EDITORIAL: Don’t blame immigrants for bad federal policy (2024)

Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller told reporters this week that he’s “quite tired of the fact that people are always blaming immigrants for absolutely everything.”

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He made the comment after Quebec Premier Francois Legault blamed “100% of the housing problem” on the increase in the number of people arriving on a temporary basis, according to a story by the Canadian Press.

This is another example of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government creating a crisis and then blaming others for not fixing it.

Canadians are, in fact, very generous to immigrants, since many of us are newcomers ourselves or our parents or grandparents came to this country from somewhere else. Historically, it was done rationally and carefully. Newcomers valued that process and recognized immigration as a golden opportunity for a better future.

What’s changed is how this government has brought vast numbers of newcomers to our shores without first putting in place the support needed to provide them with services. That’s the point Legault was making in asking for extra funds for settlement services.

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According to Statistics Canada, in 2023, this country brought in a total of 1.3 million new permanent and non-permanent residents.

That’s more than the population of Saskatchewan (1.2 million).

That province has 75 hospitals and a health-care budget of about $5.5 billion. There are approximately 13,500 public school teachers in Saskatchewan and an education budget of more than $3 billion.

Those are just the raw numbers for basic services. Did the feds build 75 new hospitals or hire 13,500 new teachers to serve the newcomers? Nope.

Then there’s employment. Newcomers arrive here with the hope and expectation they will be able to find work, start a new life and support themselves and their families. Job numbers are not encouraging.

In April, 90,000 jobs were added, but by May that number had dropped to just 27,000.

As for housing, rents and house prices are at all-time highs. Bringing in millions of people with the false hope of decent housing, a good job and a pathway to success is a cruel hoax.

It’s no wonder premiers like Legault are calling out the feds for not paying the piper. It’s time the feds coughed up some cash for their out-of-control immigration policies.

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