Irek Kusmierczyk

[Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, May 16th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 125th anniversary of a remarkable organization, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, which has served the most vulnerable in our region of Windsor Essex since 1896. The Gospel of John tells us “let us not love with words or speech but with actions”.

Today, the 35 employees and 200 dedicated volunteers of Saint Vincent de Paul live those words to feed, clothe and comfort residents in need, from a food box delivery program and distributing 653 beds per year to operating store locations where residents can pick up gently used donated clothing and goods. The Vincentians embody neighbour looking after neighbour. President David Leslie says, “There is a real pride in what we have been doing serving generation after generation.”

Our community is proud of Saint Vincent de Paul and so grateful for the service and the hope that Mr. Leslie brings to our residents.

[Business of Supply, May 12th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I applaud my hon. colleague for the excellent job he did in explaining the complexity of the relationship between Canada and China. However, where he failed to convince is on the necessity of this particular committee, knowing that there are already four existing committees that can deal with the different complexities and issues related to the Canada-China relationship. Could the member explain what this committee would add that is not already covered by the four existing committees?

[Petitions, May 11th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great honour to rise today and present a petition on behalf of the residents of Windsor—Tecumseh. As someone in a border community, I can say that the pandemic has changed our relationship with the border. That is especially true for the thousands of residents who cross the border every day to work in the U.S., including nurses, skilled workers and engineers at General Motors, Ford, Stellantis and other companies. That includes serious tax implications. This petition seeks fair consideration by the Canada Revenue Agency of those implications and those issues.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, May 9th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his questions and comments, but as he is fully aware, the world has been in a global pandemic for two years. In spite of this, we landed over 405,000 immigrants last year, which is an all-time record, to help with our economic recovery.

As the Minister of Immigration announced on January 31, the government has implemented a number of measures to further improve client experience and modernize the immigration system. We have also committed an investment of $85 million to further reduce processing times and build on our progress to date. Most importantly, we will get back to our processing service standards in various programs by the end of this year.

We are taking a whole-of-government approach to address labour shortages across our country. We have taken major steps toward this by processing more than 100,000 work permit applications in the first quarter of 2022, nearly doubling the number processed over the same period in 2021.

As I mentioned—

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, May 9th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite presents a picture that is entirely out of step with reality. As the hon. member is fully aware, the world has been in a global pandemic for two years. Borders were forced to close worldwide and, for obvious reasons, this resulted in some processing delays in our immigration system.

In spite of the pandemic's many challenges, Canada admitted a record 405,000 permanent residents last year. This surpasses the previous record from 1913, making it the most newcomers admitted to Canada in a single year in our entire history.

Since the start of the pandemic, IRCC has worked to improve processing for all permanent residence applications, and our work to date has produced results. As part of the 2021 economic and fiscal update, our government announced an investment of $85 million to further build on our progress to date. This will enable us to further reduce processing times and process more permanent and temporary resident applications. Most importantly, we will get back to our processing service standards in various programs by the end of this year, including study permits, work permits and permanent resident card renewals. We are also working to reduce processing times for visitor visas and proof of citizenship.

As the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced on January 31, the government has implemented a number of additional measures to further improve the client experience and modernize the immigration system. These measures are part of a broader process to address key challenges faced by our clients and to achieve the more predictable processing times that our clients expect and deserve.

Canadian businesses are in need of support, and our government knows that we have a role to play in increasing the available workforce. On April 22, the minister addressed the decision made last fall to temporarily pause invitations to apply under the federal high-skilled stream, including the Canadian experience class, federal skilled worker class and federal skilled trades class. He announced, in July of this year, that we will end this temporary pause and resume inviting qualified candidates to apply for permanent residence. We anticipate that the vast majority of new applicants will be processed within the six-month service standard.

At the same time, the minister announced that beginning in mid-June, Canada will extend post-graduation work permits for recent international graduates. Those whose permits have already expired or will expire this year will be eligible for an additional open work permit of 18 months. In addition, as of April 25, nearly 35,000 agricultural workers have already arrived in Canada for the 2022 season, and this represents a 10% increase over the number of agricultural workers that had arrived by this time last year. As members can see, we are doing our utmost to ensure that employers have the workers they need.

Moving forward, we are going to continue to support those who wish to live in Canada. I was pleased to learn that IRCC has surpassed its goal to make 147,000 permanent residence final decisions in the first quarter of 2022. From January 1 to March 31, 2022, there have been over 156,000 final decisions on permanent resident applications. This is a doubling of the number of final decisions in the same time period in 2021.

This is an encouraging example of progress, but our work is not yet finished. We are moving forward to ensure that Canada's proud history of immigration is matched by a modern immigration system that supports our economic recovery, improves client experience and strengthens our communities.

[Windsor Auto Sector, May 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House and declare we are bringing back the third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant. Last week, I had the privilege of hosting the Prime Minister in my community to announce a historic $3.7-billion investment with Stellantis to restore all three shifts in Windsor and Brampton. This is a great thing for auto workers. Auto workers are the heartbeat of our community, and when auto thrives our community thrives. From working families to restaurants and small businesses, young people now have thousands of good-paying jobs and a bright future here at home.

This investment, plus last month's record battery plant announcement, mean thousands of new jobs in Windsor—Tecumseh. Our government has invested more in Windsor auto workers than any government in Canada's history. Together, we are building not just batteries and electric vehicles, but we are also building a strong, prosperous and zero-emission Canada.

[Health, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the Public Health Agency of Canada continues to examine vaccination strategies in the short and long term, including opportunities to build vaccine confidence and reduce barriers faced by individuals and communities across Canada. Canada has benefited significantly from COVID-19 vaccination efforts that include vaccine education, outreach and accessible programs with provinces, territories and indigenous partners. Vaccines, including boosters, will continue to be key to Canada's long-term recovery. They will be important to manage emerging variants, prevent severe illness and death, support our health systems and continue the path to living normal and full lives.

[Health, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, as the provinces and territories ease public health measures, we need to recognize that COVID-19 has not disappeared. COVID-19 continues to circulate in Canada, with hospitalization trends still elevated in some parts of the country.

Provincially and territorially, vaccine mandates were implemented in the summer and fall of 2021 for the federal public service, Crown corporations and federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to pursue key objectives, including to ensure the safety and security of the transportation system, passengers, transportation employees and the public, delivering immediate protection from infection and severity of illness in workplaces and for travellers; to increase uptake to provide broader societal protection, including within the federal public service; and to play a leadership role in protecting the health and safety of our workplaces, our communities and all Canadians.

Provincially, vaccine mandates were implemented across the country in the fall of 2021 to support higher levels of vaccination. At the time, uptake rates had plateaued, and a fourth wave was upon us.

Following mandatory vaccination, vaccination rates in Canada increased. This has contributed to the public health goal of minimizing serious illness and death overall.

This situation is not unique in Canada. A recent comparative study revealed that Denmark, Israel, Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland saw significant increases in vaccinations 20 days before mandates were implemented with lasting effects up to 40 days after. Eighty-five per cent of the eligible population in Canada has received two doses.

Studies have shown that vaccine effectiveness against the circulating variants omicron and BA.2 is lower than against previous variants. However, two doses continue to give good protection against severe disease, against omicron, but protection decreases after several months. Evidence indicates that a third or booster dose moderately increases protection against infection, to about 60%. It also increases protection against transmission and offers very good protection against severe disease, upward of 90%.

While the duration of protection from a booster or third dose varies and is expected to decrease over time, it is nonetheless important for Canadians to keep their vaccines up to date and get their booster shot when eligible. This will help them protect themselves and others.

When considering mandates, several factors should be considered, including the global and domestic epidemiological situation and the benefits and longer-term consequences of those measures. The Government of Canada COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the federal public service was implemented in October 2021 to help protect workers, their families and their communities. The mandate remains in place, and the government has committed to review the ongoing need for the policy based on evolving science and evidence and in the context of a multipronged approach to help protect Canadians against COVID-19.

Given the uncertainty and the ever-changing nature of the variants, as we learned from omicron and now its subvariants, an agile approach will be needed.

We continue to monitor the emerging evidence around vaccine effectiveness, and the spread and impact of COVID-19 in Canada, to inform our vaccination strategy for the coming weeks and months to ensure that we continue to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Vaccination is an important layer of protection that, when used with other measures such as masking, testing and distancing, can protect us from COVID-19.

[Employment, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her excellent work on this incredibly important issue and file.

The government agrees with the Auditor General's recommendations. We are rebuilding the temporary foreign worker program compliance regime, and the Auditor General's recommendations are helping us to guide that work. We have already implemented improvements to ensure we can better support our inspection staff. These measures have improved the quality and timeliness of our inspections, and backlogs have been reduced.

We remain committed to protecting the health and safety of foreign workers. In the longer term, we know that improvements to foreign workers' living conditions are paramount. To achieve these necessary improvements and to meet the goals we have set, we are working diligently with stakeholders, including federal, provincial and territorial partners, international offices and employer groups, to provide safe environments for temporary foreign workers, especially in the agricultural sector.

[Employment, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the safety and well-being of all workers, including temporary foreign workers, are of utmost importance to our government. As the member of Parliament for a region that hosts 10,000 temporary foreign workers each year, I can say emphatically that temporary foreign workers deserve to be safe. They deserve to be treated as any Canadian worker would expect to be treated.

When the pandemic hit, the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada, ESDC, quickly strengthened conditions for the temporary foreign worker program and introduced stronger penalties for employers who fail to comply. In fact, throughout the 2020 and 2021 seasons, ESDC hired more inspectors, enhanced its tip line service by including live agents, invested in migrant worker organizations to support vulnerable workers and worked closely with partners to keep workers safe.

Let us be clear. The government agrees with the Auditor General's recommendations and recognizes their seriousness. That is why we took steps to address the recommendations to improve the quality and timeliness of inspections, reduce backlogs and increase resources. ESDC is also continuing to expand its partnerships and work with employers to encourage compliance through education and awareness. We are already seeing the results, and they are overwhelmingly positive. Since July, we have seen a marked improvement in the quality of ESDC inspections and a significant reduction in the inventory of active inspections. These are important steps, but we know we have more work to do. That is why ESDC is rebuilding the TFW compliance regime. The Auditor General's recommendations are helping to guide that work.

While we recognize that the vast majority of employers care for the well-being of their workers, we also recognize that temporary foreign workers can face unique challenges. Given the question posed, let me very clear on the steps ESDC has been taking. We have ensured all staff responsible for inspections received supplementary training, which was completed last month. It implemented renewed guidance to ensure that if a worker's health and safety is at risk, necessary action is to be taken within 24 hours and no later than 48 hours, including the notification of appropriate stakeholders, authorities and jurisdictions. We developed a plan to target higher-risk areas, to reduce backlogs and ensure inspections are timely. We also reached 80% of inspections files without substantive errors by last month, March 2022, with progress in place to reach 90% by no later than September 2022.

We recognize the challenges temporary foreign workers face and have faced, especially during the pandemic. That is why the government has created special pathways to permanent residency so that eligible temporary foreign workers can remain in Canada for the long term. As I alluded to earlier, we have expanded relationships with key stakeholders, including federal, provincial and territorial partners, international law offices and employer groups, to help protect the health and safety of workers.

These working relationships are key to ensuring that the foreign workers so vital to our food supply will be welcomed into significantly safer working environments as we enter into the 2022 agricultural season.