VICTORIA — Former B.C. cabinet minister Katrina Chen says she is “furious” about calls by Premier David Eby to cancel or reform the temporary foreign worker program.

Chen says on social media that Eby’s comments last week were “dangerous and unacceptable” and an example of how the government “points fingers at immigrants” after underfunding services.

Chen, who was minister of state for children until 2022 and served as co-chair of Eby’s NDP leadership campaign, says immigrants like her “aren’t your government’s scapegoats.”

Eby said last week that the temporary foreign worker program should “be cancelled or significantly reformed” because the province can’t have an immigration system linked to high youth unemployment, while putting pressure on homeless shelters and food banks.

Eby has since expanded on those comments, saying B.C. needs the diversity that has seen the province welcome people from around the world, while calling for reforms to a system that is not working well for anyone.

Chen says remarks like Eby’s fuel “bias and discrimination” and it’s untrue that fellow immigrants “fill up shelters and food banks.”

She quit cabinet in 2022 to deal with what she called “long-standing trauma” suffered as a result of gender-based violence, including when she was a child, and did not seek re-election in 2024.

Chen has since co-written and published a children’s book about gender-based violence.

She said of her post on Facebook that it “doesn’t erase the good work that has been done, but it’s important to recognize comments like (Eby’s) are dangerous and unacceptable.”

She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 9, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press