Scott Armstrong

[Employment, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is strange that the Liberal Party would attack youth who are trying to come to Canada to enjoy this tremendous country and all we can offer to people who come here to get job experience, in exchange for our youth going to other countries and getting that same experience. We want to encourage our young people to travel internationally. That is what we are doing, and we are getting the job done.

[Employment, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it was in fact the Liberals who introduced the low-wage temporary foreign worker program. We are the ones who actually fixed it, by putting in tough sanctions to ensure that employers who engage in this system have to obey the rules and put Canadians in front before they hire a temporary foreign worker. We made significant changes in June of this year that make sure employers will always put Canadians first.

[Social Development, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we will not acknowledge spurious complaints by former disgruntled employees that are broadcast in the media.

The Social Security Tribunal is doing the job for Canadians. In fact, we have decreased the amount of complaints that actually get to the tribunal by 90% by adding the ability within the department to review claims before they actually get to the Social Security Tribunal. It is a better system, it is cheaper for taxpayers and it delivers better service to Canadians who use the system.

[Social Development, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Social Security Tribunal is providing great service to Canadians who put their appeals through. We have added 22 new employees to the Social Security Tribunal, an increase of over 50%. We are getting the job done.

[Business of Supply, September 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, imagine if the NDP were in government and in charge of the EI fund and what they would do with it. This is the creator of a 45-day work year. How would that help small businesses? How would that help larger corporations in Canada find the employees they need to do the jobs?

As I said, over the next decade there are hundreds of thousands of jobs that are going to be available in the skilled trades and natural resource industries. There are many projects that are going to be started up across Canada. A 45-day work year that is promoted by the NDP would be devastating for the overall labour force. Those companies would not be able to find the employees they need. Quite frankly, if they do not have the trained labour force in place, they are not going to engage in those operations. They are not going to start new mines, the new hydroelectric projects. They are not going to be able to build pipelines to get our natural resource projects to the international market.

This is what we want. We want to make sure we have an employment insurance system that is there for people when they truly need it, but that also removes any incentives for people not to go to work.

[Business of Supply, September 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we encourage small businessmen and women across the country to hire new Canadians. We expect them to take a look at their own business to see what their tax thresholds are and to do what is appropriate for their business. That is why we are giving them an incentive with the small business tax credit to hire more Canadians. This is all about hiring those one or two additional people so we can continue to get young Canadians in particular to work in small business, which is the economic driver of our economy.

Since the pit of the economic recession in July of 2009, 1.1 million Canadians have had a telephone call from an employer, many of them small businessmen and women, who have told them they have a job. We want to continue to support small businesses with incentives to hire more people. That is what this is all about.

[Business of Supply, September 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear from the beginning that I do not think Canadian businesses are so selfish that they would fire employees just so they could continue to be eligible to receive the small business tax credit.

My family has been in small business for over 100 years in Truro, Nova Scotia. To say that small businessmen like my father, grandfather and great-grandfather would lay people off just to stay underneath the limit to get this credit is absolutely ludicrous. They are more interested in hiring good employees, training those employees and keeping those good employees in place so they can be more productive and the business can run better. That is what small businesses do. They grow the economy. They hire people. They build the employment structure in this country. That is what the small business people are all about, not firing people or laying people off to get underneath some limit to get a credit. That is not what small businesses typically do.

All businesses would rather put their efforts into making their enterprises grow, and hire new workers and expand their business. I do not understand why our colleagues across the way are opposed to the small business tax credit, which the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said will create over 25,000 new jobs for Canadians. This measure is the next step in the government's economic action plan, which has made Canada the envy of the world. Job creation and economic growth are the top priorities for our government, unlike the Liberal Party, which would tax businesses and treat the EI fund like a slush fund to pay for reckless investment schemes.

Now let us start with the EI changes that were introduced under the connecting Canadians with available jobs initiative. This helps Canadians get back to work more quickly. The changes were not about restricting access and benefits, but they were about giving unemployed Canadians the information and tools they need to get back to work. We have heard success stories from employers who have said those changes have helped them to find available workers. We have also heard success stories from workers who have been able to connect themselves to jobs that are available.

This was the case, for instance, in a company in Quebec that included 1,500 employees. Now this company, Regroupement des employeurs du secteur bioalimentaire, was able to connect and hire new Canadians because of the connecting Canadians to available jobs program.

As part of the EI changes, we have enhanced our jobs alert system, which has so far sent out 165 million job alerts to over 354,000 subscribers since January of last year.

These changes are just one part of the government's broader agenda to equip Canadians with the skills and training they need to help create jobs. While this country has weathered the global recession better than most, the recovery has varied across regions and across different parts of our economy. By connecting Canadians with jobs that are available and putting our priority on skills and training, we are ensuring that continued economic growth, job creation and long-term prosperity remain the priority of the government.

The measures we are taking fit into Canada's economic picture right now. We have recently completed free trade deals with the European Union and South Korea, giving us access to over 550 million consumers. Over half of the global GDP is now available to Canadian businesses to export their goods to. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Canada enjoys free trade with a total of 44 countries. This will have a tremendous impact on the economy and create tens of thousands of new jobs. It is a win-win.

It means growth opportunities for Canadian firms and also more jobs for Canadian workers with the right skills. This is especially true in the extraction and resource industry where hundreds of major projects are scheduled to come on stream over the next decade. For these sectors, projects like this hold much opportunity for prosperity, but they also carry real challenges.

As Canada's population ages, so does our workforce. The pipefitters, engineers, draftsmen and technicians will soon be in short supply because of the retiring baby boomer generation. This is particularly the case in the construction sector, the mining industry and the petroleum sector. At the same time, there will be 550,000 unskilled workers who will not be able to find work by 2016, according the Chamber of Commerce. That number could be well over a million by 2021.

How are we going to meet these challenges? We are going to meet them by moving towards a better way to match skills and training with in-demand and about to be in-demand jobs.

One of the elements of our plan is the Canada job grant, an innovative, employer-driven approach to help Canadians gain the skills and training to fill new and available jobs. Agreements have now been signed with all the provinces and territories to implement the grant. It is a critical step to ensuring that Canadians are equipped and prepared for the jobs that are going to be out there.

At the same time, we are providing incentives for young people to consider studying a career in the in-demand skilled trades. Since 2007, we have provided Canadians with nearly $700 million in apprenticeship grants. Through economic action plan 2014, we are creating the Canada apprenticeship loan to give apprentices interest-free loans of up to $4,000 during their training. It is estimated that starting in January 2015 at least 2,600 apprentices a year will benefit from this loan.

The government is also working to ensure the well-being of under-represented groups, such as Canadians with disabilities, aboriginal people, and new Canadians. The late finance minister had a special eye on helping those who are less fortunate, by creating the registered disability savings plan. These qualified people are too often sitting on the sidelines without jobs to go to every morning when they are perfectly able to work. For example, there are currently 800,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities who are not working, but whose disability will not prevent them from doing a job. Almost half of these, 340,000, have post-secondary education. That situation needs to change. To this end, we are providing $220 million each year through our labour market development agreements for programs and services, helping Canadians with disabilities to join the labour force.

Recently our government also reformed the temporary foreign worker program, to ensure that Canadians would always come first when it comes to the hiring of new Canadians in available jobs.We have introduced tough measures so that the program remains a last and limited resort when employers cannot find Canadians to do these jobs. Our government recognizes the fundamental importance of small business in fuelling this Canadian economy. That is why our government has announced the introduction of a small business tax credit.

It is estimated that this will result in savings of approximately $550 million for small businesses over the next two years. The introduction of this credit builds on our government's strong support of small businesses since 2006. We froze EI premiums to provide certainty and flexibility for small businesses; we reduced the small business tax rate from 12% to 11%, and we increased the small business limit to $500,000. The results are clear: a typical small business with $500,000 in taxable income is seeing a savings of approximately $28,600. In total, small businesses have seen their tax rate reduced by 34% since 2006, and the list goes on.

I think I have made the point. Our government is wholly committed to helping Canadians find good jobs, and Canadian small businesses are creating these jobs to support our families and communities. Therefore, there is no need for the measure that the Liberals are now promoting. For that reason, I urge my fellow members to join us in saying no to this motion.

[Employment, September 22nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, those questions are coming from a member that, if she had her way, would shut down the oil sands and eliminate all those jobs that Canadians would be performing.

While we have made a comprehensive and balanced overhaul of the program, the Liberals and NDP have been incoherent about where they stand, while inundating our government with requests for temporary foreign workers in their own ridings. They are voting in favour of an expansive moratorium on the program, while demanding changes to the program. They have voted against all of the previous reforms to tighten the access to the temporary foreign workers program and all of our previous efforts to crack down on employers who abuse this program.

These reforms will require that employers make greater efforts to recruit and train Canadians for available jobs. These initiatives, like the Canada job grant, will ensure that the program is only used to provide temporary help where clear and acute labour shortages exist and Canadians are not available for the job.

I encourage the member opposite that if she is aware of abuses to call the tip line: 1-800-367-5693 or email [e-mail].

Any employer who misuses this program will be publicly named and shamed on our blacklist, be banned from the program and face other consequences.

[Employment, September 22nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our message to employers has been clear and unequivocal; Canadians must always be first in line for any available job.

Our comprehensive and balanced reforms restore the temporary foreign worker program to its original purpose, as a short-term last resort for employers when there are no qualified Canadians to fill available jobs. This comprehensive overhaul of the program will significantly reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada, it will improve labour market information and correct labour market distortions caused by the previous program. It will also strengthen enforcement and penalties for employers who attempt to break the rules.

Let me list the reforms that the Minister of Employment announced just this past June. Employers must now also attest that they are aware of the rule that Canadians cannot be laid off or have their hours reduced at a work site that employs temporary foreign workers. Employers with 10 or more employees applying for a new LMIA are subject to a cap of 10% on the proportion of their workforce that can consist of low-wage temporary foreign workers. Applications for the lowest wage, lowest skill, entry-level occupations in the food services, accommodation and retail trade sectors will be barred from the temporary foreign worker program in areas of high unemployment, those areas with greater than 6% unemployment.

LMIAs for low-wage temporary foreign workers will be reduced from a two-year standard duration to a one-year period, making the program truly temporary. Annex agreements with provinces and territories can no longer be used for employers to avoid labour market screening. Employers who are seeking to hire high-wage temporary foreign workers will now be required to submit transition plans that show how they will be hiring more Canadians in the future to fill their available positions.

More and better labour market information will be available for stronger screening. A new enhanced job matching service will allow Canadians to apply directly through the Canada job bank for jobs that match their skills and experience, and provide information to program officers who are reviewing an employer's LMIA application on how many qualified Canadians have applied for specific jobs.

There will be stronger enforcement and tougher penalties for employers who break the rules. There is a massive increase in the number and scope of inspections, so that one in four businesses employing temporary foreign workers will now be inspected by the temporary foreign worker program each and every year. There will be an increase in the number of program requirements that inspectors can review when they review these applications from three to 21. We are improving and expanding the temporary foreign worker tip line, and creating a new complaints line to better detect when employers have violated this system.

Expanding the ability to publicly blacklist employers who have been suspended and are under investigation, as well as those who have had an LMIA revoked and are banned from using the program have been put in place. Additional funding for the Canada Border Services Agency to allow for an increase in the number of criminal investigations are also in place. Improving information-sharing among departments and agencies involved in the oversight of the temporary foreign worker program, including provincial and territorial governments, has been established, and we are introducing significant monetary fines for those who violate the system of up to $100,000.

Those are some of the recent changes we have made to make sure we enshrine the principle that Canadians must always be hired for any available job, a sign of real action made by this minister last June.

[Employment, September 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the temporary foreign workers program changes that we put in place were to ensure that Canadians always had the first crack at every available job. It is absolutely illegal and against the rules for any Canadian to be laid off and replaced by a temporary foreign worker and if that is the case, this company will be held fully responsible.