Canadian Immigration Policies for Refugees Criticized by Liberals

The Canadian Citizenship and Immigration minister Jason Kenney is being strongly criticized by the country’s Liberal party on introducing changes to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) this June. The Liberals MP Kevin Lamoureux is calling on the Commons Committee to conduct an in depth analysis and study of the situation and obtain feedback directly from the refugees who have born the impact of these changes.

Lamoureux, who is the Liberals citizenship and immigration critic, has also accused Kenney of using harsh and disgraceful language while referring to the refugees along with making unnecessary changes to the Canadian IFHP, cutting access to even the most basic medication for certain refugees.

“We are taking this issue very seriously,” Lamoureux said, “it is important that we hear from the stake holders.”

Lamoureux has emphasized on the need to obtain direct feedback from the refugees in Canada who have been affected by the changes and that Liberals want these changes to be reversed. He said that his party will be taking this up in front of the citizenship and immigration committee calling on them to conduct an in depth analysis of the changes itself and of the consequence of the cuts on the refugees.

Lamoureux said that such analysis will enable the committee to expediently judge the situation and provide befitting recommendations for its improvisation. He also said that the immigration minister must reconsider his choice of words while referring to the refugees. He said that Kenney is intentionally demonizing the refugees and sending the international community a message that Canada no longer welcomes refugees.

The Liberals also accused Kenney of not providing sufficient evidence to substantiate his reforms, claiming that he should have proven that the changes were based on an authentic study and were constitutional.

Lamoureux, at a press conference in Ottawa, said, “There was a great deal of suspicion that this was a decision that was made on the whim, that there was no real consultation, that there was no real studies. We haven’t seen that and we would like to see the evidence. Good government policy is made when you have evidence based policy decisions and we haven’t seen any evidence and we are calling for the minister to prove that.”

In response to Lamoureux’s press conference, Kenney’s office spokeswoman Ana Curic said that the Liberals are completely ignoring the support Jason Kenney’s reforms have from the Canadian public.

“Our Conservative Government strongly disagree with the irresponsible liberals and the NDP policy,” Curic said, “that illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers under deportation orders who refuse to leave Canada should be able to abuse our fair immigration system and receive gold plated health care benefits that are more generous than Canadian taxpayers, including seniors and Kevin Lamoureux’s constituents, receive,”

She concluded her response by saying that it is up to the Committee to decide what to do of the issue and that the Citizenship and Immigration Canada retains its trust in the committee’s decision.

The reforms in question were issued a month ago by Kenney’s office, cutting down health care facilities for those refugee claimants, whose applications are still pending further judgment, narrowing down their health care access to only emergency situations. These changes have been facing protests from rights groups and medical associations throughout Canada since their introduction.

Tags: bogus asylum seekers, Canada, Canadian Citizenship and immigration minister, Canadian Immigration, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, citizenship and immigration committee, Illegal immigrants, Immigration, Jason Kenney, Liberals citizenship and immigration critic, refugees in Canada