Today in the legislature we debated Bill 48: Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act at second reading. This legislation seeks to improve protection for workers and the accountability of recruiters and employers. It requires the licensing of foreign worker recruiters and employers; establishes a criteria for issuing registrations; and imposes tougher penalties for recruiters and employers who violate the legislation. It also allows government to recover and return to workers illegal fees charged by recruiters. Finally, this bill creates two registries (one for foreign worker recruiters and one for employers) via a cost-free and accessible online process.

Below are the text and video of my speech in support of this bill.

Text of Speech

A. Weaver: I rise to take my place in second reading debates on Bill 48, Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act, an act that’s been introduced by the minister to ensure protection for temporary foreign workers.

I rise to speak in support of this bill. Like the member for Chilliwack, we, too, raised a number of questions and concerns that I hope to see or be explored further in committee stage. Overall, I think this is good legislation and takes us generally in the right direction.

Temporary foreign workers play a critical role in our economy and our society, whether they’re working in the agriculture sector or as home care aides, whether they’re filling seasonal employment. For example, recently, many of us attended the Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting in Whistler. The hotel I was staying at was clearly largely employed by temporary foreign workers from New Zealand and Australia, who clearly were coming to British Columbia to gain some experience and gain some expertise in skiing.

I have a great deal in common with them. When I was their age, I was a temporary foreign worker in Australia. I was there for a year, getting the better of the surf and the sand and the Aussie rules football. It was a very rewarding experience for me back in 1988, as I’m sure it was for those young people in Whistler today.

Temporary foreign workers play many critical roles in such trades as the seasonal employment, and for many, actually, we find that it’s a pathway for eventual citizenship. Canada, as a nation — built on the hard work of immigrants — welcomes new Canadians on an ongoing basis.

In fact, just this morning, a young boy in grade 5 at a school that was visiting this Legislature, from Glenlyon, in my riding, just literally became a Canadian citizen. This was a very big deal for him — that today, he became Canadian.

Temporary foreign workers come to B.C. through multiple programs, including the temporary foreign worker program, the seasonal agricultural worker program and the international mobility program. As the member from Chilliwack pointed out, in 2017 alone, the federal government issued over 47,000 work permits for foreign nationals destined for B.C., and 17,000 of these were temporary foreign workers.

We’re second only to Ontario in terms of the total number of temporary foreign work permits that have been issued. Industries like agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting account for nearly half of the temporary foreign workers in British Columbia — like 9,000 workers. Eighty-three percent of those permits are located in the Lower Mainland, 5 percent in Thompson-Okanagan and 4 percent on Vancouver Island.

Again, as somebody…. When I was at the University of Victoria, and my wife was also faculty there, and we had young children, we, too, took advantage of the temporary foreign worker program and were able to bring to Canada a now-Canadian, somebody who was working in Hong Kong as a nanny. She was able to come to British Columbia on such a caregiver program and spend three years with us before becoming a Canadian citizen. Now she’s married here. She’s contributing to the Canadian economy. Her husband is here as well.

We benefited greatly, as a family, from being able to bring a temporary foreign worker here. I’m sure other members in this chamber have similar stories about the importance of temporary foreign workers.

One of my son’s friends had very serious health issues and required 24-hour care — his father did, rather — in the home. And, again, that care was provided by live-in, temporary foreign workers, 24 hours a day. Again, it was simply not possible to find the people, Canadians, who would be able to or willing to serve in such a capacity. Again, in this case, we had a loving home. Temporary foreign workers come, spend a few years, are now Canadian and contributing to our economy and bringing their rich, diverse cultures to Victoria, in this case, but British Columbia and Canada in general.

However, not everyone has the kind of employer that provides a nurturing, safe environment. Temporary foreign workers can be amongst some of the most vulnerable in our society. In a new country, many will face a language barrier. They may be unfamiliar with their rights and our laws, and they are at risk for exploitation and abuse.

For this reason, the legislation before us is important to support, because it addresses this particular aspect. It begins to put in place a means and mechanism to actually ensure that temporary foreign workers are not exploited. The legislation will improve protection for workers and the accountability of recruiters and employers.

For example, it will do a couple of things. It’ll create two registries, one for foreign worker recruiters and one for foreign worker employers, via a cost-free — that’s important — on-line process. It’ll allow, also, government to recover and return to workers illegal fees charged by recruiters. In particular, government could impose tougher penalties for noncompliance, including a loss of licence or registration, financial penalties — $50,000 for an individual, $100,000 for a corporation; that’s an awful lot of money — and up to one year imprisonment. The legislation will improve government information about temporary foreign workers, and recruiters and employers will also be required to disclose their relationships with recruiter organizations in various companies.

These are important, some of these changes. We know of, or we’ve heard stories of, examples where recruiters collect a fee from temporary foreign workers. They end up working here. There are examples we’ve heard stories of where passports are held from temporary foreign workers, and exploitation sets in.

Much of this bill, obviously, is modeled after the employer standards act, and it follows the lead of other jurisdictions like Manitoba and Saskatchewan, which already have temporary foreign worker registries in place. Last week one of our press gallery, Les Leyne, reported out that B.C. is considered to be well behind the pack in upholding standards and pursuing complaints. This was reported out in one of his articles he wrote. This is important to note, that this legislation does actually deal with bringing us in line with some of the other jurisdictions.

In 2018, the B.C. budget for the Minister of Labour received a $3 million increase in funding over three years to support initiatives for compliance and enforcement, improve protections for vulnerable workers and support fair and balanced treatment of workers and employers in B.C.

Within that context, we know that the legislation coming before us is legislation that has got monies associated with it to ensure that it’s delivered in a manner that will actually meet the objective it is being put together to address. Most recruiters and employers will seek to do their best for employers. We know that. But this legislation is targeting those who try to skirt the rules a little bit to ensure that there is unsafe working and living conditions, for example, are dealt with to ensure that temporary foreign workers cannot be treated inappropriately for fear of complaining about their jobs, they might lose their jobs. So they might be sent home in debt. There is a whole bunch of issues that are being dealt with here that for which this bill is trying to ensure safe conditions exist.

This bill will require recruiters and employers who seek out and hire temporary foreign workers. Registration. They will require them to register. By doing so, the government will be able to identify and respond to bad operators for the benefit of all stakeholders involved. In essence, this levels the playing field for both employers and recruiters by addressing the few bad operators out there who take advantage of temporary foreign workers and hence, reap the benefit.

When this first came in, I feared that this bill to establish the temporary foreign worker registry would have created an unfair burden for employers — the small employers, not so much the bigger employers, but the small employers — the employer who is perhaps a spouse who is looking for help for a caregiver for their ailing partner or a family who is looking for a caregiver for their child.

Small business. I was initially concerned that this might be regulatory red tape but oversight and costs. I was reassured after receiving a briefing from the ministry that this is, indeed, not the case. In fact, the fact that is free is not a financial burden, and the fact that it’s looking like it will be an online process that will take 15 minutes or so to fill out in terms of the registry. It seems to me that that is not onerous in light of the fact as an employer of a temporary foreign worker in a caregiver capacity you already have to register for a GIC number. You have to register with CPP and EI deductions, etc. So this is relatively pale in comparison to what already exists.

Overall, I am pleased with this legislation. Again, creating a safer environment and a safer experience for temporary foreign workers will have a net positive impact on B.C. I will also agree with the member for Chilliwack who spoke about some of the work that was done by the previous government in this area.

I remember very fondly working with the then-minister of, I guess it was Jobs, now the member for Prince George–Valemount, who together and collectively, we were able to introduce legislative change to no longer make it allowable for an employer in British Columbia to require an employee to wear high heels or footwear otherwise deemed to be unsafe.

In fact, I can tell you if you go to bars around this area you will find that most people are no longer wearing high heels. Very often, people come up and are very pleased by that legislation. Government listened, government responded, and now you’ve got soft flats happening in bars across British Columbia. That’s actually an important health and safety achievement that we’ve got here.

Finally, I’ll say that I do commend the minister for looking out for workers. But I hope the minister can also recognize that we have to look out for not only temporary foreign workers but our own workers in British Columbia. The fact that British Columbia is dragging its heels in terms of introducing legislation or introducing now order-in-council to actually address the presumptive clause for mental illness in a number of professions. Frankly, we could follow the lead of some provinces and actually assume a presumptive clause for all mental illness for all workers covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Board.

The reason being, of course, is if you have exposure to mental illness having to recant and retell your stories time and time again in order to prove that it is your workforce that actually is the result of or caused that mental illness, can be very onerous, and frankly, can be detrimental to the overall well-being and subsequent recovery of workers in B.C.

So I look forward to further efforts that the Minister of Labour will have in this regard in the weeks and months ahead

Video of Speech

Shortly after reading a Member Statement outlining Bonnie Christie’s story about the trauma she experienced as an ICU nurse at BC Children’s hospital, I rose during question period to ask the Minister of Labour when he will ensure that the presumptive clause for work-related mental health disorders will be applied to nursing.

Below I reproduce the video and text of our exchange.

Video of Exchange

Question

A. Weaver: Mental disorders incurred from job-related trauma are serious injuries that can be debilitating. Last spring this government introduced protections by adding a presumptive clause for this kind of workplace injury. Now certain first responders are supported for injuries that can arise from the important work they do.

While I’m pleased that B.C. is extending protection for some workers, I’m concerned that others who suffer mental disorders on the job are being left out. In particular, I’m profoundly troubled that professions, such as nursing, teaching, social work, 911 responders, that employ disproportionate numbers of women when compared to men are being left out.

When I raised this issue this past spring, the minister stated that he shared my concern and was committed to every worker getting the help and safety they need. What has the minister done — to the Minister of Labour — to deliver on this commitment?

Answer

Hon. H. Bains: I want to thank the member for the question, and I really want to thank him for his passion about workers’ health and safety, because I do share that passion.

I must say that I’m proud to say in this House that as one of the first actions as a minister, I changed the WCB act to make it easier for the first responders to access benefits for those who are suffering from mental health injuries, because first responders have been asking for these changes for a long time.

They were ignored by the previous government. We couldn’t ask them to wait any longer.

Bill 9 also, as the member mentioned, enabled me to add other groups of workers and provide them with better protection. That’s why I am meeting with all those groups of people that the member had mentioned, including CUPE, the nurses and dispatchers, about how to add them onto the list.

But I also understand that workers suffering from mental health injuries need help now. That’s why changes are being made at the WCB right now. With additional staff, more mental health claims are accepted now, in a timely fashion. Support is provided to them as and when they need it because this is in view that health and safety is my number one priority. I will continue to work to make all workplaces in B.C. the safest in the country, and those who are injured at workplaces are treated with respect and dignity.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: I might suggest to the minister when he asks how to make such changes, it’s quite easy. It’s through order-in-council. So I would encourage the minister to direct that passion that he talked about to actually ensuring that the workers are given the protection that they need.

For example, a few moments ago, I read the story of registered nurse Bonnie Christie. Her doctor filed a WorkSafe BC claim and referred her to a psychiatrist who confirmed the diagnosis. But the WorkSafeBC process to evaluate her claim took four months and made her relive the traumas time and time again.

This is what Bonnie says:

“The core problem I had with WorkSafeBC is that nursing isn’t one of the occupations that presume mental disability because of work trauma. To get my claim accepted, I had to retell my story over and over to WorkSafeBC” — a story that I told you a few minutes ago. “Every time I retold it, I relived what I went through. During that time, I was crying all day long and had so much anxiety I couldn’t leave the house.“

My question is to the Minister of Labour, when will he ensure that the presumptive clause for work-related mental health disorders is applied to nursing? The trauma Bonnie has experienced is no different — no different — from the trauma that is experienced by firefighters and police officers, professions that are dominated by men, not women. The Nurses Union has provided the evidence to the minister. It’s time for the minister to act. When will he act?

Answer

Hon. H. Bains: I must say that, unlike the previous government, health and safety of workers is my number one priority. That’s why we made the changes. I’m so proud of those changes, and we realize more needs to be done.

The legislation was our first step. It allows me to add other groups of workers onto the list. That’s why we are actively working with those, and I will be meeting with nurses later on today who will be providing me with more evidence of why they should be added onto that list.

So we are actively working with those groups. But WorkSafe is working with those groups right now by adding more staff and helping those people suffering from mental health injuries. I just want to say to the House here as well, that every worker in this province is entitled to mental health coverage through WorkSafe. We are adding more resources to help them as we go forward.

But I am working with nurses. I am working with other groups so that we can add them onto that list to provide them better protection. I want to ensure that all workers go home after the end of their shift safe and healthy.

Today I introduced to the legislature Christine Sorensen, President of the BC Nurses’ Union, Roger MacQuarrie, Communications and Campaigns Officer with the BC Nurses’ Union and Bonnie Christie, a Registered Nurse. They were in the gallery during Question Period and Member Statements.

Prior to me asking the Minister of Labour when he will ensure that the presumptive clause for work-related mental health disorders will be applied to nursing, I read out Bonnie’s incredibly moving story of mental injury acquired as a Registered Nurse.

Below I reproduce the text and video of that the story. My exchange with the Minister is available elsewhere.

Video of Statement

Text of my Statement

A phone rang in the intensive care unit at the BC Children’s Hospital. The call was from a rural BC hospital and they needed to transfer an 8 year old boy to the Children’s ICU right away.

Bonnie Christie was a senior Registered Nurse in the ICU that evening. When the boy arrived she started removing his bandages and blood began flowing like a waterfall. He had been ripped apart at the legs in a car accident while he delivered newspapers to his neighbours. He died shortly afterwards as he bled to death in the ICU.

In 21 years of children’s ICU nursing Bonnie has seen a lot of death and injury.

Bonnie remembers when two young girls were brought to the children’s ICU covered in third-degree burns. The girl’s mother died in the fire as her estranged husband tried to burn down their house and kill the family.

Bonnie remembers another young girl with burns so severe that they had to transfer her to a specialty hospital in the US. The girl’s mother set had her on fire while she was doing drugs.

She also remembers a young boy who was admitted with head wounds. When she took off his bandages part of his brain fell on the floor. His father tried to kill him with an axe.

Bonnie remembers other children who were sick and injured. And she remembers some who died horrible deaths. She can’t even count the number of horrible things she saw as a children’s ICU nurse.

After 21 years of critical care nursing Bonnie started having nightmares. She dreamt of pools of blood and people hanging on chain link fences with hooks through their scalps. At first she thought she only needed to get away from critical care nursing so she transferred to less acute roles. But after several transfers she kept having panic attacks. And anxiety. And more nightmares.

“I love nursing, but I’m still burdened by the events I went through,” says Bonnie. “I can never work in health care again and I don’t want any of my colleagues to go through what I did with WorkSafe BC. What we do is too important and too stressful for us to be re-injured in the process of trying to get help for ourselves.”

That was Bonnie Christie’s story.

Today in the legislature I rose during Question Period to ask the Minister of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources why we are giving untold billions in subsidies to an LNG industry instead of investing in the infrastructure that would create long-term, sustainable jobs in our existing mining industry.

Below I reproduce the video and text of our exchange.

Video of Exchange

Question

A. Weaver: This government has been touting an LNG industry investment decision that will create, at most, 950 long-term jobs, yet B.C.’s internationally regarded mining industry, an industry that literally built our province, already employs more than 16,600.

While LNG prices have been sagging, solar has become the fastest-growing source of new energy worldwide, and photovoltaic cells need copper, molybdenum, silver and other metals that we produce in B.C. Batteries need lithium and graphite, the former of which has incredible potential at extraction when combined with geothermal energy production.

The B.C. Mining Association highlighted the opportunity that this presents in a 2017 report. We have the workforce, the resources and innovation necessary to make B.C. a global hub for solar technology materials, yet we choose to invest in emissions-intensive sunset industries, with comparatively few long-term jobs.

My question is to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. Why are we giving untold billions in subsidies to an LNG industry instead of investing in the infrastructure that would create long-term, sustainable jobs in our existing mining industry?

Answer

Hon. M. Mungall: Thank you to the member for the question.

There is no doubt about it. Mining is a foundational economic sector in this province. It is critical to our overall economy. I’m so glad that the member sees the important value and that its future is involved in electric cars, like the one that the member drives, and is involved in renewable energy and all the potential that mining has in terms of our future and those opportunities.

I honestly can’t say why the B.C. Liberals chose not to do so much for this industry while they were in power. It was very unfortunate. Because of that 16 years of neglect, we have stepped in with our first order of business — to start the Mining Jobs Task Force — and we have done that. That task force includes representatives from First Nations, industry, labour, environmental organizations, local government and academia. They have come together. They are doing yeoman’s work to identify how we can ensure that British Columbia is one of the most competitive jurisdictions in the world for this foundational sector to our economy. I look forward to their report.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: We’ve got an incredible opportunity to define a new vision for industrial development in our province. But it will take careful planning and a commitment to our clean growth strategy. This requires government to become more proactive in signalling the type of investment it wants in our province.

In rural B.C., this starts with ensuring that we have in place the electrification infrastructure so that both existing and prospective mines have the ability to hook up to our provincial grid, providing opportunities to electrify their operations while contributing to the creation of the clean energy sector.

My question to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources is this: what tangible steps is her ministry taking to ensure that the province has the infrastructure in place to ensure that all future industrial development in our province can have access to the required electrification for their operations?

Answer

Hon. M. Mungall: Absolutely. I agree, exactly, with what the member was saying — how important mining is to our economy in this province, and the opportunity to electrify our industries so that they are producing less and less greenhouse emissions is a huge opportunity and exactly where we need to be going.

It’s one of the reasons that we included mining in cutting PST on electricity. The mining sector is not having to pay PST on their electricity, incentivizing them further to adopt electricity for their operations.

It’s very important as we look at the energy package as a whole that we have the capacity, as well as the energy generation, so that we can meet future demand.

Today in the BC Legislature I rose during question period to ask the Minister of Environment how the BC NDP could possibly reconcile their years of criticism directed towards the BC Liberals concerning LNG in light of their cheer leading of the same today.

Below I reproduce the video and text of our exchange.

Video of Exchange

Question

A. Weaver: In 2016, the B.C. NDP concluded that plans for an $11.4 billion LNG terminal on Lelu Island would generate an unacceptable increase in the province’s greenhouse gas emissions. They filed a definitive position against the project with federal environmental authorities. The NDP noted in their letter to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency that the project would increase the province’s entire carbon footprint for industry, transport and residential activity combined by 8½ percent.

This is what they said in the letter:

“The proposal fails to meet the condition of air, land and water protection with respect to both the threat to marine habitat and species as well as to climate through unacceptably high and inadequately unregulated greenhouse gas emissions.“

Here’s the kicker: the unacceptably high emissions cited by the letter are, in fact, lower than the emissions anticipated from the LNG Canada project announced today.

To the Deputy Premier: how does the Deputy Premier reconcile her party’s sharp opposition to the Lelu terminal development with the present investment in LNG Canada?

Answer

Hon. G. Heyman: Thank you to the Leader of the Third Party for the question, because it gives us on this side of the House an opportunity to talk about our serious approach to climate, an approach that stands in stark contrast to that of the previous government. When I talk to British Columbians, they want to be assured….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, we shall hear the response. Thank you.

Hon. G. Heyman: British Columbians want to be assured that as we develop our economy, we do it in a way that’s environmentally responsible, protects our air, land and water and has a path forward to meet clear climate targets that meet our and the Canadian government’s commitment to the Paris accord.

I will differ with the Leader of the Third Party a little bit. I will differ with him in that the announcement that was made today and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with this development, this final investment decision, are 3.4 megatonnes, far lower than that associated with the project that the member references.

But I will say that the member has been working with me, working with staff in the climate action secretariat, to design, review and to provide input into a clean growth strategy that we will release later this fall. It will outline a clear path to our legislated emission reduction targets. We are factoring in the emissions from this plant in that plan, and I look forward to continued work with the leader and his caucus.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: In 2015, the B.C. Liberals signed a development deal with Pacific Northwest LNG in an attempt to spur the Malaysian-led project to become Canada’s first major LNG exporter. The now Minister of Environment was sharply critical of this decision. He said:

“An economy that isn’t built on sound environmental protections that include a solid plan to control, limit and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions isn’t in the economy’s interest….[or] in the interest of future generations“.

The Minister of Energy took this to another level. She said:

“They put themselves in such a desperate position” — they being the Liberals — “when it comes to negotiating for LNG that they had to say yes to any single thing that walked through the door. That’s exactly what they have done. This is the big sellout of British Columbia.“

— the words of the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

Now the NDP want to take that sellout to a whole new level through exempting LNG Canada from increases in the carbon tax, by eliminating the LNG Income Tax Act while they’re retaining the royalty giveaway, by deferring the PST, by exempting them from the steel tariffs and by burdening ratepayers with billions of dollars of debt to build Site C to sell LNG Canada power at half the price it costs to produce it. Talk about sellout.

To the Deputy Premier: how is the development of LNG Canada any different from the B.C. Liberals’ attempt to develop Pacific Northwest LNG? Do you not see the grand hypocrisy of what is unfolding before us today?

Answer

Hon. G. Heyman: There could not be a more different approach to the economy or climate than this government demonstrates every single day and will make absolutely clear this fall when we release a clean growth strategy for a diversified, modern economy that meets emission reduction targets — full stop.

With respect to LNG Canada, we are applying the same conditions that will apply to any industry in British Columbia. An industry that is world-leading in its emission reduction targets, to be reviewed periodically, can get up to 100 percent rebate of the incremental carbon tax — a carbon tax, by the way, that the former government had no intention of ever applying again.

We will work with the Third Party. We’ll work with the Leader of the Third Party and the leader’s caucus. We’ll work with industry….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, we shall hear the response.

Hon. G. Heyman: We’ll work with British Columbians to ensure that we meet our targets and we diversify and create a modern, sustaining economy for all British Columbians, for First Nations, for every region of this province while we protect the environment and while we meet our climate commitments.