Two years after the federal government introduced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, critics say the program is still broken.
Alberta business leaders are still irritated with the changes and with Jason Kenney. Kenney, the man who orchestrated the controversial changes, is now running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party.
While serving as federal labour minister under the Conservative government, Kenney imposed several limitations on what many Albertans deemed an essential labour program.
After imposing a two-month moratorium on the hiring of temporary foreign workers by the fast food industry, Kenney introduced a 10 per cent cap on the number of TFWs within a workforce, increased the cost to apply for a labour market impact assessment and restricted access to areas experiencing an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher.
The move was viewed as either a knee-jerk reaction to cases of abuse, or as a calculated risk – one that could win the Conservatives thousands of votes in central Canada, where the program was horribly unpopular.
“Putting quotas on TFWs would cost votes in western Canada,” said former Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber, “but not seats because the Conservatives win by big margins. A thousand votes is the difference between a win and a loss for a Conservative MP in Brampton or Mississauga, where unemployment was high in 2013-14.”
But in a province with multiple right-leaning parties, voters disillusioned with Kenney’s handling of the file could be the difference between a PC win or loss in the next provincial election.
“As the business community is normally a Conservative ally, this could be a problem for him,” warned Rathgeber.
As the MP for St. Albert at the time, Rathgeber heard from many small- and medium-sized businesses concerned over the shortage of workers in Alberta. Restaurants, fast food operators and hotels were the worst hit, as those with little to no education opted for higher paying jobs in the oilfields.
“They (businesses) were considering reducing hours or even closing certain franchise locations,” said Rathgeber.
But as time goes on and the economy shows signs of slow growth, memory of moratoriums and restrictions could fade – particularly given the Liberals’ recent move to maintain a more lenient 20 per cent cap.
“Time changes our memory,” said Rathgeber. “The economy has weakened and the quota is no longer as big a problem as it was two years ago.”
Six months after reporting continued difficulty recruiting, Chad Jenkins, who owns all five Tim Hortons locations in St. Albert, said his hiring situation has improved, but his opinion of Kenney has not.
“I think he’s a political opportunist,” said Jenkins, who nearly lost two dozen foreign workers due to the changes introduced by the former labour minister.
Instead he lost only two or three after a last minute concession was made to appease Alberta businesses. Bridging work permits allowed those in the process of obtaining their permanent residency through the provincially sponsored Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program to remain in the country as their application was reviewed.
“There’s a system in place to penalize businesses that weren’t following the rules. Why not exercise that instead of turning it into a political hot potato?” said Jenkins.
Others are less willing to write Kenney off despite “frustrating” dealings with him in the past.
St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce CEO Lynda Moffat said the Conservative MP was difficult to work with and not very conciliatory, but was “very good at representing his government’s stance on an issue.”
She wouldn’t speculate on potential future dealings with Kenney should he succeed in provincial politics.
“Just because in his federal portfolio he had that very controversial and tough issue and for us it was not a win-win situation, isn’t to say that he couldn’t be a very strong and effective advocate for us,” said Moffat.
