Latest / Kvetch & Release / Ottawa announces temporary foreign worker restrictions after telling staff to skip fraud prevention steps

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Ottawa announces temporary foreign worker restrictions after telling staff to skip fraud prevention steps · Kvetch & Release

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  Speaker 1: Hey, good morning everyone. Welcome to the Dammit Donald Joe,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: John Lidkey here filling in all week for Dan. Dan
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: is hosting on the Morning Drive this week from five
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  Speaker 1: to nine, So if you're missing out on your Dan
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: dosage for the day, you can still catch that at
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: five am, but you got me till noon. It's so
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  Speaker 1: great to be here with all of you right now,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Thanks for the privilege of your time. At nine oh seven.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Let's dive right into things. We've been hearing out of
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  Speaker 1: Ottawa from the Prime Minister that there is a need
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  Speaker 1: he is urging businesses to hire Canadians as the government
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  Speaker 1: is now announcing new restrictions to limit the number of
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  Speaker 1: low wage temporary foreign workers in the country. Ottawa is
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  Speaker 1: also considering whether to reduce its annual targets for permanent residency.
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  Speaker 1: This is a potential major shift in immigration policy for
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  Speaker 1: the Liberals. This is in response to mounting criticism from
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  Speaker 1: the recent influx of temporary foreign workers. So the FEDS
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  Speaker 1: are bringing back pre pandemic rules that make it harder
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  Speaker 1: for businesses to hire low wage workers from abroad. Joining
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  Speaker 1: me to discuss and dive into this, there's some breaking
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  Speaker 1: news elements involved in this and as well that we're
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  Speaker 1: going to get to is our Member of Parliament for
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  Speaker 1: Windsor West, Brian Massey, joins me right now on the phone.
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  Speaker 2: Brian, how you doing, good morning, doing well? Thank you
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  Speaker 2: hoping you're doing well too.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much, it's great to have you here. So
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  Speaker 1: we're looking at these potential at these changes that are
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  Speaker 1: coming in, these restrictions for low wage foreign workers. I
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  Speaker 1: think the first thing Brian, that people might be a
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  Speaker 1: little bit concerned about, especially some of our major employers
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  Speaker 1: here in Windsor Essex in the agricultural sector, is how
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  Speaker 1: is this going to impact us? Because we have a
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  Speaker 1: hard time hiring domestic workers. They don't want to come
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  Speaker 1: out into the fields, they don't want to work in
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  Speaker 1: the greenhouses, they don't want to do these jobs. That's
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  Speaker 1: why we need this stream. Are you concerned at all
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  Speaker 1: that these tweaks might end up impacting our local ad sector?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it might, but at the same time it's about
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  Speaker 2: time that these employers stepped up and started training and
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  Speaker 2: paying workers better. I mean, the reality is is that
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  Speaker 2: we've been using this program not only to the current
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  Speaker 2: administration but also the previous one with the Conservative actually
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  Speaker 2: doubled the program when they got into power to be
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  Speaker 2: a source of cheap labor, and it's been the expense
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  Speaker 2: at different times. We've seen the controversies with living conditions,
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  Speaker 2: with working conditions, and if you're a worker out there,
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  Speaker 2: you should be concerned about the fact that we've resorted
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  Speaker 2: to having a cheap market that brought into ourselves to
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  Speaker 2: lower your wage. So yes, it is going to cause
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  Speaker 2: some difficulty, but the same time, it's about time we
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  Speaker 2: tackled the issue here and that this fact is is
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  Speaker 2: that we've turned training on its head in this country
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  Speaker 2: a long time ago, where we actually put it on
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  Speaker 2: the backs of students to actually get their own training
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  Speaker 2: in universities and colleges and pay for all that, and
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  Speaker 2: we've taken it off the real responsibilities to have employers
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  Speaker 2: train workers as well too, and that used to be
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  Speaker 2: the practice before in our economy, and now they've resorted
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  Speaker 2: to actually using foreign workers and expanding the program when
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  Speaker 2: it's convenient. So it's about time we had a real
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  Speaker 2: adult conversation about the type of society we want to
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  Speaker 2: bring together here. And we need immigration, We need proper
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  Speaker 2: people coming after being vetted, and to also to and
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  Speaker 2: they have been doing that and filling labor market positions
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  Speaker 2: as they become Canadian citizens. But basically, to expand a
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  Speaker 2: program to bring in a quick solution for its convenience
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  Speaker 2: of employers to lower wages and to lower working conditions
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  Speaker 2: is not a sustainable practice in a modern democracy nor economy.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I'm not an economist by any means whatsoever,
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  Speaker 1: and math is not my strong point. But when I
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  Speaker 1: look to employers that say we can't hire low goal workers,
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  Speaker 1: they don't want to come and do this. They're not interested.
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  Speaker 1: It's too hard for them. My response is, like, just
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  Speaker 1: the little bit of Adam Smith that I did learn
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  Speaker 1: back in university, raise wages.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, one hundred percent, and that's part of the equation
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  Speaker 2: that we need to talk here. They'll argue that that
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  Speaker 2: won't make a difference, and they'll argue that there's other,
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  Speaker 2: you know, factors that are involved with regards to that.
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  Speaker 2: But the jobs are not attractive for a lot of
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  Speaker 2: different reasons. They are hard jobs, they are jobs that
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  Speaker 2: require skill sets, and there are also jobs that you know,
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  Speaker 2: basically the market has said that you know, people aren't
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  Speaker 2: willing to do for a lot of different reasons. So
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  Speaker 2: it is a difficult conversation to have, and there is
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  Speaker 2: some legitimacy with regards to the concerns of the shortages
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  Speaker 2: that will take place. But again, we have been putting
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  Speaker 2: the burden on students to actually even you know, get educations,
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  Speaker 2: and then they find that their education and the amount
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  Speaker 2: of the cost is not reflected in terms of the
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  Speaker 2: economy that they get back on some of these jobs,
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  Speaker 2: and so they we don't often even do them because
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  Speaker 2: of those situations as well too, and it's not what
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  Speaker 2: they've been trained for. And again we have more than
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  Speaker 2: just the agricultural community, have some manufacturing in others. And
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  Speaker 2: again I'm pushing towards having an adult conversation here about
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  Speaker 2: the situation because it's affected housing, it's affected a number
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  Speaker 2: of different issues that we have by basically resorting to
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  Speaker 2: cheap labor to be brought into this country. And again
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  Speaker 2: we often haven't even treated some of these individuals well
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  Speaker 2: when that's taken place, as some employers are doing the
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  Speaker 2: responsible and right things, but it's not across the board
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  Speaker 2: in terms of the universality of that. So the reality
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  Speaker 2: is is that we have a lot of young people
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  Speaker 2: without employment right now and better working conditions and better
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  Speaker 2: wages may increase costs for some employers, but at the
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  Speaker 2: same time, with record profits that many that are enjoying,
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  Speaker 2: and the way that they have their bonuses and they
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  Speaker 2: also have their stock options and a series of things,
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  Speaker 2: it's about times for that to actually go to workers
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  Speaker 2: and improving their wages. That's the responsible thing to do,
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  Speaker 2: not relying upon cheap labor coming into this country. That
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  Speaker 2: also fluctuates other issues of affordable living.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we have a text that just came in that says,
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  Speaker 1: I've got a kid who we live in too. Come see,
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  Speaker 1: I know that nobody's able to find a job these days,
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  Speaker 1: whether at fast food shops restaurants. My kid is saying
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  Speaker 1: that they're just finding that most places are hiring these
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  Speaker 1: temporary foreign workers because they can save money. It's been
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  Speaker 1: five months straight of applying for a job everywhere, still
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  Speaker 1: nothing to get. So, I mean, it's a tough situation here.
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  Speaker 1: We're looking at people who are trying to find employment
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  Speaker 1: they're not able to I worry that our consensus on
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  Speaker 1: immigration and being welcoming to newcomers could be potentially fractured
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  Speaker 1: as a result of some of these changes. That have
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  Speaker 1: come in, because if people aren't able to find employment,
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  Speaker 1: if people aren't able to find in secure housing, it's
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  Speaker 1: really easy to start to turn on one another. I think, Brian,
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  Speaker 1: I got some breaking news here on this file. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not sure if you've seen this one yet, but I
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  Speaker 1: know that you'll be able to speak to it. We
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  Speaker 1: have the Toronto Star just releasing a new Peace East
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  Speaker 1: that they have investigated as the Trudeau government promises to
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  Speaker 1: crack down on temporary foreign worker program that it admits
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  Speaker 1: has been abused. The Toronto Star has revealed the government
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  Speaker 1: is fast tracking applications by directing processing officers to skip
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  Speaker 1: crucial steps designed to prevent fraud.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw that report and it's disturbing. And again
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  Speaker 2: this comes to the fact that we have to be
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  Speaker 2: very careful here because first of all, we have a
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  Speaker 2: lot of people that are new to the country that
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  Speaker 2: are going through the proper immigration process, that are actually
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  Speaker 2: doing the right thing. Are great workers, and we want
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  Speaker 2: to be able to have a new skill set come in.
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  Speaker 2: But what we don't need is companies to be able
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  Speaker 2: to go through a process where they apply and they
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  Speaker 2: get cheap labor, just because that's the easier thing they
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  Speaker 2: do than versus training or paying workers what they should
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  Speaker 2: be worth on the fair market out there. And that's
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  Speaker 2: what you know, is the text that came in from
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  Speaker 2: your caller is really about, is that you know, yes,
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  Speaker 2: it is going to require some additional support systems place
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  Speaker 2: to do the training if we're expecting students to kind
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  Speaker 2: of fill in that positions or do those other things.
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  Speaker 2: But it can be done, and it should be done.
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  Speaker 2: In these situations where we have the large scale employers
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  Speaker 2: doing these end arounds. It really goes back to, quite
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  Speaker 2: frankly pre pandemic and the Harper administration of using this
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  Speaker 2: to basically give a shout out to businesses that didn't
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  Speaker 2: want to do the responsible thing with regards to getting
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  Speaker 2: workers the proper living conditions, the supports that necessary. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: if you look back in time with some of the
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  Speaker 2: things that have taken place, we've actually used government programs
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  Speaker 2: to actually spend money for housing and other types of
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  Speaker 2: initiatives because we want to bring in foreign temporary workers
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  Speaker 2: to actually fill the jobs versus actually training or paying
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  Speaker 2: them what they should be paid in a free, open
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  Speaker 2: market economy. Ironically, is that's where the labor situation should
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  Speaker 2: change because it's just easier for them to do that,
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  Speaker 2: and they bring in the workers temporarily, then they send
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  Speaker 2: them back out the door after that, and that's just
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  Speaker 2: not responsible economy in the long term.
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  Speaker 1: So one person responds here, Brian saying, okay, so the
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  Speaker 1: answer is to what go and increase the wages for
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  Speaker 1: young adults to go work on our farms and our greenhouses.
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  Speaker 1: Now you're just going to go and increase our food
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  Speaker 1: prices even more.
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  Speaker 2: Well, absolutely, there's going to be a recrepcussion if the
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  Speaker 2: companies don't pass on that cost or they pass on
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  Speaker 2: that cost. But at the same time, what's the solution
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  Speaker 2: is then, to what even bringing more foreign workers to
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  Speaker 2: lower the prices and hope that it takes place. It's
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  Speaker 2: just not a sustainable argument. And the reality is is
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  Speaker 2: that if there is going to be a free market
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  Speaker 2: economy where your labor is supposed to be worth value,
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  Speaker 2: then perhaps then there is a cost associated to the
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  Speaker 2: fact that the worker and the person that you're doing
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  Speaker 2: your job, if you're making twenty twenty five dollars an hour,
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  Speaker 2: that you should actually be compensated fairly for that based
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  Speaker 2: upon the need for labor to actually produce those things
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  Speaker 2: as opposed to what's been taking place is that we
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  Speaker 2: are actually even using government programs and subsidies and trying
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  Speaker 2: to lower conditions of workers that affect even the person
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  Speaker 2: that's actually at the job right now now that has
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  Speaker 2: a good job, because you're affected as well too, because
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  Speaker 2: what happens is that the lower wages when they pull
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  Speaker 2: them in for these projects and these special permits, and
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  Speaker 2: as the auto report you noted takes place, it actually
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  Speaker 2: suppresses other wages from responsible employers as well too. So yes,
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  Speaker 2: it costs money to actually pay people to do responsible
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  Speaker 2: work and a health and safety environment that actually is productive.
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  Speaker 2: But then those wages that are then made and the
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  Speaker 2: increase of those wages are passed on through the economy
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  Speaker 2: as well through local spending, which is more important than
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: actually having CEOs having exorbitant salaries and bonuses and also
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: the stock option people that have all those different things
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  Speaker 2: that go on in terms of getting I guess an
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: immediate return for that, and then versus that of the
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  Speaker 2: ordinary worker that's actually going to be paying for a house,
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  Speaker 2: is going to pay for school for the kids, is
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: going to be paying for groceries and all those different
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: things that they can now afford because their wages did
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: go up a little bit, so yes, there might be
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  Speaker 2: a little bit of an increase. The same time, we
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: have to make sure that those things are actually passed
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: on through the actual economic system. And again, an adult
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  Speaker 2: conversation has to happen, and that's why we probably don't
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: talk about this a lot because it's a complicated issue.
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  Speaker 2: But at the same time, it's not sustainable what we're doing.
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  Speaker 1: No, it doesn't seem like it is sustainable, but what
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  Speaker 1: we do neither is this conversation right now because we
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  Speaker 1: have to take a quick break. Right now, Brian, we've
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  Speaker 1: got to pay our bills here at AM eight hundred.
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  Speaker 1: But when we get back, we're going to keep this
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  Speaker 1: one going with you. So please don't go anywhere, and
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: if you've got a question that you want answered on
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  Speaker 1: the