'It's about what's fair': Foreign workers take immigration policy concerns to P.E.I. MLAs

About 150 newcomers to Prince Edward Island took their concerns directly to the provincial government's doorstep and into a standing committee of the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly on Thursday. 

Many of the foreign workers, who have been protesting the P.E.I. government's recent immigration policy changes since May 9, are concerned they may be forced to leave not just the province, but the country. 

The group is asking the province to exclude workers who are already on the Island from the impact of the policy changes. 

Rupinder Pal Singh spoke in front of the standing committee on education and economic growth on Thursday, saying the February changes left him and hundreds of others facing major uncertainty. 

"If there are no possible options, we don't just have to leave Prince Edward Island, we have to leave Canada," Singh told the committee. 

"It's about what's fair. Is it fair changing the rules overnight and not letting the people know what's going to happen? What about those people who are already here?" 

Singh told CBC News on Friday that the group started a hunger strike at 7 p.m. Thursday following the committee meeting, and plans to continue the protest rain or shine until the changes are reversed.

"We will be here every day — 24 hours a day — until this is fulfilled."

Protester Navpreet Navpreet said she's not leaving until she sees action from the province.

"My message would be please listen to us. We want to be here in P.E.I., we want to grow with you guys," she said. "We want to stay here."

Service workers affected most

In an effort to put the brakes on population growth, and the squeeze it means for housing and health resources, the P.E.I. government announced in February that it would cut the number of its nominees for permanent residency by 25 per cent this year.

The province is also drastically reducing the number of sales and service workers it will nominate, from more than 800 last year to roughly 200 this year.

Certain sectors, such as construction and health care, will be favoured as the number of prospective immigrants offered P.E.I. nominations for permanent residency in Canada drops from about 2,100 last year to about 1,600 this year.

It's those service industry workers that some MLAs say are being adversely affected by the government's change in policy. 

"I do not support this government's efforts to correct years of neglect and poor policy on the backs of those folks who are already here," Green MLA Peter Bevan-Baker said during the committee meeting.

He asked officials from P.E.I.'s Office of Immigration what harm it would cause to extend the permits of workers who are already on the Island to give them time to obtain permanent residency. 

I can't sleep because people in my community come and talk to me about this.— Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly

"With regards to extending people's stays, the province doesn't have the ability to extend people's work permits. That's a function of the federal government," said Jeff Young, the office's director.

"We may not have the allocation space to accommodate everybody who's in that pool, who's in the situation that you're referring to." 

Goal is to slow population growth

Young and Kal Whitnell, the province's director of economic and population growth, pointed out that there are more than 11,000 non-permanent residents now living in P.E.I.

They said that represents the third-highest percentage of all Canadian provinces based on their overall population. 

The officials said the goal of the policy change is to slow the Island's population growth. P.E.I. was initially projected to hit 200,000 residents by 2027-28, and the province doesn't want to hit that milestone until 2030. 

Young and Whitnell wouldn't commit to making any changes to the provincial policy when asked during Thursday's meeting, but they did say the changes would be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

Letters from employers presented

The protesters say the changes will have an impact on employers, too. They presented MLAs with more than 40 letters to Premier Dennis King written by employers asking the province to exclude those already working here from the changes. 

The standing committee has no power to make changes, but it can make recommendations to the P.E.I. Legislature. 

"We've used words like 'catch up with,' 'sector,' and we're not using words like 'people.' That's what I have a problem with," Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly told the officials during committee. 

"This affects a diverse community, this affects people that came here under certain respectable rules, and now everything's been changed.

"I can't sleep because people in my community come and talk to me about this." 

Young responded that the provincial nominee program isn't the only avenue for permanent residency available to newcomers. He cited federal government programs like an express-entry pool, work permits for French-speaking immigrants, and the temporary foreign worker program.  

The P.E.I. government has continued to point out that these cuts to immigration levels are temporary, saying officials need more time to determine if they're having an impact on the population growth rate.