Province confirms talks with Ottawa over costs for asylum seekers

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This article was published 25/04/2018 (2879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals might finally heed to Manitoba’s longstanding request for millions of dollars to help pay for settling asylum seekers, now that Quebec has issued a similar demand.

The Pallister government confirmed Wednesday it’s in talks with Ottawa, asking them to make up for the cost of feeding and housing the influx of asylum seekers who are crossing near Emerson.

Last week, Ottawa pledged to sit down with Quebec and go over its costs for the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who continue to cross into that provinces. But Manitoba doesn’t want to be short-changed.

“We are seeking assistance, and have been engaged in a productive dialogue with the federal government for some time,” wrote Andrea Slobodian, the spokeswoman for provincial Education Minister Ian Wishart, who also handles immigration issues.

The office of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said he’s seriously considering Manitoba’s request.

“We recognize that this is a challenging situation for many provinces and we’ll continue to work closely with them to address the situation,” wrote spokesman Mathieu Genest. “We will continue to collaborate with all provinces to uphold our humanitarian commitments and ensure an orderly migration.”

It appears Ottawa has not yet provided a major allocation of funds to Manitoba to deal with its spike in asylum claims. In March 2017, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr announced $30,000 for Emerson-area firefighters, who kept being called to respond to people who crossed the border.

At the time, Premier Brian Pallister said that much more was needed, noting his government had boosted funding for the Welcome Place shelter in Winnipeg.

A month ago, Quebec warned it desperately needed federal help, because the influx of refugee claims in that province has not slowed, despite a decrease in Manitoba. Last weekend, Hussen pledged his staff would go over Quebec’s expenditures and see if Ottawa should be picking up the tab.

It’s unclear whether Ottawa intends to help with provincial costs like housing and education, or if it will strictly look at things under its purview.

For example, RCMP are supposed to intercept people who cross illegally into Canada and refer them to border guards, but it’s unclear if they’ve had to rely on municipal or provincial police. Ottawa pays all medical expenses for people claiming asylum, but it’s possible some provincial insurance plans have picked up the tab in some cases.

Media reports suggest Quebec has asked for $146 million in support, but Hussen’s office said it has not received a formal figure.

If that number is accurate, Manitoba will likely be requesting millions of dollars.

Last year, the RCMP intercepted 18,836 asylum-seekers in Quebec, versus 1,018 in Manitoba. If the Pallister government used that ratio, and weighed it against the rumoured Quebec request, it would put Manitoba’s demand at $7.9 million.

But the province has not provided any range on what it is requesting, saying it’s still negotiating a dollar figure. “We hope to have more concrete news in the coming weeks,” Slobodian wrote.

Ottawa could consider the ratio of asylum claims per capita. Even with Manitoba’s smaller population, there are still three times as many asylum seekers per person in Quebec.

In this spring’s budget, Ottawa allocated $173 million over the next two years for security operations at the border and for processing asylum claims. But that money isn’t meant for the associated housing, welfare and healthcare costs.

In March, 53 people crossed on foot into Canada to claim asylum status near Emerson, a steady rise since January but a far cry from the spike of 170 crossings recorded in March 2017.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca