(Halifax) Nova Scotia’s premier reiterated Friday that he will not accept any attempt by Ottawa to send thousands of asylum seekers to the province.
In a news release issued by his office, Tim Houston said the federal government’s desire to send nearly 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia is “simply unacceptable.”
He also repeated what he told reporters Thursday, that Nova Scotia is focused on its population growth plan and does not have the capacity to accept that many newcomers.
“We have made it clear to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office that any attempt to send asylum seekers to Nova Scotia will be challenged,” Houston said, without specifying what that meant.
He called on the federal government to “abandon this idea.”
“Let’s focus on our plan to attract professionals, like doctors and nurses, that our province needs,” he said.
New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan are also opposed to the idea of accepting thousands of asylum seekers.
On Thursday, however, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller clarified that there was no question of imposing asylum seekers without compensation or without the agreement of the prime ministers.
PHOTO DARRYL DYCK, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller
“We never said we would impose asylum seekers on the provinces without financial compensation,” Miller said. He added that all publicly released numbers are “aspirational” and based on models that reflect the population of each province.
Quebec has been putting pressure on Ottawa for months to reduce the number of temporary immigrants and asylum seekers in the province.
Premier François Legault said that over the past two years, the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec has doubled, from 300,000 to 600,000.
Ontario has also asked the federal government for help, saying the province has a disproportionate number of asylum seekers.