Foreign workers share concerns about immigration changes with P.E.I. premier

Foreign workers and their supporters who've been protesting the province's new immigration strategy for more than a week got the chance to speak with P.E.I. Premier Dennis King on Thursday.

Protesters met with King outside the Delta Hotel after he spoke at the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting.

"We want to be a part of P.E.I.  We want to stay here, and we want the government to co-operate with us. We want to be taken seriously," said protester Rupinder Pal Singh, who's been at the protests since they began.

The changes have hundreds of foreign workers worried they'll have to leave the province — and possibly the country — when their work permits expire and they no longer qualify for a permanent residency nomination under the provincial nominee program (PNP).

"Rules were changed overnight," Singh said. 

He was referring to the February announcement of a plan to cut the number of nominees for permanent residency by 25 per cent this year, and to drastically reduce the number of sales and service workers getting nominated from more than 800 last year to roughly 200 this year. 

Dozens of protesters were in attendance, including some employers who are worried about the future of their employees.

"Obviously if they (aren't) going to stay, we have to hire other people. So it's going to impact us," said Baldeep Singh, who owns Taste of Mediterranean. "We know they're going to leave…. They're going to leave after six months if they don't get their paperwork."

Rupinder Singh says his work permit expires in just two months and he wants the province's support. While the premier said he sympathizes with the workers, he also says the changes are necessary and going ahead. 

"What we're trying to do is to have a sustainable population growth through immigration," King said. "We have seen one sector getting way too many nominations compared to where we need to put our focus, so we've changed that."

Earlier this week, Workforce Minister Jenn Redmond said her department will contact workers whose permits run out this year, but she didn't specify what can be done for them.

Protesters say they want specifics.

"We thought that definitely they will be trying hard, but we want them to try even harder because time is at stake and we can't stop the clock ticking," Rupinder Singh said. "Our lives are at stake too."

Chamber questions decision

Inside the Delta, King also took questions from those attending the chamber's event. One of the first was about the recent immigration changes.

"Whether there would be a pause considered on this economic policy change, so we can find that sustainable approach," said chamber president Ben Parsons. "The feedback we're getting is it's creating a lot of disruption in the workforce." 

King said he's committed to staying the course, but changes could be made in the future.

"We're monitoring this on a very regular basis, and we'll make some changes if we need to," said King. "But as of right now, I think we're committed to the February announcement as of today." 

The chamber of commerce says it will keep pushing for changes, while some foreign workers say they plan to hold a 24-hour hunger strike if the rules don't change by the end of May.