B.C. premier frustrated with Quebec immigration funding
CBC
Federal immigration money is being "showered down" on Ontario and Quebec "at the expense" of Western Canada, B.C. Premier David Eby said Monday.
Eby told a news conference to mark the end of the annual Western Premiers' Conference in Whitehorse that Ottawa's offer of $750 million to Quebec to help pay for a surge in temporary residents there is frustrating, and B.C. should also get a share.
Eby said there are 10,000 people coming to British Columbia every 37 days. Refugees have to stay in homeless shelters and international students don't have support.
"And so to see a single-province agreement with Quebec, is an underlining of a sense of frustration that I heard around the table," he said.
"I won't put this on anyone else, but I'll say for British Columbia, how frustrated we are to see the money being showered down on Quebec and Ontario, and us scrabbling around for what's left over. It's not acceptable."
Quebec Premier François Legault had said the offer from Ottawa came after he asked for $1 billion to cover costs associated with a surge in temporary residents.
Eby said Canadians are seeing resources go to Ontario and Quebec "at the expense, in my opinion, of the west."
"That announcement today with Quebec, frankly, is the straw that broke this camel's back," he said on Monday.
"I cannot understand how that could happen. I cannot understand why we cannot get a per capita share at a minimum."
Legault has previously said the number of temporary residents coming to the province — including asylum seekers, students and workers — had "exploded" to 560,000, a number he says doubled in two years, straining social services.
B.C. government figures show there were 475,778 non-permanent residents in the province as of Jan. 1, an increase of about 84 per cent from two years earlier.
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller's office did not provide a response in time for deadline.
Eby made the comments as premiers from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Yukon wrapped up two days' worth of meetings in Whitehorse.
Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said the leaders represent different viewpoints but were able to set aside partisanship.
From the Detroit Lions losing to Apple iPhones that spontaneously update, Windsorites had things that bugged them this year.
Calgary emergency rooms are “in a state of critical overcapacity” ahead of the anticipated peak of flu season — and to cope with the surge and wait-room crowding, officials are urging doctors to speed up their decisions on whether to admit patients, according to a memo obtained by CBC News.
Northern Ontario's highway system needs improvements in order to make travel safer, a highway safety advocate said.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.
Even before Gwen Healey Akearok began her new role as Nunavut’s Minister of Family Services, she was tuning into the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) hearings on the state of the Family Services department.
The racial reckoning of the COVID era saw Canada grapple with its checkered past — a process that led to statues of some foundational figures being removed, in some instances by force.
Holiday traditions are front and centre for many people at this time of year. But one Uxbridge family's Christmas tradition goes above and beyond the standard Christmas carols or holiday party.
A pedestrian is dead, and police are investigating following a collision in a north London parking lot on Tuesday afternoon.
Police have lifted a shelter-in-place order for parts of St. John's.
Nova Scotia Power is providing more information about the cyberattack on the utility earlier this year and its response in the months that followed.
A rare old-growth forest in Quebec’s Mauricie region is at the centre of a growing conflict between conservation advocates and the provincial government, after forestry roadwork was authorized in an area currently under review for protected status.