Saskatchewan closes doors on asylum seekers
Various provinces expressing refusal to comply with a federal proposal
On Wednesday, Sept 11, Marc Miller, the Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced the proposed plan to relocate a large number of asylum seekers across Canada. The National Post reported that Miller also stated that “he will use what levers he has available to get uncooperative provinces to take more [asylum seekers].”
A federal briefing document which was obtained by The National Post states that 235,825 refugees are seeking asylum in Canada. Most asylum seekers make claims to seek asylum in Ontario and Quebec, which are also two of the most populated provinces in Canada. The federal government, however, aims to distribute the asylum seekers more evenly across the country.
A spokesperson for Miller’s office, Renee LeBlanc Proctor’s wrote in an email to The National Post that “the reality is that Quebec and Ontario are facing disproportionate pressures, compared to any major provinces in the country – as they have been welcoming the majority of asylum seekers.”
The proposal was met with backlash from many provincial governments. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith openly stated that her government is against this proposal, claiming that Alberta has taken over 22 per cent of the Ukrainian refugees.
Halifax City News reported that “Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said on X, [that] ‘It is simply unacceptable for the Trudeau government to try to force thousands of asylum seekers on our province at this time [and that] Nova Scotia simply does not have the capacity to accept thousands of asylum seekers.’”
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs questioned the legitimacy of asylum seekers while opposing the proposal.
Mirroring Higgs’ statement, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in his statement to CBC that, “they made this garbage up….We have a federal responsibility, as well, to reduce the number of asylum seekers who are coming into this country, some of them not making legitimate claims…but clearly it’s a team sport.”
Moe stated that provinces were working together as a group to come up with strategies for managing the influx of asylum seekers and Ottawa made it clear that it would not relocate claimants to provinces that were not adequately prepared. He maintains that Saskatchewan will not take more people in.
Saskatchewan’s Immigration Minister Jeremy Harrison spoke about the ramifications of the lack of federal funding to support asylum seekers in an interview with Global News. “We have urgent need for federal resources as far as job training, language training, housing supports, which are all 100 per cent on provincial tax payers,” Harrison told Global News.
Global News also reported that the complete cost for asylum seekers in Saskatchewan is unknown, but that according to The Ministry of Immigration and Career training, “$15 million goes towards government assisted Syrian refugees on a yearly basis” and Harrison claims “the promised funding by the federal government hasn’t been allocated yet.”
“These are significant expenditures being incurred by Saskatchewan taxpayers because of policy choices and [the federal government] has been nowhere to be found in backing them up,” Harrison went on to say.
The federal government maintains that financial support has been provided to the provinces to help with the process of settlement of asylum seekers. “Our government has been absolutely clear: we will be there to support provinces and municipalities in the orderly management of asylum seekers,” stated Mathieu Genest, the federal Immigration Minister’s press secretary.
Genest continued, explaining that “last year, our government provided over $35 [million] in funding for settlement and integration services in Saskatchewan”
While the federal and provincial governments struggle to reach a common ground with respect to settling asylum seekers in the country, the number of asylum claims continue to spike.
According to the report published by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of asylum claims received by Canada in 2023 was 1.5 times the previously set record in 2022.
Around 110 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes by the end of 2023 “due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and events seriously disturbing public order,” according to the UNHCR. The UNHCR also reports that “approximately 75 per cent of the world’s refugees are hosted in low- and middle-income countries.”
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared seeking refuge as a fundamental human right. Canada has been a signatory to the 1951 convention since 1969 and a system has been set up by the Canadian government for the asylum claims to be processed by an independent agency known as the Immigration and Refugees Board (IRB).
This right is protected regardless of the method of entry into the country. Not all claims are accepted, and the final decision lies with the IRB. The IRB reviews the applications for asylum to determine if refuge is sought based on a well-founded fear of persecution. The UNHCR reports show that approximately just under 20 per cent of the claims under review were rejected by the IRB in 2023 and about 17 per cent did not even reach the review status.
Asylum claims in Canada underwent a spike in 2023, from around 91,000 claims in 2022 to more than 144,000 in 2023, which may have motivated the federal government’s proposal.
Ali Abukar, the Executive Director of Saskatoon Open Door Society told Global News that he hopes that both the federal and provincial governments can come together to address the subject and that that discussion goes beyond politics.
“We want to make sure that people are supported and given the resources that they need to be successful […] we believe there is going to be a solution reached soon. And we hope that those differences and disagreements are not going to impact people in the communities, including organizations like us,” he said.
