PCs Demand Clarity on NDP Asylum Seeker Plan
WINNIPEG — Wab Kinew must immediately provide details of his plan to relocate thousands of asylum seekers from Ontario and Quebec to Manitoba, and provide assurances that Manitoba taxpayers will not bear the costs, Wayne Ewasko, Leader of the Official Opposition, and Agassiz MLA Jodie Byram, PC Critic for Labour and Immigration, said today.
According to federal immigration briefing documents made public this week, Manitoba is set to receive 8,490 asylum seekers under a redistribution plan proposed by the Trudeau government to offload political pressure and opposition in Ontario and Quebec.
In July, Kinew agreed to take in more asylum seekers during a meeting of provincial premiers in Halifax. Manitoba currently has 1,378 open claims and federal immigration minister Marc Miller told reporters this week that, “Right now, we could open a hotel in any particular province and ship people there. That’s an option. We have been moving people around.”
“Wab Kinew and his immigration minister, Malaya Marcelino, need to stop hiding the details and make clear the NDP’s asylum seeker plan for Manitoba,” said Ewasko. “They need to tell Manitobans how many new asylum seekers are coming to Manitoba, where they’re being placed, and how they’re being housed, and clearly explain what federal funding and supports are being put in place for our communities to ensure integration and maintain social cohesion.”
“Snap decisions and short-term thinking lead to poor planning with no consideration for our long-term future,” added Byram. “Liberal-NDP immigration policies in Ottawa have already been a disaster for our economy and national unity, exploiting workers, driving down wages, and pushing our youth out of the job market. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes here in Manitoba.”
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