Unions win hearing on Chinese miners
VANCOUVER - Two B.C. unions will get their wish to look behind the curtain of how the federal government decides if temporary foreign workers can come to Canada.
The Federal Court today granted the unions the right to pursue a judicial review of the process used to grant temporary foreign worker permits to 201 Chinese miners.
HD Mining applied for the permits as part of its plan to develop an underground coal mine in northern British Columbia, successfully arguing there were no Canadians qualified to do the work using the specialized technique the mining company planned.
Spokesmen for the unions involved were pleased with the decision, noting the judicial review means the unions will get a chance to see all the documents that were submitted to back the claim that Canadians couldn't do the job.
Lee Loftus, of the B.C. Building Trades Council, says he's convinced the judicial review will reveal that isn't the case.
The chairman of HD Mining, Penggui Yan, says the company is also happy that after much back and forth in the courts, the matter will be heard in mid-April and he said the company is confident government officials did nothing wrong in issuing the work permits.
