“You're doing a bad job. Your department is corrupt. Criminals are getting off easy. You're giving out too many work permits while Canadians can't find jobs. You're paying for healthcare for fraudulent asylum claimants. You're failing at your job.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Oral Questions
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
A wide-ranging bill to strengthen Canada's immigration system and borders. The debate featured the usual partisan sparring, with the Conservatives accusing the Liberals of mismanaging the immigration system and the Liberals defending their record and touting recent reforms. Much of the discussion focused on a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer on the costs of the interim federal health program for asylum seekers.
“The minister is doing a bad job. She won't answer our hard questions. She needs to do better. We need someone competent in this job. She should show up to committee for the full four hours and fix this.”
“I want to highlight this damning report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. It shows the government is using taxpayer money to give luxury health benefits to rejected asylum claimants. Even the ones who don't show up for their removal proceedings still get physiotherapy, counselling, and home care. Why are hard-working Canadians getting worse health care than people who shouldn't even be here?”
“I don't think the Liberals get how unfair the system is now, for everyone. They let too many non-citizens in too fast, and Canadians can't get basic health care. There are 74,000 failed asylum seekers still getting vision care and other benefits. This costs hundreds of millions. Why are we giving premium health benefits to failed claimants instead of to Canadians? Why aren't we removing them?”
“The minister said this program was meant to be temporary. But look, failed asylum claimants are getting years of fancy benefits like eye care and physio. No wonder it costs more every year. We could build a whole hospital with that wasted money. It's not fair. Why not cut these luxury handouts?”