Following recent provincial rallies and complaints regarding the federal temporary foreign workers program, local business owners gave their thoughts on the situation, speaking to the Nouvelle last week.
Sal Naim has been a small business owner in Bonnyville for more than a decade. Since he took the reigns at Sonny's Liquor Store, Naim has gone on to open Players Lounge and Mr. Mikes Steakhouse Casual, and while he has enjoyed success operating his three businesses, he admits it wouldn't have been possible without the utilization of the temporary foreign workers program.
“I think there is a great misunderstanding amongst the public regarding just how much small businesses, not only in Bonnyville but throughout Canada, rely on the temporary foreign worker program,” Naim said. “When it comes to the service and hospitality industries, those businesses need these workers just to be able to operate. Without the program, these businesses (would be forced) to close their doors.”
Last week, the Nouvelle spoke with members of the ‘Canadians Against the Temporary Foreign Workers Program' as the organization held a rally in Edmonton protesting against the federal program, believing Canadians are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to finding work in the service and trade industries.
In a direct response to those claims, Naim said it would be a preference both for himself and every other business owner he knows in Bonnyville to hire local workers, but the supply just is not there.
“The priority of any employer I know is to hire Canadians first, but sometimes that just isn't possible,” Naim said. “Nobody is moving to Bonnyville to work for $15 an hour, and the people that are from here or do live here are getting involved in (higher paying) industries.”
He added, “I've had job fairs where we've had 30 or 40 openings and we had three local applications. All three were hired, but that doesn't even come close to filling the positions required to run my businesses.”
Richard Wurst, owner and operator of the Neighbourhood Inn agreed with Naim, saying that while he would absolutely prefer to employ Canadians, there just isn't enough interest in the types of jobs small businesses are often looking to fill.
“My number one priority all the time is to hire a Canadian for any job that becomes available, but unfortunately there just aren't enough employable Canadians to fill the positions we need to fill,” Wurst said. “The program isn't perfect, and it wouldn't be my first choice, but at the moment it's all we have.”
Naim emphasized that should the temporary foreign worker program be shut down, the small business sector in Bonnyville would take a “huge, huge hit.”
“If these people got their wish and the program was ever closed down, almost immediately over night we would lose half of the restaurants in town, and the other half that remained open would struggle to serve even the very basic standard of service to the community,” Naim said.
He added, “If today we were to say that the temporary foreign worker program is no longer available to small businesses in this area, and we were to set up a job fair in Bonnyville saying we want to replace every temporary foreign worker in town with a local Canadian, do you think we'd get enough applicants to fill the positions? No, not even close. The fact is, we don't have enough local workers, so we have to utilize the program just so we can offer local residents the services they want and deserve.”
Wurst said he has had nothing but positive experiences when it comes to bringing in temporary foreign workers, and admitted without the program his business would not have been able to grow into what it is today.
“I've absolutely had nothing but positive experiences when it comes to using this program. All the individuals we've hired have come in with a fantastic work ethic and really the only reason we've been able to maintain our business is because of the fact we've been allowed to bring in these temporary foreign workers,” Wurst said.
One of the points Naim has been struggling to understand is that some people believe hiring a temporary foreign worker is cheaper for an employer than employing a local Canadian.
“The costs involved with bringing in one of these workers can vary from $5,000 to $10,000, so believe me when I say local business owners would much rather (hire local residents).”
Although he acknowledges that there are individuals and organizations out there that take advantage of the program, Naim likened it to many social programs, such as welfare and health services. He said, whenever the government finds somebody abusing a program, they are not likely to shut the entire program down. He says the same rule should apply to the temporary foreign workers program.
“At the end of the day, there is a reason that the temporary foreign worker program was created,” Naim said. “There is a genuine shortage of workers in this part of the world, and I don't think the general public understands the gravity of the situation or how vital this program has become to small businesses,” Naim said.
