House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 56% of the vote.
Employment May 12th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, we have learned that the federal government's job bank site, a key component of the temporary foreign worker program, is not operating properly. Job ads are still posted months after the positions have been filled. Unemployed Canadians are unable to get a response from employers. That is the fault of the government, not the employers.
Will the Conservatives fix this disaster that they themselves created?
Employment May 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I have not seen such a Liberal letter.
It is not just the NDP that wants to suppress Canadian wages, it is the Conservatives. In 2009, the Conservative member for Yellowhead wrote to ask that an employer in his riding be allowed to pay foreign workers less. In 2012, the government did just that.
Was the minister leaping into action in response to a caucus proposal, even when that action resulted in the deliberate suppression of Canadian wages? Was that his intent? Is that why he did it?
Employment May 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the NDP member for Western Arctic wrote to the Minister of Employment and Social Development to complain about the fact that low-skilled temporary foreign workers were being overpaid. That same NDP member said that higher salaries were making the program “unworkable”.
Does the Minister of Employment and Social Development agree with the NDP that paying temporary foreign workers market wages is harmful to the program?
Employment May 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, he and his boss, the Prime Minister, should just butt out of the Ontario election.
Pensions May 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, we know the Prime Minister hates the Canada pension plan. We know he will get a strong, stable government pension. Maybe that is why he so outrageously dismissed Premier Wynne's concerns about retirement savings with nothing but a smirk and a platitude.
Two-thirds of Canadians who work in the private sector will have trouble making ends meet when they retire. How can the Prime Minister make such a mean-spirited comment?
Employment May 7th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, every Liberal and MP believes this is a good program if it is administered properly, but because these people have made such a huge mess of it, there is no choice but for MPs to represent their constituents.
Here is example two. A year after the labour minister expressed her concerns about airlines favouring temporary foreign pilots over Canadian pilots, the minister's department told him it had gone ahead and the foreign pilots had been hired anyway.
Why does he brush off these serious concerns of his own labour minister, as he did for the MP I mentioned in the first question?
Employment May 7th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, there is clearly discord in the Conservative caucus on temporary foreign workers, but yesterday the minister made it crystal clear that he takes the advice of his colleagues so seriously that he leaps into action when they express their concerns. Let us test this theory.
The member for Souris—Moose Mountain has asked the government to lift the ban on the food services sector within weeks. Will the minister leap to comply with this request from a valued colleague?
Employment May 6th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, so he did ignore that warning from the Minister of Labour. Let us try another.
In November 2009, the member for Wild Rose wrote to the minister, saying, “At a time when many people are having difficulties finding employment, I am sure you can appreciate why some pilots would be upset that their colleagues have been overlooked [for employment]”.
Why, once again, did the minister ignore this timely warning from one of his own members?
Employment May 6th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, on the fact that the temporary foreign workers program costs Canadian jobs, the government has ignored not only Liberal warnings but also warnings from its own members.
On April 23, 2012, the current Minister of Labour wrote to share the concerns of a constituent that temporary foreign workers were “contributing to the unemployment of Canadian pilots” and are “driving down the salaries”. Why did the government ignore this warning from its own Minister of Labour?
Business of Supply May 6th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, in terms of no Canadian losing their job because of this issue, I would suggest the minister speak to Sandy Nelson and Shauna Jennison-Yung of Weyburn, Saskatchewan and ask them for their point of view.
More generally, the minister talks a good line about tightening up the rules, but he was a cheerleader for many years in loosening all the rules. For example, allowing companies to advertise on government online sites, because nobody reads those and so it is like not advertising; for certain sectors, the LMO would take five days instead of five months; or going to Ireland to drum up youth to come to get jobs in Canada when our unemployment rate was 15%.
How can Canadians possibly believe the minister when he claims that he is all for protecting Canadian jobs when for years and years he has been a cheerleader by loosening rules, drumming up foreign workers to come here and doing the precisely the opposite?