Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Thanks very much, Chair. I guess depending on where you sit tonight, where I am on the political spectrum is sort of up to you guys. I'm either on the left of you folks or on the right of these guys. Thank you for the invitation, and good evening, Chair, members of the committ

Human Resources committee  That's the reality we're living in, so we've had to do that, because this is a market economy and we have contracts that say we have to provide labour to these companies. Look, I can't speak for every member in our organization--

Human Resources committee  --but what I can do is give you an overall sense, organizationally, of where we're moving. It's a reality that this is here and this is here to stay until in Canada we get it right, letting in the right numbers of folks with the right qualifications or training enough of our own

Human Resources committee  The testing for the red seal is determined by the Red Seal Secretariat. They determine who, where, when, and why, and it is administered by HRSDC. It's an opportunity. I know the four gentlemen who run the Chicago building trades in the greater Chicago area. They represent close

Human Resources committee  It's a “just in time” system, and we're almost out of time. When you look at the energy sector, you're looking at four or five big projects going on in Alberta, which require 10,000 folks per project. You look at Newfoundland, which has offshore oil and gas. You look at Point Le

Human Resources committee  CIC and HRSDC make the decision on these folks based on who the contractor decides they want.

Human Resources committee  Sure, if we can come up with a way to give more people the opportunity to write the red seal program in different ways, let's do it. As long as we can ensure the integrity of the test and the integrity of the test-giving system, let's do it. There is a practical component, so tha

Human Resources committee  I agree. I want to make sure that it's not simply the ability to pass the test, but that the candidate or the person actually has the associated competencies that are being tested. So we need to make sure that the hours are verifiable with past employers; we want to make sure tho

Human Resources committee  What has evolved is the striking reality that we're under contractual obligations to provide labour to employers and to large energy clients, and if we can't supply, someone else will. So the temporary foreign worker program is a supplementary HR strategy. It's not a fix-all. It'

Human Resources committee  We are the unions. But usually if people are bringing in temporary foreign workers onto a construction site, there is a process where they have to indicate that there is no current labour dispute on that construction site. And if it's a unionized site, they have to notify the col

Human Resources committee  It's a fair representation. Some of the things are changing. As you're aware, the “Beyond the Border” working group between us and the U.S. is continuing, and we're trying really hard to make sure that skilled labour, during periods of shortages in either country, is on the agend

Human Resources committee  No. If this contractor is looking for welders from inside Canada, there's a procedure. If he's looking for welders from outside Canada, there's a procedure. No, he doesn't go through us. This contractor would go to the Government of Canada and say that he can't find workers in h

Human Resources committee  If that individual has the red seal accreditation or a ticket from Quebec, it's recognized in every province in Canada. He may have trouble getting there. He may have mobility issues, because oftentimes that money is not covered. So if he has to get on the plane himself to get ou

Human Resources committee  Sure, or everything should be expanded into one bucket, so at least we know what we're looking for in this country. It may be red seal or provincial buckets, but let's do things once, not eleven--

Human Resources committee  On barriers to newcomers, if there's some sort of equivalency and a system is set up to examine what they have and compare it to what Canada wants, there shouldn't be barriers. If you have your red seal, you're good to go anywhere in Canada.