Canada

Two B.C. unions will get their wish to look behind the curtain of how the federal government decides if temporary foreign workers can come to Canada.

On Friday, the Federal Court granted the unions the right to pursue a judicial review of the process used to grant temporary foreign worker permits to 201 Chinese miners.

HD Mining applied for the permits as part of its plan to develop an underground coal mine in northern British Columbia, successfully arguing there were no Canadians qualified to do the work using the specialized technique the mining company planned.

Brian Cochrane, business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 115, said he was pleased with the decision and said he was looking forward to the court hearing in April.

"It's been a long fight to get here."

Cochrane said getting the court leave will give the unions more access to documents both from HD Mining and the federal government.

He said they want to know how the mining firm convinced the federal government it needed the temporary miners.

But Cochrane said their fight goes beyond HD Mining and said he hopes the review will reveal the federal government's role and policies around allowing temporary foreign workers into Canada.