SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 255

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 24, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 255 - Nov/24/23
Mr. Jaime Battiste (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)
  • Nov/24/23 12:32:14 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his speech. A lot of his speech was talking about temporary foreign workers. Many places across Canada, such as my riding of Sydney—Victoria, rely on temporary foreign workers where there are labour shortages. The Victoria Co-operative brings in many temporary foreign workers to work in the fish plants in the northern Cape Breton area because they cannot get people to travel there. In Canada, we believe that diversity is strength. I am wondering if the member opposite is a little concerned about the narrative that the Conservatives continue to use that really focuses on foreign workers. Does the member not feel that the narrative is creating unnecessary hate and division between Canadians at a time when we are trying to bring Canadians together?
136 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 255 - Nov/24/23
Mr. Gerald Soroka
  • Nov/24/23 12:33:09 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is quite rich coming from a Liberal member who is saying, “Don't worry, foreign replacement workers are acceptable”, after we just spent $15 billion to build a plant. That is unacceptable. We have the resources here in Canada. We have the people with the skill sets to do this. Yes, temporary foreign workers are vital to Canadian jobs, but at the same time, this should not be the go-to when we are building a brand new plant that the government is bragging will help Canadians boost and build the economy. It is shameful for them to be bringing in replacement workers to build plants.
111 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 255 - Nov/24/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen
  • Nov/24/23 1:16:05 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, when I referenced two million people, I was talking about the two million Ukrainians living in the country who feel as though the Conservative Party turned its back on them. That is what I was talking about when I referred to two million people. To the member's question, does she know why we have a temporary foreign worker program with South Korea? It is because Stephen Harper brought it in in this country back in 2014. It was Stephen Harper who enabled the legislation to make that happen. Notwithstanding that, her data and information are incorrect. She is citing them as though they are fact and they are not. As we heard the minister talk about today, this is contributing to misinformation. He quoted various individuals who were saying it. The reality is that 2,300 Canadian jobs will be made to build the plant and then 2,500 good-paying jobs will be for running the plant. With a foreign company coming to build a new plant in Canada, will there need to be some foreign expertise to show Canadians how to build it? That might be the reality. We might see some foreign workers as a result of that, but they are not permanent—
210 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border