By CBC News | Link to Article
Kyle Fawcett, Alberta’s labour minister, is pushing Ottawa for more control over the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
By CBC News | Link to Article
Kyle Fawcett, Alberta’s labour minister, is pushing Ottawa for more control over the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Fawcett says the province is in a good position to help monitor the program to ensure it is not being abused and to impose appropriate penalties.
Temporary foreign workers filed at least 250 complaints across Canada about employers mistreating them last year, braving a system that critics say is designed to work against them.
Only three provinces — Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador — routinely track complaints made by migrant workers.
“We have made a pitch to work co-operatively with the federal government,” Fawcett said. “That pitch has met limited interest. I have had a conversation with [federal Employment] Minister [Jason] Kenney and expressed our desire to work co-operatively with him. I think he does recognize the unique circumstances of Alberta.”
Those circumstances include a low unemployment rate.
Alberta has repeatedly found itself struggling with a labour shortage in low-skilled and high turnover industries.
The request comes after Kenney announced on April 24 that the government would be suspending the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for the fast-food industry.