Report: Workers and Government

report: The Liberals are hoping to do better, according to The Waterloo Record. If press reports are any guide, the government will use a parliamentary committee report set to be released next month as a template for relaxing the rules around the hiring of temporary foreign workers. That program caused plenty of grief for the former Conservative government, particularly when it was revealed that some employers were using the scheme to replace Canadian workers with cheaper foreign help. That report is still unpublished. According to a Globe and Mail report, McCallum said he wanted to make it easier for Canadian firms to bring in short-term foreign workers, noting that in some areas, the rules are "silly." But he also held out the possibility that, in return, the government would make it easier for temporary foreign workers to become permanent residents and ultimately Canadian citizens. But on a recent trip to China, Immigration Minister John McCallum gave some hint as to the government thinking, saying Canada still needs temporary foreign workers to solve labour shortages in areas such as fish-processing and meat-packing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.