'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?" 

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. 

"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."