The federal Conservatives are calling for an end to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program which they say is being abused by what they call “predatory multinational corporations.”

The MP for Central Newfoundland and the Conservative critic for fisheries says the fishing industry called for a separate, standalone program to provide workers for the industry, but says “all Atlantic Canadians got were more abuses of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.”

Clifford Small says the program was introduced to meet the needs of agricultural producers but he claims the federal government has allowed it to be used by big corporations as a cheap source of labour.

Small says the Conservatives are calling for an end to the program and for it to be replaced with a “separate, standalone program that will be more timely, efficient and targeted to fill legitimately difficult-to-fill jobs in industries that grow, harvest and process…food.”