Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad has claimed the Trudeau government is “dumping” 22,000 asylum seekers on the province.
In a statement released last night, the Conservatives said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made the “reckless decision to force BC to accept” the aspirant refugees “without providing any financial support.”
“Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government are dumping thousands of asylum seekers on BC without a plan or funding, all while our province grapples with an unprecedented housing crisis,” Rustad is quoted as saying in the statement.
“We are a welcoming province, but Trudeau’s failure to provide the necessary resources is a betrayal of both the newcomers and the communities already struggling to make ends meet.”
The party backed up its claim by citing a federal briefing document titled "Modeling [sic] Relocation of Asylum Claimants." That document, to which Immigration Minister Marc Miller referred at a press conference yesterday, says Canada has 453,302 open asylum claims and "related refugee volumes."
The document lists BC as having 11,421 open asylum claims but also lists what that number would be if the province took a proportionate amount of asylum seekers. According to Ottawa's calculation – based on BC comprising 13 per cent of Canada's population – the figure would come to 32,544, making the difference between the actual number of asylum seekers BC has and the number it would have based on its population 21,123, approximating Rustad's figure.
The document also combines asylum claims with "related refugee volumes" to produce a total proportionate figure of what it calls "humanitarian volume." In the case of BC, that comes to 62,556 people, compared to the 30,119 it actually has now.
British Columbians are already suffering from a brutal housing crisis, our healthcare & core services are stretched to the brink.
— John Rustad (@JohnRustad4BC) September 12, 2024
Expecting BC to bring in 22000 asylum seekers without federal support is unacceptable. Trudeau is out to lunch. #bcpoli https://t.co/bH3nkJz34f
NowMedia has asked the provincial government to comment on Rustad’s claims.
In a statement sent to NowMedia, a spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada refused to directly respond to Rustad's claim, but said "any movement of asylum seekers will require both the consent of claimants and provinces."
She added: "Coming out of our Forum for Ministers Responsible for Immigration last May, we all agreed to a coordination table on how to support and better integrate asylum seekers into the labour market and ensure their fair distribution across the country. Throughout the summer, officials and Minister Miller have met with their provincial counterparts to discuss roles, responsibilities, and federal funding for those who are willing to welcome asylum seekers.
"The reality is that Quebec and Ontario are facing disproportionate pressures, compared to any other province in the country – as they have been welcoming the majority of asylum seekers."
Ottawa, she said, is "willing to coordinate with our counterparts on transfers and supports" as the feds "work towards a fair and sustainable approach to managing the volume of asylum seekers."
But despite stressing the importance of "consent" and the fact that Ottawa would not impose asylum seekers on provinces "unilaterally," she also said: "All options remain on the table."
Speaking on Wednesday, meanwhile, Miller used stronger language, saying the Trudeau government is looking at "measures to push provinces that are recalcitrant" when it comes to taking asylum seekers.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Ottawa 'could open up a hotel in any particular province and ship people there' amid a dispute over the distribution of asylum seekers.
— KelownaNow (@KelownaNow) September 12, 2024
'There's only so far the federal government can actually be nice and say, "Please, please."'#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/CvzXBqhqbG
"Right now, we could open up a hotel in any particular province and ship people there," he said. "That's an option. We have been moving people around to relieve pressure from Ontario and Quebec."
He added: "There's only so far the federal government can actually be nice and say, 'Please, please.' We also have levers that we need to pull and push."
Rustad’s remarks came on the same day as a claim made by the premier of New Brunswick, Blaine Higgs, who said the Liberal government is planning to send 4,600 asylum seekers to his province “without financial support.”
Writing on X on Wednesday, Higgs said his officials were told in a conference call with federal officials on Tuesday that Trudeau is “considering” a plan to send asylum seekers to New Brunswick.
Miller, however, attacked Higgs for making what he branded a “highly irresponsible comment.”
Writing on X, he added: “While we expect every province to do their fair share in the federation when it comes to asylum seekers, nobody said we’d force New Brunswick to take 4,600 asylum seekers.”
In July of this year, Premier David Eby was asked whether BC would be willing to take in more asylum seekers.
He said then that the province’s population growth is “not sustainable,” claiming that “our schools are full” and that the numbers of people coming to BC are “completely overwhelming.”
The premier was at a meeting in Halifax with Canada’s other provincial leaders when he made the remarks.
One of the topics under discussion was the distribution of asylum seekers. Ontario and Quebec have long complained they receive a disproportionate amount of asylum seekers.
Eby said the premiers were interested in figuring out how “we link up our immigration targets and the federal government’s immigration work with the reality on the ground of what we have capacity for.”
According to the federal government's own data, 6,040 asylum claims were processed in BC in 2023. In the same year, Ontario processed 55,700 and Quebec 37,780.
This is a highly irresponsible comment by Premier Higgs. While we expect every province to do their fair share in the federation when it comes to asylum seekers, nobody said we’d force New Brunswick to take 4,600 asylum seekers. https://t.co/1WuoaV0O3o
— Marc Miller ᐅᑭᒫᐃᐧᐅᓃᐸᐄᐧᐤᐃᔨᐣ (@MarcMillerVM) September 11, 2024
Between 2015 and 2020, Ottawa claims 11,940 refugees were resettled in BC – 10,075 in Vancouver, 1,085 in Victoria, 335 in Kelowna, 235 in Abbotsford–Mission and 210 in Nanaimo.
Canada’s population grew by 1.27 million people in 2023, with 97.6 per cent of that growth down to immigration.
BC’s population grew from 5.43 million at the beginning of 2023 to 5.6 million by year’s end.
Economists have warned that Canada’s “staggering” growth in people has led to a stagnation, or even decline, in living standards as the country's economy fails to grow as fast as the population.
A report released by Statistics Canada earlier this year predicted that Canada’s population could, according to its “high-growth” estimate, top 87 million by 2073.
The same study predicted that BC’s population could reach 8.8 million by 2048.
