Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Good afternoon, minister. Welcome back to the Senate of Canada.

The labour shortage is a very serious issue in Canada. As you know, this shortage is killing our farms and processing plants across the country. Quebec is particularly hard hit by this problem, and it seems to me that the federal government bears a significant share of the responsibility. Backlogs in the processing of assessment applications are having a significant impact on the labour market. It often takes several months for the Department of Employment and Social Development to process these applications. The same is true when it comes to processing visa applications at Immigration Canada.

All of these delays are penalizing and discouraging workers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The agricultural sector is one of the sectors that has been hit the hardest by the labour shortage. Does your department have a serious long-term plan to address this problem? Where do you think the bottleneck is? Why is it easier to enter Canada illegally than legally?