same time, we are facing a paradox. There are labour market shortages in some parts of the country, while high unemployment rates persist in others. Changing patterns of economic growth are resulting in declining demand for skilled workers in some industries and rapid growth in demand in others. This is resulting in mismatches between the skills in the local labour force in some regions and the skills needed for new jobs, leading to shortages in some occupations that are key to the economy and prosperity.

Canada's economic action plan 2013 outlines several ways our government is addressing these challenges by connecting Canadians with available jobs.

We are acting now to equip Canadians with the skills and training they need to obtain high-quality, well-paying jobs. Unfortunately, the opposition has voted against many of these measures that help Canadians.

We announced the creation of the Canada job grant, which will establish a more direct link between training and the skills sought by employers.

The Canada jobs grant would provide up to $15,000 or more per person to provide training to connect Canadians with jobs that are going unfilled today. We are creating opportunities for apprentices by making it easier for them to get the experience they need to become journeypersons. We are providing support to underrepresented groups, including persons with disabilities, youth, aboriginal Canadians and newcomers to help them enter the labour force and find jobs.

As the Prime Minister pointed out on Friday of last week, there are businesses that have been unable to find the workers they need to function. The temporary foreign worker program is there for them only when there are absolute and acute labour shortages. The rules are very clear. The temporary foreign worker program should only be used if no Canadian worker is available to fill that job.

When employers apply to hire temporary foreign workers, they are required to advertise for set periods of time to ensure that they have exhausted all possible means to hire Canadians. Employers must first advertise in national newspapers. In addition, they are encouraged to recruit among populations facing barriers to employment, such as aboriginal Canadians, older workers, newcomers, persons with disabilities and youth.

With respect to wages, let us be clear. All employers are required to pay temporary foreign workers the same wage they are paying their Canadian workers for doing the same job at the same location.

Employers must ensure that foreign workers are covered by private or provincial or territorial health insurance. According to the employment contracts, they must register foreign workers with the appropriate provincial and territorial workers' safety and compensation boards.

In addition, we have introduced measures to strengthen the protection of temporary foreign workers and to improve the integrity of the program. Employers who misuse the program or mistreat temporary foreign workers would face stiff penalities and could even be banned from the use of the temporary foreign worker program.

While the opposition is calling for more committee study and talk, we are acting. The member for Cape Breton—Canso has been part of our large studies that have been undertaken by the human resources standing committee to look into the labour and skills shortages across the country. As part of that study, we travelled to all regions of the country, consulting with representatives, employers and workers. The message we heard was very clear: There are acute labour shortages in several regions of the country. It would be a significant waste of taxpayer dollars to repeat this work and hear similar testimony.

Because of a lack of workers and skilled workers, companies cannot grow and develop, which will slow down our economy at a time when it is beginning to show signs of recovery. And who will suffer? All of us.

That being said, we are concerned about the reports that the temporary foreign worker program has not been used for its intended purposes.

Let me focus for a moment on the actions our government has announced over the last several months. Last year, the government announced a review of the program. We also announced a stronger link between the employment insurance program and the temporary foreign worker program. This link is necessary, because many unemployed Canadians who are qualified to do these jobs sometimes do not even know they exist. Through the new job alerts program, EI claimants will be made aware of local employment opportunities on a daily basis. We also introduced legislative amendments to increase the ability of HRSDC to ensure compliance by employers.

In economic action plan 2013, we announced several reforms to ensure that Canadians will be given the first chance at all available jobs. We will increase recruitment efforts employers must make to hire Canadians before they are eligible to apply for temporary foreign workers, including increasing the length and reach of advertising. We will assist employers who legitimately rely on temporary foreign workers, due to a lack of qualified Canadian applicants, in finding ways to ensure that they have a plan to transition to a Canadian workforce over time. We will amend the immigration and refugee protection regulations to restrict the identification of non-official languages as job requirements when hiring through the temporary foreign worker program.

Finally, we are also proposing to introduce user fees from employers applying for temporary foreign workers through the labour market opinion process so that these costs are no longer absorbed by the taxpayers.

Our government remains focused on job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity. The intent of this program is to create economic opportunities for Canadians by providing employers with access to individuals with the skills that Canadians do not currently have to grow their businesses. When this happens, it creates jobs for Canadians and does not reduce them. We have committed to reviewing this program to ensure that Canadians are not displaced and that the program is living up to its original purpose, that purpose being to help employers find temporary help in cases where there are absolute and acute labour shortages.

This program was never meant to replace Canadian workers with foreign workers. Employers have to advertise before they can access temporary foreign workers. It is clear that all parties in the House recognize the need for this program, as witnessed by the letters from the NDP and Liberal MPs requesting additional temporary foreign workers in their ridings on behalf of employers, including ridings with higher-than-average unemployment rates.

By connecting Canadians with available jobs programs, we are ensuring that Canadians are aware of all available employment opportunities in their local communities.

We are concerned about the issues that have recently come to light and have presented several proposals in budget 2013 to fix this program. Unfortunately, the opposition has chosen to vote against these measures that would help Canadians. In fact, the opposition members have voted against our investments in skills training for Canadians, such as the Canada jobs grant, so that Canadians can fill in-demand jobs. Instead, they are proposing to spend more of taxpayers' dollars so that we can talk further about something the government has already committed to fix.

I would encourage the opposition to actually get behind the G8-leading economic leadership that has been shown by Canada and our Prime Minister, leadership that has resulted in over 900,000 net new jobs here in Canada since the downturn of the recession. I would encourage the opposition to join with us in voting against this motion and to support the actions proposed by our government to fix this program, as outlined in the budget and economic action plan 2013.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is really quite astounding to hear the parliamentary secretary speak about the temporary foreign worker program, because what she has said is so far from the truth about what is actually going on that it just is mind-boggling.

I want to ask her about a particular aspect of the program. In 2012, the government launched an accelerated program, called ALMO, to fast-track applications. Under this program, employers do not have to provide any evidence that they are considering Canadians for open positions. There is now information that shows that probably half the ALMOs are being improperly used and that an astounding 5,000 of these applications were approved between April and December of 2012. I would like the parliamentary secretary to answer to that and to explain why this program has failed so badly, why it is being misused so badly, and why Canadians are now paying the price.

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite said is absolutely false. The individuals who can apply for accelerated labour market opinions are actually those who have pre-qualified and have already been in the system.

Let us be very clear. I think we all know that the temporary foreign worker program is for exactly that: temporary workers when a Canadian is not available. This government has been very clear. Canadians are to have the first crack at jobs. They are to be at the front of the line. However, we still need to make sure that when employers are concerned that they cannot fill jobs and are feeling the crunch of not being able to make sure that their companies can expand, they have access to a program that allows them to prosper.

This government is very focused. We are putting Canadians at the front of the line. We encourage opposition members to get on board, support our budget, support the changes and make sure that we can provide an opportunity for Canadians to have excellent jobs and a high quality of life.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to these debates with a great deal of interest. The idea of a parliamentary committee is a thoughtful, non-partisan way to proceed on a program that is obviously broken and is costing jobs for Canadians.

Despite the parliamentary secretary's rhetoric, there are huge problems and a mushrooming of numbers in the temporary foreign worker program in ways that are not adhering to the claimed objectives of the program.

My question to the parliamentary secretary is: Has the government done anything to learn from the experience of northern European countries that had temporary worker programs, which the research showed led to an avalanche of bankruptcies as their own businesses were unable to compete with the lower wages being paid and the worse working conditions?

Eventually those European countries—Germany, for example—made major changes to their programs. That is just the kind of thing a parliamentary committee could find out about. We already know what does not work, and the path the government has trod has already been shown to be ineffective in Europe.

Will the parliamentary secretary consider the committee on the basis that it can help us learn from others' mistakes to correct the government's mistakes?