EDITORIAL: Fix the mess, don’t spread it around

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The foolhardy changes made by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Canada’s immigration and refugee claimant programs have broken a once exemplary system.

As a nation, we’re more than willing to open our arms to newcomers, especially those fleeing war or famine. Whether it be Vietnamese boat people, Syrian refugees or Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, this country has proudly accommodated vast numbers of those displaced and given them new lives and new hopes.

But we embraced them in a rational and careful fashion. Programs such as those that allow community groups to sponsor refugee families are highly successful in ensuring newcomers are supported in their new lives. The Trudeau government has pushed aside time-tested protocols and allowed a massive influx of refugee claimants, foreign students and temporary workers.

The federal government is now seeking to spread its problem around the country. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said this week the feds want to move thousands of refugee claimants in Ontario and Quebec around the country.

“Alberta’s government is opposed to the federal government’s plan to relocate tens of thousands of asylum claimants to Alberta, especially without any financial assistance to support the province in doing so,” Smith said in a statement Thursday.

Higgs has also balked at what he called “this sudden and unilateral proposal by Ottawa.”

According to the National Post, the feds want to send 32,500 refugees to B.C., 28,000 to Alberta, 4,952 to Nova Scotia and 4,600 to New Brunswick.

Quebec has taken 37,780 refugee applications between Jan. 1 and July 31 and Ontario has seen 55,700 claimants.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the Post figures are inaccurate. Clearly, though, provincial premiers are raising the alarm. Health care and social services are overwhelmed. One senior Ontario official estimates one in four people on welfare is an asylum seeker, costing the province $500,000.

Last year, Canada took in 471,550 immigrants — the largest annual number since Confederation.

In 2015, the year before Trudeau took office, we took in 271,850.

The feds have undermined an immigration system that was once the envy of the world. They’ve created a crisis and now they want to dump it on the provinces.

It’s no wonder the premiers are fighting back.