Protesters pause no-liquid hunger strike after speaking with P.E.I.'s top immigration official

Foreign workers protesting the P.E.I. government's recent immigration policy changes say they've agreed to pause their no-liquid hunger strike after meeting with the province's top immigration official.

One of the protest's organizers, Rupinder Pal Singh, said he met on Friday with Jeff Young, the director of the provincial Office of Immigration. Singh said Young encouraged the group to put a hold on its hunger strike while the government considers their demands.

"They have all the information that they require; now we are just waiting for answers. As the government is cooperating with us, definitely we will be doing the same thing and we are going to pause the ongoing hunger strike, as requested and encouraged by the government," Singh said. 

"It seems like they received the message and they are working on it, and definitely now [the] ball is in their court only, so … we will be expecting more positive answers sooner." 

Speaking to CBC News Friday afternoon, P.E.I. Workforce Minister Jenn Redmond insisted that Young had been in contact with the protesters throughout the past week's hunger strike. But she said Friday marked a turning point in those discussions, with more foreign workers coming forward with their concerns. 

Redmond encouraged anyone affected by the province's immigration policy changes to reach out to her department or the Office of Immigration to discuss pathways forward. 

"There is interest to hear about other alternative paths that may be available to those that are seeking nominations for our programs and want to hear more about that," she said.

"These are really hard and complicated situations, and we are going to continue to talk to them to see what other pathways there would be available to them. We'll continue to keep those lines of communication open." 

Earlier this week, Charlottetown MP Sean Casey urged the province to reach out to the federal government to discuss extending work permits for those most affected by P.E.I.'s reduction in nominations for permanent residency. 

Redmond said the government would continue to monitor the situation, but did not commit to making that request to Ottawa.

She said there have been more than 12,000 applications submitted to the province's expression of interest draw for invitations to apply for permanent residency, and the province will only put 1,590 applicants forward per year into the program.

"So that is the reality that we are working through, and with the state of the province we're trying to target those really gap sectors around health and education, childcare and manufacturing. We've had to do that refocus."

The group has been protesting in Charlottetown since May 9, and many of them began a hunger strike just over one week ago on the lawn in front of the George Coles Building, where the P.E.I. Legislature sits. On Tuesday night of this week, some of the protesters also stopped drinking liquids to draw attention to their cause. 

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 — including people who are already working on the Island.