Social assistance to migrants: Heurtel refilera the bill to Ottawa

Photo Simon Clark
The Immigration minister, David Heurtel

Marc-André Gagnon

Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 18:45

UPDATE
Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 18:47

Look at this article

The Immigration minister, David Heurtel, intends to pass on to Ottawa the bill for the social assistance paid to asylum seekers, which has more than doubled in the last year, particularly because of long processing times.

• READ ALSO: Quebec has paid close to$ 50 Million to asylum-seekers in 2017

“And yes, we will send the bill to Ottawa, dropped in the room the minister Heurtel, after being asked three times to do so by the spokesman of the official opposition in matters of immigration, Catherine Fournier.

Mp pq Marie-Victorin, accuses the canadian government of being responsible for the “kerfuffle” which led the Quebec government to pay close to$ 50 Million in social assistance to asylum seekers last year, compared to$ 21 Million in 2016.

She complains that the federal government does not have to commit the resources necessary to issue permits more quickly work to those who have made the request after having crossed the canada-u.s. border.

“There are only 2 900 work permits that have been issued on the 20,000 asylum-seekers who wanted to be able to work,” said Ms. Fournier, in the blue Room.

He blames Donald Trump

Less in a hurry to take it to Ottawa that his vis-à-vis the opposition, the minister Heurtel has preferred to throw the blame on the american president Donald Trump, who put an end to the temporary status special which had been granted to thousands of haitian nationals in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.

“The support of the asylum application as such, it is an issue that is federal responsibility, has reminded the minister of Immigration. That said, once these men and women are in Quebec, the other elements related to their lives, that is to say, their health, education, access to justice, employability, report to the government of Quebec. It is very clear at the outset that, for these men and women re-entering all of them to zero, we must help them to restart, what we have done with social assistance. “

Less than 30 days

Mr. Heurtel has also been argued that having multiplied the exchanges with its counterparts, the federal government has added additional resources to process the applications.

The number of permits issued would be increased from 330 in September to 1,600 in October and more than 3 300 in November, according to the minister.

“Now, it is less than 30 days for the processing of work permit applications “, welcomed the minister.