Tired, discouraged immigration protesters still waiting to hear from P.E.I. government

Nearly two days after some of the foreign workers protesting in downtown Charlottetown said they stopped drinking water as part of their hunger strike, group leaders said they are frustrated they have heard nothing from provincial officials.

The group is made up of prospective immigrants, and they say their lives have been turned upside down by changes the province made to its immigration policy in February. Those changes make it much harder for people working in sales and service to be nominated for permanent residency by the province.

Between one and two dozen protesters started a hunger strike last week, and on Tuesday evening many also stopped drinking water.

A CBC News reporter who visited to the camp outside the provincial legislature onThursday found the protesters weak, tired and discouraged.

Protest spokesperson Rupinder Pal Singh said five protesters quit the no-liquid hunger strike overnight. One woman had two panic attacks, he said, and the others encouraged her to give up the effort.

"We don't want to risk lives," he said."Government really doesn't care about people's lives around here."

Exhaustion and hunger leaving immigration protesters on P.E.I. feeling drained

4 months ago

Duration 1:39

As a no-liquids hunger strike continues in Charlottetown, spokesperson Rupinder Pal Singh says he hasn't heard from government officials yet. He worries that hunger, thirst and exhaustion will lead to health problems for the immigrant workers taking part in the protest.

While some have left, others were expected to return to the site during the day. They are still working at their jobs while participating in the hunger strike and spending time at the protest site, Singh said.

Premier Dennis King visited the protesterson May 16, eight days after the protest began, but Singh told CBC News on Thursday that they have heard nothing from the province since.

High hopes of permanent residency

Most of the protesters are recent graduates from Canadian universities or colleges. As international students, they were given open work permits for three years, and came to work on P.E.I. because of its reputation as a relatively easy place from which to earn permanent residency. That'sthe first step toward becoming a Canadian citizen.

Immigration consultant Kelly Hamilton told CBC News that before the changes, anyoneputting in sufficient hours working in any industry was virtually guaranteed a permanent residency nomination from the province.

But in February, as it released a new population strategy in the face of rising demand for housing and health care, the provincialgovernment said it would severely cut back on the number of nominations in sales and service, from 855 last year toabout 215 this year.

Instead, the province planned to give preference to people with experience in fields related to health care and construction.

Why are foreign workers protesting on P.E.I.? CBC explains

4 months ago

Duration 3:14

For the past few weeks, protesters have been voicing their concerns about how the changes to P.E.I.'s provincial nominee program could leave many without a path to permanent residency. CBC reporter Steve Bruce breaks down who is protesting and how the province's immigration policy has changed.

MP urges consideration for tourism sector

Earlier this week, Charlottetown MP Sean Casey wrote a letter to King expressing his support for those seeking permanent residency.

He later told CBC News he hopes the provincial government considers both the human and economic impacts of its policy changes.

I fear for our tourist season because virtually all of the people that have been impacted work in the tourism, hospitality and service sector. MP Sean Casey

"I fear for our tourist season because virtually all of the people that have been impacted work in the tourism, hospitality and service sector," he said.

"The policy change by the province, separate and apart from the human impact on these individuals, will have an economic impact because we're in a very tight labour market."

Casey said Manitoba recentlyrequested an extension ofwork permits for immigrants affected by separate immigration changes made by the federal government, and the prime minister granted that request. He hopes the King government will make the same ask for foreign workers on P.E.I.

'We don't want them to make new policies'

The protesters in Charlottetown would love that kind of extensionto let them stay in Canada while they work toward other solutions to their new immigration problems.

Singh said they would "definitely" end thehunger strike if the provincial government was willing to follow Manitoba's example.

He acknowledged nobody is guaranteed permanent residency in Canada, saying all the protesters want is a chance.

"This is all we want. We don't want them to make new policies for us, we want them to just co-operate with us," Singh said."What we are fighting here is we are [being] forced to leave. That's what we're up against."

CBC News hasrepeatedly contacted the provincethis week about the protest, butreceived no comment.