The Harper government is fighting back over opposition accusations that Canadians are losing jobs to outsiders brought in as temporary foreign workers.

Heritage Minister James Moore said rival parties are being hypocrites in criticizing the temporary foreign worker program.

The Conservatives have already pointed out that nine NDP MPs have asked them for assistance to bring temporary foreign workers to Canada.

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On Wednesday, in the Commons, Mr. Moore produced a letter showing that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau also requested federal government help – to bring chefs to a Quebec restaurant.

The April 2009 letter from Mr. Trudeau's office shows the Liberal MP asking the visa and immigration section of Canada's embassy in Beijing to help a company hire foreign chefs.

"This restaurant has achieved international recognition as one of the top restaurants in North America," the Trudeau office letter reads.

The Conservatives said in the House that the restaurant was in Mr. Trudeau's riding.

The Liberals recently introduced a motion to condemn the use of temporary foreign workers to take jobs that Canadians could fill.

The motion asks "That the House recognize that the use of temporary foreign workers to replace Canadian workers in jobs Canadians are qualified and able to do is an abuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and that it is the government's responsibility to ensure that this program is not abused in a way which threatens the wellbeing of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy" and asks for committee hearings to probe the matter.