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Foreign worker law creating uncertainty: Skeena-Bulkey Valley MP Nathan Cullen

Skeena - Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says one of the most common concerns constituents have regard the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

It seems it’s not just potential LNG projects that have Prince Rupert residents surrounded in uncertainty.

On his recent trip to Prince Rupert and Terrace, Skeena - Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen spoke with a number of his constituents and one of the most common concerns they had regarded the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the magnitude of which is being scaled back through a series of caps on the program to the point where its elimination may be considered in the coming years.

“There’s been a key switch or pendulum swing on the ... program. [The federal government] has somehow managed to make everybody unhappy; employers, people who are fighting for the rights of temporary foreign workers and those of us that believe if we’re short in terms of workers in this country then we should do something about our broken immigration program,” said Cullen.

The program, which was launched in 1973 and allows companies to fill jobs using non-Canadians, has been put into the spotlight over allegations of abuse and improper usage by program participants. The industries affected are many, including low-skilled to high-skilled positions. British Columbia employed 74, 219 temporary foreign workers as of December, 2012, the second-highest totals for any province or territory in Canada behind only Ontario, whose figures totalled 119, 903.