Jeff Bereza, MLA for Portage la Prairie, condemns the situation as "shameful" after two local hotel owners are charged with labour trafficking. Bereza says newcomers often come to his office asking for help, after paying thousands to consultants who promise faster processing of paperwork. He notes the same services are available for free at Portage Learning and Literacy Centre.
"We should be ashamed of this kind of thing going on in Manitoba and Canada," Bereza says. "New people come into our office, begging for help, and they're telling us they've hired consultants charging thousands and thousands of dollars. What we're doing is we're walking them down to Portage Learning and Literacy Centre because they're doing the exact same job for free and helping them."
Bereza adds Canada should be welcoming to newcomers.
"To see things like this happening in our own backyard makes it terribly sad," he continues.
"Let everybody know that's trying to take advantage of people like this, that the RCMP and the Joy Smith Foundation are watching."