Mr. Speaker, as I have expressed, and as many members in the House have expressed, we have concerns with respect to this program.
To the point the member made, I mentioned in my speech that one of the things we are focusing on, as outlined in the budget on pages 84 and 85, is asking applicants for the labour market opinion process to look at transitioning to Canadian workforce individuals. In other words, I mean making sure we decrease the number temporary foreign workers that firms in Canada are relying on and putting together a plan to transition to Canadian workers.
We want to be very clear. Canadians are at the front of the line. We expect firms to adhere to the principles of this program, making sure Canadians are considered. If they are not available at all, the temporary foreign worker program will be available to firms. However, part of the application to the program is making sure there is a transition plan to make sure Canadians are filling those roles.