Pierre Poilievre’s call to shut down the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is concerning for many reasons but should be understood with proper political context and facts.
First, the Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s call to shut down the TFWP comes not long after securing a seat in Parliament through a by-election in Alberta after a loss in the last general elections. By using the same old anti-migrant sentiments, putting the blame on migrant workers for issues as a result of corporate greed and government inaction on ensuring basic social services such as affordable housing, livable wages and decent work, Poilievre is attempting to rile up a section of the Conservative base who continue to buy into their divisive tactics and who themselves have been failed by the current economic system.
For us, and the workers we serve, we should see this precisely as a tactic that looks to divide us, the Canadian population using anti-migrant rhetoric, expose it and continue to demand for better worker protection.
Prime Minister Carney and the Liberals continue to perpetuate temporary migration programs and schemes that facilitate thousands of migrant workers annually but refuse to seriously address the issues that come out of the TFWP. Issues such as wage theft, excessive work hours, limited breaks and physical abuse remain. This is on top of fraudulent recruitment practices that potential migrant workers come across even before stepping into the country. At this point, its chief concern lies in “managing and policing” migrant workers through its proposed Safer Borders Act, Bill C-2.
Poilievre on other hand – despite historical evidence shows the Conservatives under PM Harper expanded the temporary foreign worker program to what it is today – will conveniently use migrant workers as an easy target to shift the attention away from governments who have aggressively and continuously praised privatization, deregulation and competition with little to no involvement of the government which has resulted in higher unemployment rate, unaffordable housing and higher rental costs among many others. (1/2)