TFW program fixes fall short
There is an old political axiom that when a government takes action that displeases its critics at both ends of the ideological spectrum, then it’s clearly doing something right.
The logic is that it’s refused to cave in to either set of critics, and doled out pain and pleasure more or less equally. What arrived Friday does not fall into that category — not at all.
Instead, the federal government’s move Friday to defang the painful political controversy over temporary foreign workers (TFWs) has fallen short by failing to take the good advice offered by its critics, and instead burdens Canada with an ever more-complicated collection of Band-Aid measures that address none of the outstanding problems. It might even make things worse. Saskatchewan business groups quickly noted disapprovingly that the changes mean business owners in this province — where it’s tough to fill jobs, particularly in urban areas — soon will need to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment, a document more detailed than the Labour Market Opinions currently used.
Details take time to assemble and get through a federal civil service that’s stretched thin by budget cuts. Coupled with higher fees to access the altered TFW program, that will create more cost and hassle for business owners. As business groups have pointed out recently, higher hurdles like these will raise the possibility some firms will have to either “pass” on work or, in the worst case, close their doors.
That benefits nobody — not government, not employers and certainly not employees, regardless of where they came from: Canada or overseas. As regards the latter, it’s important to remember that TFWs now among us came here in good faith to work, and often work hard, under the program as it was constituted.
They played by the rules as they existed; the last thing they deserve is public scorn.
The federal government’s changes have also failed to impress another set of critics: labour organizations that, in the past, have supported the original TFW program because it brought into Canada highly skilled workers whose presence boosted Canadian firms, creating more employment.
But these bodies now worry that the TFW program, even as amended Friday, will not do enough to protect foreign workers who are vulnerable to unscrupulous employers’ pressure to accept substandard wages or working conditions — on pain of being fired, and then deported.
And as provincial Immigration Minister Jeremy Harrison noted, there doesn’t appear to be any recognition of Saskatchewan’s labour market conditions. With the cap placed on how many workers a company can hire, it appears many firms will not be able to use it. He will be trying to get Ottawa to recognize Saskatchewan’s need for thousands of workers.
Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney vowed his department will “crack down on the bad apples” exploiting workers. Impressive words — but this will require more immigration staff. We’ll believe the government is serious when more resources are applied to this work. In the meantime, this is a disappointing response to a serious problem.