Mr. Speaker, I bring forward an issue that is affecting all Canadian workers, particularly in rural areas, including Thunder Bay—Superior North. Unemployment remains high, and the jobs that are available are often too low-paying to live on.
There are many reasons for the lack of good jobs in my region and across rural Canada. Part of it is the collapse of the forest industry and the effect of the economic downturn. Part of it, though, is the government's mismanagement of our economy, including a neglect of job creation and inflated EI rates, a job killer if there ever was one. Part of it is due to the bungled temporary foreign worker program.
For several years now, we have been hearing stories of abuse of this program. At a Tim Hortons in Alberta, workers were flown in from other countries, and hundreds of qualified Canadians were ignored. A mining company in Murray River, British Columbia, hired 200 temporary Chinese miners after insisting that fluency in Mandarin was a necessary qualification for mining work.
Many people do not know that the temporary foreign worker program has been in place for decades. It can work well in some limited circumstances if it responds to an actual need for truly temporary qualified workers, but the reality since the Conservatives came to power has been quite different. Since 2006, the Conservatives have expanded the temporary worker program, accelerated the application process, and brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers. Then the Conservatives inexplicably fast-tracked the program even further and admitted an additional 200,000 foreign workers. The total now, since the Conservatives took office, is over half a million temporary foreign workers.
Then the Conservatives allowed temporary foreign workers to be paid 15% less than Canadian workers. Is that not just an abuse of foreign workers? With that change, the Conservatives started a race to the bottom, driving down Canadian wages as well. It is a lose–lose situation. After an outcry, the government reversed this change and it has started to undo some of the damage caused by the expansion of the temporary foreign worker program. However, this program still poses a threat to jobs for Canadians, especially in remote and rural areas, like my riding.
The Ring of Fire mining development in northern Ontario has huge potential to generate wealth, but the jobs from northern Ontario's resources may not go to northern Ontarians. Instead of hiring or training local people, foreign miners may be brought in to do the work. This is a problem.
Unemployment is particularly high among rural residents and the first nations that overwhelmingly populate the region near the Ring of Fire. The survival of many communities could depend on that development. Local residents must get first crack at local jobs. With proper support for training, especially in conjunction with first nations, the development could help entire communities pull themselves out of the cycle of poverty. It is good for the communities, developers, and the North and is good for Canada.
The Conservatives have been selling off our natural resources in raw, low-value form and have also neglected developing human resources over the past eight years. The Conservatives prefer to outsource as many jobs as possible. We must do more to develop a skilled Canadian workforce.
Will the minister commit to investing in the people of northern Ontario and across rural Canada? Will he assure us that temporary foreign workers will not be brought in to take jobs in the Ring of Fire?