Jason Kenney

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the member opposite, we are listening to Albertans who want to ensure that Albertans come first for Alberta jobs and that the temporary foreign worker program is only a last and limited resort. We are concerned about the 110,000 Albertans who have no work but are looking for it.

We take note of the growth of the labour force by 100,000 people a year in Alberta. We have seen immigration double since our government came to office. We will continue to work with Albertans to ensure that they get the first crack at available jobs.

[Employment Insurance, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and for supporting lower taxes for small businesses.

The small business job credit recently announced by this government will reduce payroll taxes for over 90% of Canadian businesses by some $550 million over the next couple of years. According to the CFIB, this will help create over 20,000 new jobs.

However, the Liberal plan is to massively increase the cost of the EI program. They have announced a 45-day work year, if members can believe it. Cumulatively, that is $6 billion, or a 33% increase in payroll taxes, a job-killing—

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, follow the bouncing ball of the Liberal position on this.

First, the Liberal leader lobbied that we overturn a decision so that his favourite restaurant could get low-skilled temporary foreign workers. Then the Liberals voted to completely shut down the low-skilled temporary foreign worker program and the leader said we had to dramatically reduce the numbers coming in. Now we have made some fundamental reforms, and the Liberals are saying that those reforms are hurting businesses. The Liberal position on this is completely incoherent.

Our position is that Canadians should come first and the temporary worker program should be a last and limited resort.

[Employment Insurance, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters said, this government's small business job credit will help make the Canadian economy become more competitive. The CFIB said it was fantastic news.

However, I want the member to come clean, because he is skating around the fundamental issue. His party in the past few years has demanded that people should be able to qualify for EI benefits in 45 days. That costs $4 billion. Liberals have advocated another series of changes that would cost an additional $2 billion.

That equals a 33% increase in those premiums. Is that still the policy of the Liberal Party of Canada?

[Employment Insurance, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals keep claiming that people have criticized this job-creating payroll tax cut introduced by the Minister of Finance, and it turns out not to be true. For example, they said the CFIB was opposed, when in fact it said it is "...fantastic news for Canada’s entrepreneurs and their employees, and as such, can only be a positive for the Canadian economy.”

However, what the member is not telling us is the real Liberal EI agenda, which is to increase all sorts of benefits and programs to the tune of $6 billion, which corresponds to a 33% increase in job-killing EI payroll taxes.

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am and we are. In fact, there is an absolute, unconditional obligation for employers to have their labour market opinions approved, and, in the past and under the new system, to pay at the prevailing wage rate unless there is a collective bargaining agreement that is below the prevailing wage rate, which is the case in the instance that the member raises.

What I find really peculiar is that after reforms in June, her colleague, the NDP finance critic, complained that employers said that the new rules were far too stringent and that they needed more temporary foreign workers in his constituency, so could the member tell me what the position of the NDP really is?

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the hon. member is completely wrong. Indeed, we have the power to penalize employers who do not follow the rules.

I thank the public servants in Alberta who brought this violation of their wage regulations to our attention. Naturally, my department is now conducting an investigation. There are serious penalities—which are even more serious since the new legislation passed in June—for employers who violate the rules of the program.

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the hon. member is wrong.

The data relative to the program is multifaceted. We know exactly how many foreign workers are entitled to work in Canada. For instance, one set of data is provided by employers. Our research shows that most of the discrepancies recently reported in the media come from information provided by employers.

In the new system, we will verify all the information provided by employers.

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the application was made by a third party, not the company in question. What happened was absolutely outrageous, which is why there is a Canada Border Services Agency investigation, as well as one led by my ministry.

The good news is that the stronger new penalties we put in place can be imposed on abusive employers and on crooked immigration consultants who facilitate such fraud. There should be no quarter for such people, who exploit vulnerable immigrants and cheat our immigration system.

[Privilege, September 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with the honourable member.

A few years ago, when the President of the United States was here in Parliament, I tried to get in as an MP. Some Ottawa police officers prevented me from getting near the building.

This is not a new problem. This has happened before and it is quite appalling. It goes against the rules of this place. I am taking the hon. members' comments very seriously because of my own experience.