Asylum seeker advocates tired of Quebec rhetoric aimed at refugees

For months, Premier Francois Legault has said Quebec has too many people crossing the border and has demanded that the federal government step in to send them to other provinces.

Legault's recent comments on the subject are sparking anger from organizations, which say that he's not treating asylum seekers with humanity.

The Refugee Centre in downtown Montreal is one such organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers.

Every day, hundreds of people walk through the centre's doors looking for legal, employment and educational services.

"We have different care packages that we give to families; stuff like diapers," said executive director Abdulla Daoud.

Daoud said Legault's latest barrage of comments about asylum seekers targets the vulnerable population he serves.

"It's getting tiresome to see them used as a punching bag continuously year after year after year," he said.

The recent comments came during Legault's trip to Paris, where he said that Canada should take inspiration from France and set up waiting zones, a holding centre for asylum seekers until a decision is made.

He later declared that 80,000 migrants should be forced to move.

Quebec's line is that the high number is taxing on housing and social services.

"He was speaking as [if] he was speaking about bottles or I don't know, oranges that you can move from one place to another," said Maison D'Haiti executive director Marjorie Villefranche. "And like, he was not speaking about human beings."

Upon Legault's return to Quebec, a report revealed that the government studied a wide range of ways to move asylum seekers out of the province, including paying for bus tickets and cutting welfare payments.

The premier did not deny that these options were considered but ruled them out.

Legault said Quebec is home to 45 per cent of asylum seekers in Canada despite accounting for just 22 per cent of the population.

Daoud argues that Quebec is better suited to welcome them as it's the only province with a reception centre for refugee claimants.

"People are going to come and seek safety," he said. "We built a society to allow for that to happen and I think we should be proud of that."

Advocates say refugees won't stop arriving, so it's Quebec's responsibility to find a humane and dignified way to welcome them.