Article content continued

“The [number] of TFWs entering Canada has gone from .7% of workforce in 2006 to 1.1% of workforce in 2012. This is “anti-immigration?”

Rae, as of about noon Wednesday, did not respond on Twitter.

Kenney, a popular former Immigration minister who has long been seen as a potential successor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has come under the most sustained pressure of his career in recent weeks over abuse allegations with the temporary foreign workers program.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

There have been a number of allegations, most involving fast-food restaurants, of employers taking advantage of the temporary foreign workers program by replacing Canadians with cheaper labour.

Kenney has hinted tougher regulations coming in the future but has yet to offer specifics in response to the latest controversy.

“If and when there are abuses, we act clearly and quickly,” he said on Monday, after placing a temporary ban on restaurants from using the TFW program.

“We are about to come out with another phase of further reforms to ensure that Canadians always and everywhere get the first crack at available jobs, and that the program is only used as a limited and last resort by employers.”

The non-partisan C.D. Howe Institute recently released a study that said the increase of temporary foreign workers over the past 10 years — from 110,000 to 338,000 — has worsened the employment rate in B.C. and Alberta.

Hundreds of Canadian businesses — including government departments — employ temporary foreign workers. The program was intended to target highly skilled workers, not menial labour.