Asylum seekers: the federal government to pay for “guests of Justin Trudeau,” said Lisée

Marc-André Gagnon

Monday, 28 August, 2017 14:21

UPDATE
Monday, 28 August, 2017 14:28

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Quebec does not have to pay for “guests of Justin Trudeau’s” coming into the country by illegally crossing the border, believes the leader of the Parti québécois, Jean-François Lisée.

“Since a few days, we try to see what will be the federal compensation for these guests of Justin Trudeau […] for me, it is the federal government who should pay for that,” said Mr. Lisée Monday morning.

This week, about 4000 cheques social assistance will be distributed to asylum seekers who come to Quebec illegally for the past few weeks in crossing the canada-u.s. border.

“You need it, these people are here ruled, Mr. Lisée. They are in distress. They have been invited by Justin Trudeau. He sent them a “tweet” saying to all the persecuted of the world: “Welcome to Canada.””

According to the head of the parti québecois, the prime minister Philippe Couillard would have had to rush to condemn the “irresponsible statements from Justin Trudeau,” which suggested to the asylum seekers – Haitians for the most part – that they could leave the United States to find refuge in Canada.

“In the normal course of things, one receives three, four thousand asylum seekers per year. It has the ability to do so, we have the will to do so, it has the international obligation to do so, has qualified Mr. Lisée, but this time […] it is the federal government to pay the excess compared to the normal practice.”

The question of coherence

When asked about this, the minister of social Solidarity, François Blais, has ensured that Quebec has not only the means to financially assist asylum seekers, but that he has an “obligation”.

“For this operation, it really is Quebec, which is the main actor, said Mr. Blais […] These people do not have the right to work. Therefore, it is necessary to be consistent: if one removes the right to work, for the moment, you need to ensure that they can provide for their needs. Once again, it is in compliance with the agreements of the decree that was adopted in 1996.”

The minister Blais explained that his government prefers for the moment to focus on the services to be offered to asylum seekers.

“We will see later. We are in the process of any collate. […] We calculate everything, and then we will see with the federal government,” said Mr. Blais.