Local MP Brian Storseth, who represents the Westlock - St.
Local MP Brian Storseth, who represents the Westlock - St. Paul riding was in Bonnyville last week to assure local business owners that he was on their side regarding the controversial changes the federal government made to its temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) earlier this year.
In what was the second such meeting this summer, Storseth told a group of roughly 50 representatives of the business community, as well as local politicians that he would continue to fight to ensure northeastern Alberta is granted an exemption from the "crippling" changes federal employment minister Jason Kenney made to the TFWP in June.
"This is the most critical issue I've faced since becoming your Member of Parliament eight and a half years ago, and I've decided, for better or worse, whether my colleagues like it or not, that I'm going to stand alongside our local business sector on this issue and fight for some sort of reprieve," Storseth said when addressing the crowd at the Aug. 14 meeting. "We need some sort of exemption for our communities in northeastern Alberta."
After placing a temporary moratorium on the much-maligned program back in April, Kenney, alongside federal immigration minister Chris Alexander, reinstated the program in late June. Businesses across the country could have been forgiven for seeing this move as a positive, but it soon became apparent that the federal government wasn't interested in allowing the program to be used as it once was.
Kenney unveiled a series of what Storseth called "crippling" reforms businesses would have to meet should they use the program, including a new cap on the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers an employee can hire at each worksite and a new rule that stated employers would now be required to re-apply every year for approval to hire workers instead of every two years.
The fee to apply for a labour market opinion (LMO) is also going up from $275 to $1,000 per worker, while the maximum time a temporary foreign worker will be able to spend in Canada is being reduced from four years down to two.
Business owners in attendance were clearly unhappy with the changes announced by Kenney, with Cold Lake businessman and city councillor Bob Buckle calling out the minister for being quoted in national media as stating he "accepted" there would be casualties and closures as a result of the reforms.
A fellow local business owner wondered how Kenney could justify handing Quebec an exemption to the changes considering the francophone province had an unemployment rate of 8.1 per cent compared to Alberta's 4.7 per cent rate.
While Storseth said he would be doing whatever he could to help alleviate the problems facing local businesses, he believed the long-term solution had to be finding ways to convince and entice unemployed Canadians from other areas of the country to move to Alberta for work.
"I think the thing that needs to happen here, is we need to do whatever we can to get Canadians to move to this area for work," Storseth said. "Right now we're getting people here for the high paying jobs on the oilpatch, but nothing for the service industry."
He added, "If you look at places like Peterborough (Ont.) where they have a double digit unemployment rate, those are the places to look, target and identify (potential employees)."
The biggest issue right now according to Storseth is that while the re-worked program upsets local business owners, the majority of the Canadian public and politicians see the changes to restrict the usage of the TFWP as a positive thing.
"The problem we have right now is that 90 per cent of parliament don't agree with our position, 90 per cent of Canada don't agree with our position and close to 90 per cent of the people living in this community don't agree with our position," Storseth said. "I've had phone calls from individuals disgusted that I'm on your (business owners) side on this issue - that's the sort of thing we're up against."
He added, "Unfortunately, the harsh truth is that the people of Canada overwhelmingly disagree with this program. That's something we have to change. We have to speak to people and let them know what this program does for them, because without it I know (we're going to struggle)."
Speaking to the Nouvelle following the meeting, Bonnyville businessman Sal Naim said he was encouraged by the message Storseth sent to the local business community.
"I think overall this was a good meeting. The fact we had so many people together here today gives weight to the fact this is a critical issue for our area," Naim said. "It was certainly important to have Brian here. He's gone out in the public eye and supported us on this issue because I think he truly understands the sort of situation we find ourselves in at the moment."
He added, "Now, I think it's absolutely vital for us as business owners to try and make people understand how important this program is to us if we want to continue to deliver the same quality of service we offer in this community.
"We know the program isn't perfect and it certainly isn't our preferred route, but the fact remains that for the past few years this has been a bit of a solution to a sizable problem for us. Unless things change and change quickly, we're going to find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We're already seeing some businesses struggling to maintain hours, but the brunt of the effect will come three to six months from now when work permits for our temporary foreign workers start to expire, because we won't have anybody to come in and replace them."
Town of Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski said we are approaching a "critical time" in the debate with some local businesses starting to show signs of reducing hours and services and he believes the public needs to start putting some pressure on the federal government to alleviate the pressure on the business sector.
"I'm a little disheartened by the amount of process and comments coming out of Kenney's office in detriment to the program and some of the behaviours and tendencies we're starting to see in terms of atmosphere towards our temporary foreign workers," Sobolewski said. "I can appreciate some people may not think this is the best thing for them, but the fact remains without this program we're going to see a drastic reduction in the amount of services and quality of services we're used to here in Bonnyville."
He added, "People want to have movie theatres, box stores, new restaurants, but I'm telling you now we're not going to get any of that unless we're able to man our service industry."
Storseth recommended local business owners do whatever they can to spread the message regarding the importance of this program to the greater community, while he himself would continue to meet with Minister Kenney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to emphasize just how much the temporary foreign worker program is needed in northeastern Alberta.
"All I can do from here on out is keep doing my best and pushing for an exemption for this community from the changes implemented to this program," Storseth said. "This is only the second time I've ever disagreed with and criticized a government decision, and I'm really putting my career on the line here by taking this stance, but I'm going to stick by it and continue fighting because I believe it's in the best interest of my riding and it's the right thing to do."
