(Ottawa) Ottawa promises to take into consideration issues of housing, health care and access to other services when it comes to planning its immigration targets.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller outlined this objective by unveiling a plan on Tuesday to respond to the report of a so-called “strategic” review.
To do this, it intends to increase “coordination”, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, as well as the municipalities. He believes that this responds to requests from the population.
“What Canadians are asking us more and more, especially in the current context, is for us, the federal government, to manage and work with the provinces,” the minister said at a press briefing. Skills, jurisdictions, this ping-pong battle [leur] are largely unknown […], but they are the first victims. »
Mr. Miller noted that he anticipates that achieving his goal “will not be easy.” “No one expected it to be easy, and […] the proof will be in the measures we will take to better align supply and demand, following the discussions we have with the provinces in their areas of jurisdiction,” he continued.
The announcement of Mr. Miller’s plan precedes the much-anticipated announcement on immigration targets. We could see a possible plateauing of levels over the years, in the figures which will be revealed on Wednesday. The minister said Tuesday that the targets will respond to an imperative of realism, explaining that he does not want to announce ambitious objectives without being able to achieve them for new arrivals.
If Mr. Miller mentioned seeing a trend towards “some stabilization”, based on requests he claims to have received, he also indicated that the government’s decision was not yet completely “final”.
“There are decisions that were made at the very last minute [par le passé]. This time is not necessarily the exception. »
In this vein, discussions between federal ministers on immigration targets continued on Tuesday, in all likelihood, approximately 24 hours before the planned announcement.
Minister Miller believes the issue is getting more attention internally than may have been the case previously. “I would say that people who, under normal circumstances, would not have had comments to that effect, [y] pay more attention and in a more careful way,” he said.
In any case, the minister reiterated, this morning, that he still does not see “a scenario where we would reduce the levels”. Last Friday, he announced that the Trudeau government was considering making adjustments to its immigration targets.
The day before, Radio-Canada reported that the council of ministers was discussing the possibility of capping, and even a reduction in immigration targets, particularly in relation to the housing crisis.
From a humanitarian point of view, we have duties and we have the desire to welcome. From an economic point of view, we need more workers, but at the same time we feel the pressure very clearly, whether for housing or for access to doctors.
the Minister of National Revenue, Marie-Claude Bibeau
In his opinion, the question amounts to “a dilemma” for which the government is trying “to find the best balance”. “I don’t think it’s black or white,” she summarized.
Canada aims to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents per year across the country by 2025.
To a journalist who asked him, in a press scrum, if this target for 2025 would be maintained, Minister Miller replied that we would have to wait “24 hours”.
Shortly after, a debate on a Bloc motion on immigration began in the House. The Bloc Québécois used its opposition day for elected officials to discuss whether or not Ottawa needs to consult Quebec and the other provinces before setting its immigration targets.
The wording put forward also asks “the government to review its immigration targets from 2024 after consultation with Quebec, the provinces and the territories based on their reception capacity.”
The Bloc motion, which will soon be the subject of a vote, is guaranteed to be adopted, barring a change in the situation.
Mr. Miller indicated in the morning that he and his fellow ministers would be “delighted to support the Bloc motion.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated this position during question period.
“We work hand in hand with the provinces, […] with organizations, […] with the municipalities to set the appropriate targets for the country and we will continue to do so. It’s a very reasonable proposal and we will support it, the Bloc motion,” declared Mr. Trudeau.
The Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, invited Minister Miller to commit to waiting to announce the targets he will recommend from 2024 in order to make a “good faith and responsible gesture”.
“Can we hope that if this House votes in favor of the motion, the minister will not announce targets when he cannot know the targets before having consulted Quebec and the provinces? » asked Mr. Blanchet.
The Prime Minister, who responded, responded by defending the consultations and the approach that Ottawa has already been adopting “for months and even years” with other levels of government.
Mr. Miller also praised the collaboration with Quebec in the House. “ [Les bloquistes] know very well that the vast majority of decisions are made by Quebec and we support them. We are always open to supporting them further,” he told journalists earlier.
The deputy leader of the Bloc Québécois, Christine Normandin, called for a “real consultation” with the government of François Legault, stating that it “definitely cannot be limited to a “cause always””.
Conservative Tom Kmiec has indicated that the Bloc can count on his vote.
The Alberta MP noted in the House that many people trying to come to the country are caught in the maze of long processing times by the Immigration Department, as recently documented by the Auditor General of Canada.
“All of our offices are inundated with service requests from people who are having problems with [le ministère] », Underlined the elected official of Polish origin, recalling his immigrant background.
New Democrat Jenny Kwan also signaled her party’s support for the Bloc motion. She clarified that she believes that Ottawa already consults the provinces on immigration and housing, but according to her lacks leadership to allocate them the necessary resources.