Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller called three Conservative provincial premiers who refused to accept more asylum seekers into their territory “nonos” in a national effort to reduce migratory pressures on Quebec and Ontario.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston reiterated Friday that he would not accept any attempt by Ottawa to send thousands of asylum seekers to his province.
Two days earlier, Premier Blaine Higgs said New Brunswick is a welcoming province, but accepting so many asylum seekers would put a strain on health care, education and housing resources.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has also expressed her opposition to participating in the federal plan to distribute asylum seekers across different provinces across the country.
To achieve this, Ottawa created a working committee in May and meetings took place over the summer. But Quebec Premier François Legault lamented Friday, alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that these discussions with the provinces seemed to be leading “nowhere.”
Asked about this on Wednesday in Ottawa, Minister Miller had a sudden change of heart in the face of the position of the Conservative provincial premiers regarding any plan to distribute asylum seekers.
“These were proposals, we told them, and then they knew: this is what the situation of asylum seekers would look like if these people were distributed by population of the provinces. It’s very banal as mathematics,” explained Mr. Miller.
“Some prime ministers who left with that, for them Justin Trudeau was going to impose everything on them and we didn’t want that and we don’t want asylum seekers, etc.”
Then, naming Prime Ministers Houston, Higgs and Smith, Mr Miller said: “These three conservative noobs got carried away – they may have watched the American election and taken inspiration from it.”
The minister maintained that Ottawa did not want to impose a specific number of refugees on the provinces, but rather offer “willing” applicants the opportunity to settle in a “willing province” that would “need these people with a specialty.”
The minister assured that discussions are underway with the provinces. “But now, with the departure of these three prime ministers, it will be more difficult because it will become a political issue again – political capital that is made on the backs of asylum seekers,” he maintained.