No Criminalization of Those Seeking Asylum
Quebec Premier Blames Asylum Seekers for Government Attacks on Housing, Education and Services
For a second consecutive year, Quebec Premier François Legault wrote a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau blaming asylum seekers for a lack of housing in Montreal and for putting a strain on education and other services his government is responsible for providing everyone in Quebec.
In his letter of January 17 he
wrote: "We take care of asylum
seekers who come knocking at our door with all the humanity we're known
for. We assist them in finding housing, feeding themselves, integrating
well into our society by giving them access to French courses. We
provide care to them,
school their children. Quebeckers are very proud of this."
"Unfortunately, we are very close to the breaking point due to the excessive number of asylum seekers who arrive in Quebec month after month. The situation has become untenable," he said. What Quebeckers consider untenable is the fact that neither the federal nor the Quebec government fund the right to housing and education at the level needed to guarantee these rights while instead providing funding for pay-the-rich schemes and the U.S. war machine.
In 2022, Premier Legault informed, "Quebec took charge of more refugee claimants than the rest of Canada combined. Since the beginning of 2023, Quebec has welcomed close to half of all asylum seekers arriving in Canada. On a per capita basis, Quebec received three times more than the rest of Canada. Compared with equivalent nations, Quebec tops the list of those receiving the most asylum seekers in proportion to its population."
Recalling the closure of Roxham Road in March 2023, the Premier remarked that this provided only a momentary reduction in the constant influx of those seeking sanctuary. He said, shortly thereafter arrivals from other countries by plane continued to grow. "The number of people arriving with a visitor's visa and filing an asylum application is also significantly on the rise. Last November alone, close to 6,000 new refugee claimants were registered in Quebec," he said. This closure was broadly opposed as unjust and further endangering the lives of refugees.
The Premier then informed that during the last two years, Quebec had received over 120,000 asylum seekers and that the arrival of such a large number of people "generates very significant pressure." He said that this "results in refugee claimants having difficulty finding housing, which contributes to deepening the housing crisis. Many of them end up in homeless shelters that are overflowing. Others are homeless, thereby worsening an already acute problem, particularly in the winter. Again, the groups assisting and working them are not able to handle the load and are requesting aid, which is what happened last year, at the height of the Roxham Road crisis." Solutions to the housing crisis are well known and put forward by many organizing on this front, including minimal actions like government funding to build affordable housing, use of empty office and hotel space, etc. Instead, refugees are blamed.
"Our schools are overcrowded at a time when we cruelly lack teachers and space to receive these thousands of children, the majority of whom do not speak French," he continued. "This school year alone, we have opened close to 1,150 newcomer reception classes, the equivalent of some 50 elementary schools, a non-negligible part of which are for francization and to provide appropriate accompaniment to the children of asylum seekers. To provide for their needs while they await a work permit, asylum seekers also receive last-resort financial aid from Quebec. Last October, some 43,200 asylum seekers received $33 million. Asylum seekers now constitute 16 per cent of all last-resort aid [social assistance] recipients."
The Premier also expressed particular concern over Mexican nationals, who, he informed, represent a growing proportion of those seeking sanctuary. Being able to enter Canada without a visa is certainly part of the reason, he wrote. He then declared that airports, in particular in Toronto and Montreal, are in the process of becoming "sieves" and that "now is the time to act." Not a word about the conditions people of Mexico, and other countries face, stemming from U.S. and Canadian actions. Nothing about their security and violent oppression and fomenting of drug wars and cartels by the U.S. at the southern U.S. border. Instead, the Premier wrote that broadly speaking, "the loosening of visa policies” presents risks of "opening up loopholes used by organized crime gangs, which poses serious security concerns for Quebec and for Canada."
Noting that the arrival of asylum seekers falls under federal government responsibility, as do borders and visa policy, the Premier told the Prime Minister, "It is therefore your responsibility to limit and reduce the influx of asylum seekers into Canada. As the Canadian government, it is also your duty and responsibility to fairly apportion asylum seekers throughout the territory." He said, "Quebec is no longer able to receive" such "a disproportionate share."
"It is also your responsibility to financially compensate Quebec," the Premier continued. "Quebeckers, who are already making extraordinary efforts to take care of asylum seekers with as much humanity as possible, cannot carry ... such a completely disproportionate financial burden." He pointed out, "Quebec is also expecting the federal government to reimburse the $470 million incurred for the years 2021 and 2022 and for it to do the same for subsequent years."
The Premier then formally requested that the Prime Minister reduce the influx of asylum seekers entering Canada by: tightening up his government's policy on visas; fairly apportioning asylum seekers across Canada in line with reception capacities, as was done in 2023 with asylum seekers at Roxham Road, such as by busing them to other provinces; closing all loopholes enabling criminal groups to infiltrate Canada; and reimbursing Quebec for expenses incurred in receiving asylum seekers.
Here one sees both the contending authorities between Quebec and the federal government and the reality that neither has solutions for the conditions described, whether for refugees, housing or education. Far from governments at all levels taking responsibility, the people are again blamed, and “security” raised as justification.
Busing migrants from one place to another, as is also occurring in the U.S., serves mainly to increase conflicts among the contending provincial and federal authorities, while doing little to assist the refugees. Quebecers, known for their hospitality and welcoming spirit, are instead demanding and fighting that the rights of all be respected.
The Premier echoes the stand of Quebeckers but then uses the tired excuse of “no money” saying, "This is an urgent matter and of the utmost importance, that must be resolved as a whole. It is our obligation to treat people knocking at our door seeking refuge with humanity and dignity. However, our resources are not infinite and are stretched to the limit. Let's not wait until the situation gets worse before acting."
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 14 - February 28, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54146.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca