A mining company under scrutiny over its plan to bring 201 Chinese miners to a proposed project in northern British Columbia listed Mandarin as a language requirement when it applied for temporary foreign worker permits, newly released documents reveal.
The Federal Court released a package of documents Friday linked to HD Mining's proposed Murray River underground coal mine, which has been overshadowed by controversy over the use of temporary foreign workers.
Among those documents is one of HD Mining's applications, listing Chinese as a language requirement, to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada for a labour market opinion - an assessment conducted by the federal department that assesses the need to hire foreign workers instead of Canadians.
Several unions have accused the company of failing to attempt to hire or train Canadians before resorting to foreign workers, pointing to several job ads that specifically referred to Mandarin.
The documents were released as part of a court challenge by two unions, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Construction and Specialized Workers Union, which are seeking to have the temporary foreign worker permits revoked.
The controversy over the mine has also prompted the federal government to review the entire temporary foreign worker program, while the B.C. government - a defender of the mine - has launched its own investigation into allegations recruiters in China charged fees.
