Lamoureux asks for research behind Tory health-care cuts

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This article was published 01/08/2012 (5042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Winnipeg Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux wants the federal Conservatives to provide the research that led to their decision to cut refugees off of temporary health-care coverage.

The Interim Federal Health Program provides health-care coverage to refugees when they first arrive in Canada. It pays for items such as doctor visits, hospital care, prescription drugs and eyeglasses until the refugees are added to provincial health-care plans. About 128,000 refugees were enrolled in the program earlier this year.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney cut off all but government-assisted refugees from the program as of June 30. Regular refugees have access to health-care coverage for emergencies or to treat a disease that could be a public-health risk. Government-assisted refugees, those who are entirely supported by the government when they arrive in Canada, will still have most health-care needs paid for. Government-sponsored refugees are those referred to Canada by the United Nations. About one-third of refugees fall into this category.

The change will save about $20 million a year and came amid billions of dollars in cuts to federal spending as Ottawa works to reduce the federal deficit. Kenney has said the decision was made to ensure refugees aren’t getting more generous health-care coverage than most Canadians.

Provincial health plans rarely cover prescription drugs, for example.

“Our Conservative government strongly disagrees with the irresponsible Liberal and NDP policy that illegal immigrants and bogus asylum-seekers under deportation orders who refuse to leave Canada should be able to abuse our fair immigration system and receive gold-plated health-care benefits that are more generous than Canadian taxpayers’, including seniors and Kevin Lamoureux’s constituents, receive,” said Ana Curic, director of communications for Jason Kenney.

But Lamoureux said the decision seemed to have been made without any consultation or study to determine the impact it will have. He wants the minister to make public any consultations or studies undertaken before the decision was made.

“There is a great deal of suspicion this was done on the whim,” said Lamoureux. “That there was no consultation, that there was no study done.”

He also said he will introduce a motion in September at the House of Commons citizenship and immigration committee to undertake a study looking at the ramifications of cutting refugees off of health care.

Lamoureux said Kenney has a tendency to demonize refugees, rather than treat them as people fleeing countries where they face persecution. He said refugees are the poorest of the poor when they arrive, with empty pockets and often little more than the clothes on their backs.

He said if the concern is refugees get more from interim health care than Canadians do, maybe the governments should ensure Canadians get more rather than giving refugees less.

“We don’t need to try to bring everyone down to a lower level,” said Lamoureux.

Curic said the Liberals are out of touch with Canadians.

Nearly 25,000 people claimed refugee status in Canada last year. Almost two-thirds of the claims were rejected.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca