Red Lake depends on foreign workers, mayor says

The Mayor of Red Lake calls the Temporary Foreign Worker program a necessity for his community.

Phil Vinet said some businesses in Red Lake depend on foreign workers to keep their doors open. The federal government should crack down on bad employers, he noted, and not punish employees.

Vinet said the workers are needed due to what he calls “disparity” in the community's labour market.

"Chase down the rogue employers. This isn't rocket science,” he said.

"You'll find that Red Lake has always been a real welcoming pot for people from other countries to come and live and enjoy. In fact, a tremendous amount of current Red Lake residents are people who are immigrated to Canada."

Basic services — such as a grocery store and a coffee shop — would be affected if the foreign worker program were halted,” he said.

"We're a primary resource town so there's a lot of high paying wages. So the labour pool is limited so what is left over is very limited labour left for the service industry. If there is any suggestion that the doors may shutter or even reduce hours and lessen the service for Red Lakers, that just flies in the face of what the program was intended for."