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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