Mr. Speaker, today, I am making a heartfelt plea to the House on behalf of the businesses of Mégantic—L’Érable and Chaudière-Appalaches.
There is a shortage of workers in the region. Businesses are putting expansion projects on hold, and some even have to run fewer shifts because they do not have the workers they need.
Every day, my office gets calls from business owners who are at the end of their rope. Not only do they have to watch as their company's development potential erodes, but they also have to deal with the extremely challenging task of hiring temporary foreign workers. The process is long, complex and expensive for SMEs.
Businesses have no room for error. Foreign workers become numbers, and woe to those who forget to tick off a box or who miss the deadline by several days. The foreign workers will be sent back home and will have to begin the process all over again. These workers who come to Canada seeking a little bit of hope are human beings. They are people with families and dreams. They are people who are simply seeking to improve their lives by participating in our country's development.
It is high time the government simplified and humanized this program and its administration to breathe some new life into our regions.