Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2012-10-02 10:05:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South\u2014Mount Pearl, NDP)",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"2997007\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Thank you, Mr. Chair.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997008\" data-originallang=\"en\">Thank you to the witnesses for appearing before the committee.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997009\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Salkeld, I wrote down one of your quotes here. You talked about how your members would look to seek workers from outside the country. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997010\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Taylor, just a few moments ago you said that temporary foreign workers should be allowed to enter Canada with minimal paperwork. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997011\" data-originallang=\"en\">So you both acknowledge that you need temporary foreign workers.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997012\" data-originallang=\"en\">I want to read you a quick quote, and then I'll get right to my question. The quote is only one line:</p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2997013\" data-originallang=\"en\"> We\u2019ve been able to document literally hundreds of cases of temporary foreign workers who\u2019ve had their rights in the workplace ignored and undermined: everything from wages that have not been paid, or where they wound up paid less than they were promised, hundreds of cases of workers being asked to pay exorbitant fees to brokers for the privilege of getting a low wage job. In some cases workers were brought in to work in the service sector, paying $6000 to a broker. These fees are illegal but they\u2019re being charged anyway. </p>\n</blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2997014\" data-originallang=\"en\">That quote is from a gentleman you probably know. His name is Gil McGowan. He is the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997015\" data-originallang=\"en\">According to some statistics we've gathered, in terms of the dramatic growth of temporary foreign workers, we've gone from 20,000 five years ago to.... It peaked as high as 65,000 in 2009. So when this man, this Mr. McGowan, talks about foreign labourers and the experience in Alberta, he probably has a good idea of what he's talking about.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997016\" data-originallang=\"en\">My question for both you gentlemen is this. From that quote, we understand there have been a number of problems with the bringing in of temporary foreign workers. What are your solutions to these problems? How do you get around them?</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"2997007\" data-originallang=\"en\">Merci, monsieur le pr\u00e9sident.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997008\" data-originallang=\"en\">Et merci aux t\u00e9moins d'\u00eatre venus.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997009\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur Salkeld, j'ai pris en note un extrait de votre expos\u00e9. Vous avez dit que vos membres chercheraient \u00e0 recruter des travailleurs \u00e0 l'\u00e9tranger.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997010\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur Taylor, vous avez dit il y a quelques minutes que les travailleurs \u00e9trangers temporaires devraient \u00eatre autoris\u00e9s \u00e0 entrer au Canada en remplissant un minimum de formalit\u00e9s.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997011\" data-originallang=\"en\">Vous admettez donc tous les deux que nous avons besoin de travailleurs \u00e9trangers temporaires.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997012\" data-originallang=\"en\">Avant de vous poser ma question, je vais vous lire une br\u00e8ve citation qui ne tient qu'en quelques lignes.</p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2997013\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Nous avons \u00e9t\u00e9 en mesure de documenter litt\u00e9ralement des centaines de cas de travailleurs \u00e9trangers temporaires dont les droits ont \u00e9t\u00e9 mis de c\u00f4t\u00e9 et sap\u00e9s. Cela va des salaires non pay\u00e9s, ou pay\u00e9s \u00e0 un taux inf\u00e9rieur que celui qui avait \u00e9t\u00e9 promis, jusqu'aux centaines de cas de travailleurs \u00e0 qui l'on demande de payer des redevances exorbitantes \u00e0 des courtiers pour le privil\u00e8ge d'obtenir un emploi \u00e0 bas salaire. Dans certains cas, des travailleurs engag\u00e9s dans le secteur des services ont pay\u00e9 6 000 $ de courtage. Ces redevances sont ill\u00e9gales, mais elles sont quand m\u00eame factur\u00e9es. </p>\n</blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"2997014\" data-originallang=\"en\">Cette d\u00e9claration a \u00e9t\u00e9 faite par un monsieur que vous connaissez probablement. C'est le pr\u00e9sident de la f\u00e9d\u00e9ration des travailleurs de l'Alberta, Gil McGowan.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997015\" data-originallang=\"en\">Selon les statistiques que nous avons recueillies, le nombre de travailleurs \u00e9trangers temporaires s'est accru de fa\u00e7on spectaculaire, passant de 20 000 il y a cinq ans\u2026 au chiffre record de 65 000 en 2009. Ainsi, lorsque ce M. McGowan parle des travailleurs \u00e9trangers et de leur exp\u00e9rience albertaine, il sait probablement tr\u00e8s bien de quoi il parle.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2997016\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je vous pose donc \u00e0 tous les deux les questions suivantes. D'apr\u00e8s cette d\u00e9claration, nous comprenons que le recrutement de travailleurs \u00e9trangers temporaires a suscit\u00e9 bien des probl\u00e8mes. Quelles solutions proposez-vous \u00e0 ces probl\u00e8mes? Comment y pallier?</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/human-resources/41-1/47/ryan-cleary-1/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/ryan-cleary/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/4039/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "7698393",
    "document_url": "/committees/human-resources/41-1/47/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Fhuman-resources%2F41-1%2F47%2F"
    }
}