The Canadian Meat Council and Rural Communities

Atlantic Canada: The Canadian Meat Council has been urging the federal government and the provinces to do all they can to settle some of the refugees in smaller rural communities in Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada where their labour is needed, according to Huffington Post Canada. McAlpine said the challenge for the industry is that most of the government-sponsored refugees are to be settled in major cities. The company, like others in Canada meat sector, is dealing with a chronic shortage of employees that has been exacerbated by restrictions placed on the temporary foreign worker program. "We would be very pleased and honoured to be part of the solution in terms of helping find employment for the Syrian refugees,'' said Rory McAlpine, a senior vice-president at Maple Leaf. "We have jobs available.'' McAlpine said initially Maple Leaf could hire 25 refugees at its pork plant in Brandon, Man., and about 10 at its smaller operation in Lethbridge, Alta. "We have jobs available.'' The company is looking for physically fit people with manufacturing experience who could be trained as general production workers and meat cutters. He said Maple Leaf is waiting to hear how the settlement of refugees will unfold to see how many candidates it can interview. "We want to help refugees engage in the local workplace." Federal Employment Minister Mary Ann Mihychuk said Ottawa will work to help match refugees with employers such as Maple Leaf. "We want to help refugees engage in the local workplace,'' she said. "So under the refugee program we are working with immigration to ensure that some of those people are going to be placed in a community like Brandon.'' McAlpine said Maple Leaf has experience dealing with foreign workers and helping them integrate into rural communities. Syrian Muslims have dietary restrictions that do not allow them to eat pork, but there are no rules against them handling the meat. "We already have some Muslims working in our pork plants, even though they do not consume pork. The company already translates its workplace and safety information into different languages and would be willing help employees learn to speak English, he added. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.