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June 20th, 2014

Conservative reforms not enough to fix broken Temporary Foreign Worker Program

The changes announced today to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program don’t go far enough to fix it and show the depth of the Conservatives` incompetencein this file.

“The Conservatives are trying to reverse the damages they’ve caused by making the program easier to abuse,” said Jinny Sims (Newton – North Delta), NDP critic for Employment and Social Development. “But their changes aren’t actuallymaking sure employers hire Canadians first or protecting temporary foreign workers from abuse.

The Conservatives’ changes to the Program offer nothing new to protect temporary foreign workers from exploitation, nor do they present a pathway to citizenship. The recruitment rules remain the same, rather than requiring employers to advertise for longer or at higher wages. And the Conservative government is not replacing all of the funding it has cut for gathering current Labour Market Information.

“Time and again, we’ve seen this government introduce half measures and not enforce them,” added Sadia Groguhé (Saint-Lambert), NDP Deputy critic for Employment and Social Development. “Why should Canadians trust them now? Why not be fully transparent, and publish positions and wage levels of temporary foreign workers, in addition to the employers?”