Quebec seeking Ottawa's help in paying for costs of asylum seekers
Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Frechette is keeping up the pressure on Ottawa to help with the costs of asylum seekers in the province.
"That is crucial, really, because we do not have the luxury of saying yes or no," said Frechette.
Quebec asked for $1 billion to meet education, housing and health-care needs, which a working group between the two levels of government will look into, but Frechette is accusing the federal government of passing the buck.
"When I look at the position the federal [government] is taking, it's as if there was a possibility for them to pay or not to pay, depending on their mood - that's not the way it goes," she said. "They do have to assume the consequences of their policies, and their policies generate a lot of expenses for Quebec."
Premier Francois Legault also wants to speed up processing from a year and a half to six months.
"I cannot imagine why it takes 18 months to know if it's a real aslyum seeker or not," he said on Friday.
Immigration is a shared jurisdiction, but there is a lot of tension over how to handle it.
In a letter to Frechette earlier this month, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Ottawa would bypass Quebec's immigration cap to speed up family reunification.
"I've given instructions to process the requests for permanent residency and family reunification, which totals around 20,500 cases," he said.
"Imagine you're married, you have kids, and your spouse is being kept from you, for a number of years for absolutely no reason other than quotas that are imposed by the government in Quebec," said immigration lawyer Patrice Brunet.
Brunet believes these kinds of cases should not be subject to quotas.
Legault said Quebec will now have to look at other options on how to get more powers, and Parti Quebecois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon suggested a referendum on immigration.
Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are set to meet again by June 30.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton dead following prison attack
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
DND moving 1,000 employees out of Ottawa office building due to safety concerns
The Department of National Defence is moving approximately 1,000 employees out of an office building in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood, citing safety concerns for its employees.
Baby dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to woman who was in police custody
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour: 'I am completely heartsick and devastated'
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
Fast food chain value deals ramp up in the United States: What does it mean for Canada?
After years of price increases and a decline in customers, fast food chains in the United States are competing with each other and offering value deals in hopes of bringing more foot traffic into their establishments.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
2 children among 5 people hospitalized after head-on crash on Hwy. 417 in Ottawa's west end
Two young children and three adults were seriously injured in a major collision on Highway 417 between Palladium Drive and Carp Road in Ottawa's west end Friday afternoon.
Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama, dies at 86
Marian Shields Robinson, the mother of Michelle Obama who moved with the first family to the White House when son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, has died. She was 86.