Federal Minister Pablo Rodriguez does not close the door to negotiating additional amounts for asylum seekers with Quebec, but he criticizes the Legault government for lacking sensitivity towards those who ask to be protected by Canada, particularly children, who, according to him, should not be deprived of access to subsidized daycare.
The federal Minister of Transport and lieutenant of Quebec invited journalists Thursday morning to Montreal to respond to the Legault government which is demanding 1 billion from Ottawa, arguing that this is what welcoming asylum seekers has cost it since 2021.
Pablo Rodriguez began his speech by emphasizing that “Quebec has been extremely generous and has done more than its share in welcoming asylum seekers”, but that it is necessary to “reestablish certain facts”.
The “most important thing” in the eyes of the minister is that when we talk about asylum seekers, “we are not talking about statistics, accounting columns, piastres, we are talking about human beings, we are talking about men, women, children who came to seek protection from Canada, from Quebec,” said the minister, recalling that his parents had requested asylum when they left Argentina.
According to his government, the billion dollars that Quebec is asking for “is not an amount owed, but an amount claimed.”
A negotiation table?
The day before, in Montreal, Minister Rodriguez had indicated that this type of request “is negotiated and discussed around the table, not through media releases”.
But the Quebec Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, replied that “if the federal government wishes to negotiate at a table, it should convene it!” We are more than available. We had several meetings with two ministries, with four ministries, it doesn’t matter the number, the result is the same. »
According to Minister Rodriguez, the two governments discussed the situation “as recently as Monday” and “the Deputy Minister of Immigration of Quebec, the Deputy Minister of Finance of Quebec, their counterparts from Ottawa met to discuss exactly that, the financial details regarding immigration, regarding asylum seekers.”
Which made Minister Rodriguez say: “This table is there, it exists, it is formal”.
The Quebec lieutenant does not close the door to negotiations, but he wanted to recall “that as part of the Canada-Quebec agreement for 2023-2024, Ottawa transfers 775 million to Quebec and that for 2022-2023, it ‘is 727 million and in previous years, around 700 million per year.’
These sums, he indicated, are used for integration and francization.
He added that Ottawa has paid 437 million since 2015 for the health of asylum seekers and 440 million for housing.
“There are 2,300 asylum seekers in hotels currently paid 100% by Ottawa,” added Mr. Rodriguez.
Access to daycare
The federal minister also strongly criticized Quebec’s intention to go to the Supreme Court to prevent the children of asylum seekers from having access to the province’s Early Childhood Centers (CPE) and subsidized daycares.
“As a human, as a father, I don’t understand,” said Pablo Rodriguez, arguing that at daycare, “that’s where we make friends,” that we “meet then to the park” or to “play a game of hockey”, so daycare represents “the beginning of integration”.
“When I read that Quebec is ready to go to the Supreme Court to prevent children from attending CPE, I tell myself that there is something that is not working with us” and “when you make two categories of ‘children, those who have the right then those who do not have the right, I have a deep unease.’
Half of asylum seekers go through Quebec
According to Quebec, the province welcomes 55% of asylum seekers who arrive in Canada. This represents 160,651 refugees in 2023, again according to government figures.
But Pablo Rodriguez wanted to add nuance to these figures: “55% enter Quebec, but 25% of them leave Quebec”.
Negotiate through the media
Minister Rodriguez, who had nevertheless criticized his counterparts in Quebec the day before for using the media to negotiate money transfers concerning asylum seekers, defended himself from doing the opposite of what he was asking.
“We must respond to the actions of Quebec, my first choice is not to be here”, but “if Quebec had not left yesterday, I would not need to do this today and I hope that the rest will continue around a table.”
A meeting between prime ministers
Earlier this week, four ministers from the Quebec government once again called on Ottawa to slow down the arrival of asylum seekers and ensure that they are better distributed across the country.
As pressure increases on public services, Prime Minister François Legault announced that he will meet his counterpart Justin Trudeau in the coming weeks.