Ottawa says Higgs allegation on asylum seekers 'largely fictitious'
Federal minister Marc Miller says Ottawa would help pay for increase in New Brunswick numbers
The federal immigration minister says Premier Blaine Higgs has made "largely fictitious" claims about Ottawa trying to force New Brunswick to take in thousands of asylum seekers.
Higgs made the allegation in a speech in Moncton on Wednesday, arguing the province would not be able to cope with what he said was a proposal to settle 4,600 people in New Brunswick.
The premier said he recently learned that federal officials were "considering a plan" to send more asylum seekers to the province "without providing any financial assistance or any opportunity for us to have the ability to build the resources and the capability to manage."
The proposed number of 4,600 is more than 10 times the number of asylum claimants the province accepts now, Higgs said. He didn't specify what the proposed timeline would be.
Speaking to reporters at a national Liberal caucus meeting in Nanaimo, B.C., federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Higgs's comments were misleading.
"The allegations by Premier Higgs are largely fictitious," he said. "We at no time have said that we would impose asylum seekers on provinces without financial compensation."
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Higgs’s comments were misleading, and 'highly irresponsible.' (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
In a statement, Liberal Leader Susan Holt said Higgs was "being reckless and exaggerating the facts while trying to create division and fear."
She accused the premier of using the issue as a distraction to avoid discussing problems in the health care system "while playing politics with the lives of vulnerable people."
Green Leader David Coon said Higgs was using "Trump-lite tactics … to scare people" ahead of a provincial election.
"His strategy in this election seems to be to further divide New Brunswickers and create bogeymen," Coon said.
"It was a bold-faced lie the way he presented it, clearly, and that's been confirmed by the federal government now."
Miller confirmed that federal officials met with their provincial counterparts about some provinces taking more asylum seekers to ease the pressure on Ontario and Québec, which have accepted more than their per capita share.
"But in no circumstances will we be doing this without compensation or without consent from the provinces," Miller said.
He called the figure of 4,600 "aspirational" and then added the proposed New Brunswick number was "actually less than that."
But Higgs's office released a federal government document that includes a table showing the province's per capita share of existing asylum claims would be 4,952.
Subtracting 384 existing claims in New Brunswick would leave 4,568 additional applicants to bring New Brunswick to its per capita share, the table shows.
Miller also said provincial officials told his department the province didn't want any asylum seekers, even with compensation.
He said Ottawa was examining "a carrot-and-stick" approach that could see a reduction in the number of permanent resident nominee spots a province receives.
"That could be something we could take another look at, were they not to accept asylum seekers," he said.
"We are looking at a number of other incentives that would push provinces that are recalcitrant, but it's not something I'm going to negotiate publicly."
In his speech to the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce, Higgs said New Brunswick has always been "a welcoming province" and that his government supports international immigration.
But he said the health care system, social services and the housing market are already struggling to keep up with the province's unprecedented population growth, which Statistics Canada modelling estimates has surpassed 866,000.
"This sudden and unilateral proposal by Ottawa is deeply concerning," he said.
Higgs also called on Ottawa to determine if the asylum claims are legitimate before letting the applicants stay in Canada.
Miller called the premier's comments "highly irresponsible" and said "consent and co-operation" from provincial governments are important, but added he hoped New Brunswick would do its part.
"The last thing we want to see done is for this to be politicized," he said.
Higgs is expected to launch his Progressive Conservative re-election campaign next week ahead of an election scheduled for Oct. 21.
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Migrant advocate responds to Higgs's comments about asylum seekers
Adi Rao calls link between immigrants, affordability crisis a mistake
Refugees are being used as political scapegoats after Premier Blaine Higgs made comments about asylum seekers earlier in the week, said Adi Rao, a board member at the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre in Fredericton.
"It's always easy to blame immigrants," he said.
"Immigrants, refugees are always the first scapegoat. It's the easiest scapegoat. Refugees are … here desperately trying to seek protection. They're not going to turn around and try and demand from the federal government something better."
Rao said it's also important to be clear that the group of people who are being talked about are "refugee claimants," meaning they are coming to Canada and making the argument that they need protection from some sort of persecution.
He said this is a different group of migrants, managed differently in the immigration system, with protected rights under international and domestic law.
Premier
Blaine Higgs alleged the federal government was trying to force New
Brunswick to take on a proposed 4,600 asylum seekers. (Government of New Brunswick/Zoom)
In a speech on Wednesday, Higgs alleged that the federal government was trying to force New Brunswick to take on a proposed 4,600 asylum seekers.
He also alleged this was going to be done "without providing any financial assistance or any opportunity for us to have the ability to build the resources and the capability to manage."
Later that day, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Higgs's allegations were "largely fictitious."
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller said that Higgs’s allegations were 'largely fictitious.' (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
The other political leaders in the province also criticized the comments, with Liberal Leader Susan Holt saying Higgs was "being reckless and exaggerating the facts," and Green Leader David Coon saying Higgs was using "Trump-lite tactics … to scare people."
Higgs wasn't the only premier to reject the idea of taking in asylum seekers. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday, urging the government to "drop the idea."
"It is simply unacceptable for the Trudeau government to try to force thousands of asylum seekers on our Province at this time," he wrote.
"Nova Scotia simply does not have the capacity to accept thousands of asylum seekers. … We have communicated to Trudeau's cabinet that any attempt to ship asylum seekers to Nova Scotia will be challenged."
Rao said it's important to note that this whole conversation is happening around the idea that immigration is putting pressure on affordability. But he said this idea is a mistake.
Nova
Scotia Premier Tim Houston posted on X this week, alleging the federal
government is trying to force thousands of asylum seekers on Nova
Scotia. (CBC)
He called the housing market "a wild west" and said it's perfectly legal for corporations to buy residential homes, outbidding potential families.
"What is that corporation going to do with that family home? Get corporation married? Have corporation babies? Of course not. That corporation is going to buy that house solely with the aim to resell it for a higher price."
"It's not the temporary foreign worker that we are supporting in Neguac that is outbidding families trying to find a home in Saint John.
"It's corporations, investors, speculative investors, who are gambling with housing."
In Miller's rebuttal to the premier, he said "consent and co-operation" from provincial governments is important when talking about taking in asylum seekers, but he said he hoped New Brunswick would do its part.
Rao agreed, saying this is a "shared responsibility across the country."
"For provincial premiers to pretend like we are not part of the same country, that we don't share the same responsibilities, that we can pick and choose what international obligations and what responsibilities we do have to the international community — it's laughable."
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With files from Information Morning Saint John
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