Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2007-03-21 15:40:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Gregg Badger (Vice-President, Placement Services, Canadian Meat Council)",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"516342\" data-originallang=\"en\">Thank you, Jim.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516343\" data-originallang=\"en\">My name is Gregg Badger. I'm the chief operating officer and the placement services partner of Ronald A. Chisholm. Chisholm is an associate member of the Canadian Meat Council. Our company has been around since 1938, and we're one of the largest food traders in the country, trading some $700 million in meat and dairy products around the world.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516344\" data-originallang=\"en\">We recognized some four years ago that our suppliers and customers, the meat processors, were suffering from a lack of labour. Labour turnover and labour shortage were limiting the value-added activity that is occurring in the meat sector. As Jim mentioned, probably some $3 billion of value-added is left on the table each year.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516345\" data-originallang=\"en\">Thanks to the temporary low-skilled foreign worker program, this issue has started to be addressed. The industry has made a successful start in securing foreign labour, but there is a lot more labour to come and a lot more to be done to pick up the gap. For example, for a Maple Leaf Foods or an Olymel to start a second shift in Brandon and in Red Deer respectively, they have to hire hundreds of foreign workers, and other plants are in the same boat. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516346\" data-originallang=\"en\">We were very pleased to hear recently from Minister Solberg and Minister Finley. They announced changes to the temporary program, most importantly moving the temporary period from a 12-month period to a 24-month period. This is a huge benefit to the packers and producers and is much appreciated. They've made some other improvements to the program to try to increase processing times by putting applications online, and so on. These will be helpful, but there is still more to be done.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516347\" data-originallang=\"en\">As I say, the 24-month period is a big help; it allows the costs to be amortized over a longer period. But some of the biggest challenges now are in getting these workers into the country in an efficient manner. So in terms of our suggestions of other things we would like to see happen, the top of the list would be better coordination, which I know is being worked on, but there needs to be more coordination between Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Service Canada, and HRSDC to facilitate work permit applications and approvals, both in Canada and abroad. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516348\" data-originallang=\"en\">Citizenship and Immigration needs to be more in tune with the process, more involved, not only in creating approvals but in assisting in the enforcement of the rules of the program set out by HRSDC. There have been improvements, but there can still be more consistency among Service Canada and HRSDC offices across the country in terms of the application of the rules of the program and especially in processing times. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516349\" data-originallang=\"en\">In Alberta, for example, it takes upward of 12 weeks for an employer to get an approval, and it can often take longer. Then when employees apply overseas, they're looking at anywhere from six weeks to four months, depending on the embassy. So that means that an employer that makes a decision to hire is waiting anywhere from a minimum of three to six to nine months before workers hit their plant. That means lost productivity as that time goes on. So increased resources and increased coordination between HRSDC and Citizenship and Immigration are important.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516350\" data-originallang=\"en\">Some other matters in our material are more administrative in nature. The other major issue employers would like to see is limiting HRSDC to the job description, working hours, and wages, leaving out matters such as airfare and some other requirements that are in the program that make it more of a burden on the employer than it needs to be. Employers have to spend a lot of time and resources to go abroad and hire workers; they don't think additional burdens are fair. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516351\" data-originallang=\"en\">We see that $51 million is allocated in the budget, and we hope that gets allocated mostly to resources for better processing times. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516352\" data-originallang=\"en\">Thank you.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"516342\" data-originallang=\"en\">Merci, Jim.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516343\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je m'appelle Gregg Badger et je suis le directeur g\u00e9n\u00e9ral et l'associ\u00e9 en services de placement de Ronald A. Chisholm. Chislom est un membre associ\u00e9 du Conseil des viandes du Canada. Notre soci\u00e9t\u00e9 existe depuis 1938 et nous sommes l'un des plus gros courtiers en produits alimentaires du Canada avec quelque 700 millions de dollars de ventes de produits de la viande et de produits laitiers dans le monde.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516344\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Il y a environ quatre ans, nous avons r\u00e9alis\u00e9 que nos fournisseurs et nos clients, les \u00e9tablissements de transformation de la viande, connaissaient des p\u00e9nuries de personnel. Le taux de roulement du personnel et les p\u00e9nuries de main-d'oeuvre limitaient les possibilit\u00e9s d'ajout de valeur dans le secteur de la viande. Comme l'a dit Jim, cela repr\u00e9sente un manque \u00e0 gagner d'environ 3 milliards de dollars par an.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516345\" data-originallang=\"en\">On commence \u00e0 faire face au probl\u00e8me gr\u00e2ce au programme de travailleurs temporaires \u00e9trangers \u00e0 faibles qualifications. L'industrie a commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 obtenir de la main-d'oeuvre \u00e9trang\u00e8re de cette mani\u00e8re mais ses besoins restent tr\u00e8s \u00e9lev\u00e9s. Par exemple, si Aliments Maple Leaf ou Olymel voulaient mettre une deuxi\u00e8me \u00e9quipe au travail \u00e0 Brandon ou \u00e0 Red Deer, respectivement, il leur faudrait engager des centaines de travailleurs \u00e9trangers, et c'est la m\u00eame chose pour les autres \u00e9tablissements.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516346\" data-originallang=\"en\">C'est avec plaisir que nous avons entendu r\u00e9cemment les ministres Solberg et Findley annoncer des modifications au programme temporaire, la plus importante \u00e9tant le passage d'une p\u00e9riode temporaire de 12 mois \u00e0 24 mois, ce qui est un progr\u00e8s consid\u00e9rable qu'appr\u00e9cient beaucoup les abattoirs et les \u00e9tablissements de transformation. D'autres am\u00e9liorations ont \u00e9t\u00e9 apport\u00e9es au programme pour essayer d'acc\u00e9l\u00e9rer le traitement des demandes par voie \u00e9lectronique. Cela sera utile mais il y a encore plus \u00e0 faire.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516347\" data-originallang=\"en\">Comme je l'ai dit, le passage \u00e0 une p\u00e9riode de 24 mois est tr\u00e8s utile car il permet d'amortir les co\u00fbts sur une p\u00e9riode plus longue. Toutefois, l'un des plus gros d\u00e9fis reste de permettre \u00e0 ces travailleurs \u00e9trangers de venir chez nous de mani\u00e8re efficiente. Donc, si nous pouvons formuler une recommandation, c'est avant tout d'assurer une meilleure coordination entre Citoyennet\u00e9 et Immigration Canada, Service Canada et RHDSC pour faciliter le traitement des demandes de permis, au Canada m\u00eame et \u00e0 l'\u00e9tranger.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516348\" data-originallang=\"en\">Il faut que Citoyennet\u00e9 et Immigration Canada harmonise ses activit\u00e9s non seulement pour acc\u00e9l\u00e9rer le traitement des dossiers mais aussi pour faciliter l'application des r\u00e8gles du programme \u00e9tablies par RHDSC. Certes, la situation s'est d\u00e9j\u00e0 am\u00e9lior\u00e9e mais il pourrait y avoir une harmonisation encore meilleure entre les bureaux de Service Canada et de RHDSC partout au pays en ce qui concerne l'application des r\u00e8gles du programme et les d\u00e9lais de traitement des dossiers.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516349\" data-originallang=\"en\">En Alberta, par exemple, il faut parfois jusqu'\u00e0 12 semaines, voire plus, \u00e0 un employeur pour obtenir une approbation. En outre, quand un employ\u00e9 pr\u00e9sente une demande \u00e0 l'\u00e9tranger, le d\u00e9lai peut aller de six semaines \u00e0 quatre mois, selon l'ambassade en cause. Cela veut dire qu'un employeur qui d\u00e9cide de recruter peut devoir attendre entre trois et six ou neuf mois pour que le travailleur se pr\u00e9sente \u00e0 l'usine. Il est donc important d'accro\u00eetre les ressources de RHDSC et de Citoyennet\u00e9 et de mieux coordonner leurs activit\u00e9s.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516350\" data-originallang=\"en\">Les autres aspects de notre m\u00e9moire ont un caract\u00e8re plus administratif. Il s'agit notamment \u2014 autre question importante pour les employeurs \u2014 de limiter RHDSC aux descriptions d'emploi, aux horaires de travail et \u00e0 la r\u00e9mun\u00e9ration, en laissant de c\u00f4t\u00e9 des questions telles que les billets d'avion et certaines autres exigences du programme qui constituent pour les employeurs un fardeau plus lourd que n\u00e9cessaire. Les employeurs consacrent d\u00e9j\u00e0 beaucoup de temps et d'argent \u00e0 recruter des travailleurs \u00e0 l'\u00e9tranger et ils ne pensent pas que des fardeaux additionnels soient justifi\u00e9s.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516351\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous constatons qu'une somme de 51 millions de dollars est pr\u00e9vue dans le budget et nous esp\u00e9rons qu'elle sera surtout consacr\u00e9e \u00e0 l'obtention de ressources suppl\u00e9mentaires pour r\u00e9duire les d\u00e9lais de traitement des dossiers.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"516352\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je vous remercie de votre attention.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/human-resources/39-1/63/gregg-badger-1/",
    "politician_url": null,
    "politician_membership_url": null,
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "1966941",
    "document_url": "/committees/human-resources/39-1/63/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Fhuman-resources%2F39-1%2F63%2F"
    }
}