The start of the crab season is jeopardized by delays in the arrival of hundreds of temporary workers from Mexico. A predictable consequence of Ottawa’s recent decision to re-impose them to obtain a visa before their arrival in the country, denounces the industry, and which puts hundreds of local jobs at risk.
“Where will the crab go?” We cannot transform things little by little. You transform or you don’t transform,” summarizes the president of the Quebec Fishing Industry Association, Jean-Paul Gagné.
Like many others, the latter fears the start of crab fishing next Sunday in zone 17, the one which opens the ball, off Rimouski and the Haute-Côte-Nord.
Because without enough workers, many of the province’s 35 processing plants where crab is washed, cooked, cut and frozen may simply not open their doors, he says. An issue cited among the reasons for the closure of the Les Fruits de mer de l’Est factory, announced Monday, which created a shock wave in the industry1.
As of Tuesday, two-thirds of the approximately 600 Mexican foreign workers called to work in these factories had still not been able to set foot in Quebec, indicates Mélanie Sirois, president of the Dotemtex Group, a company specializing in international recruitment which works with the majority processing plants in the province.
Essential workers
For several years, the fish processing industry has used a particular route through the regulatory maze of immigration in order to bring in these workers who have become essential.
A situation due to the short delays between the issuance of fishing quotas at the end of summer, which determines the necessary resources in processing plants, and the arrival of these workers for the start of the following season, at the end Of March.
Rather than applying for work permits online, a process lasting several months, Mexicans called to work instead presented themselves directly at the border to apply directly for work permits.
A shortcut blocked by Ottawa’s recent regulatory change which reimposed, on February 29, the obligation for Mexican nationals to obtain a visa before arriving in the country.
And this, despite protests from stakeholders who called on the Trudeau government to postpone the entry into force of this measure until after the fishing season, denounced Tuesday the MP for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé. A development “which cost nothing”, he recalled.
“Result of the races, this is what increased the risks (the processing plant Les Fruits de l’Est in) Matane fell, but watch the other fishing plants in eastern Quebec, me, I fear a lot. »
” Chaos “
“Chaos,” says Christine Poitras, purchasing and transport manager for Crabiers du Nord and Groupe Umek, two processing plants on the North Shore, when asked to summarize her preparations for the start of the season.
Like many of her colleagues, she had to go out of her way to make up for the absence of around twenty Mexican workers who were not going to be able to arrive in time for the start of the crab fishing. Through searches on Facebook groups, eight local replacements were found to fill day laborer positions in one of the two factories. The other will send him his surplus.
“Normally, the government, when they announce a new law, there is a grace period. But that wasn’t it,” says Christine Poitras astonished. “It’s not easy in small areas like here. We are short of staff, people are aging, we have been lucky. »
For other factories, “we are going to have closures”, fears Mélanie Sirois, adding that this could lead to the loss of “hundreds” of local jobs.
Given the nature of the resource – snow crab can only be fished during a short period of the year – the situation also puts pressure on fishermen.
“If the processors are not there to accommodate the crab (…) it will affect all of our activities and the financial side of our businesses,” explains the president of the Association of Crab Fishermen of Zone 17, Marc Doucet. “We make loans from banks to buy our quotas and the only income we have is fishing. »
A sought-after “way of passage”
“In the agricultural sector, we know that it is very important, we see it in processing in coastal factories as well. If we have to intervene in this, we must do so with discernment,” responded the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, on Tuesday.
But Ottawa still does not seem to want to move for the moment, even if the office of the federal Minister of Fisheries, Diane Lebouthillier, affirms that she is working “to find a route for these workers as soon as possible”.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada clarified Tuesday that Mexicans called to work in seafood processing plants were subject to “priority treatment.” But no immigration program “benefits from an exemption from the visa requirement for Mexican nationals,” reiterated the Ministry.
1. Read the article “The end for the Matane shrimp? »
reference: www.lapresse.ca