Around a hundred people gathered outside Marc Miller's constituency office at 3175 Rue Saint-Jacques on Tuesday. They were there to demand that the federal immigration minister keep his promise to victims of an alleged workplace scheme targeting foreign nationals.
The Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC) made headlines last month when they launched a lawsuit on behalf of these foreign workers against immigration agency Trésor and airline catering company Newrest. Suit documents allege that Newrest employed visitor visa holders on the false promise that work permits were coming. They also say Trésor actively encouraged foreigners to come to Canada on these visas, funneling them into difficult, under-the-table work at the caterer.
At the Oct. 4 press conference, the IWC's Benoit Scowen said that due to allegations of labour trafficking, the federal government had agreed to fast-track temporary, open work permits. On Nov. 10, the IWC announced that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) was rescinding that offer.
IRCC refused to comment for this story, citing privacy legislation. But NDP Labour Critic Alexandre Boulerice, MP for Rosement-La Petite Patrie, said that "only seven open permits were delivered" after a meeting with the immigration minister’s office and IRCC in September.
Those permits went to "mostly those who spoke at the press conference, because they were in the media," he told CKUT on Tuesday. The hundreds of other workers targeted by this scheme will now have to go through the "normal" process to try and gain residency.
"The normal [process] is a broken one."
Mohammed Amine Bouamama said the difficulties he faced going through that process is what led him to start working for Newrest in the first place. He recently came to Canada from the United Arab Emirates with a diploma and 15 years' experience as a chef under his belt.
Despite getting a job offer and sending his documents two months ago, he said he's still waiting to hear back — and expects to wait for more months still.
"Going through the process, it's very long. And I have a child and a wife," said Bouamama. "Expenses here [are] too high to support them."
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