[LINK] "Chris Alexander scolds Ontario over health care to refugees"
CBC's Susana Mas reports on an interesting conflict in federalism in Canada: Ontario is taking care of the health needs that the Canadian federal government has abandoned.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander publicly scolded the Ontario government today for defying the federal government's decision to reduce the level of health care available to refugee claimants.
Ontario introduced a new program, effective Jan. 1, that will provide refugee claimants with access to primary care and urgent hospital services as well as medication coverage regardless of their refugee status, following cuts to a federal program that administers temporary health-care benefits to refugee claimants.
"I've expressed our government's disappointment with the Ontario government's recent decision to reinstate health-care benefits to all asylum seekers and even rejected refugee claimants," Alexander said.
[. . .]
The federal government's reforms for the asylum system introduced in December 2012 include, among other things, a list of 37 countries that "do not normally produce refugees, but do respect human rights and offer state protection."
Claimants from this Designated Country of Origin (DCO) list, which includes the U.S. and most countries from the European Union, now have their refugee claims heard faster.
The goal of the policy, the minister said, is to ensure that people who are in real need of asylum get the protection they are seeking fast, while those with unfounded claims are sent home more quickly.
Alexander said the number of asylum claims from countries that are generally considered safe but used to produce a high number of unfounded claims has dropped 87 per cent.
"I want to make this point very clear, because it seems some people still don't understand the great benefit to genuine refugees that flow from our reforms. The beneficiaries of these reforms are yes, Canadian taxpayers, but mostly and overwhelmingly genuine refugees."
The immigration minister said Ontario was compromising the integrity of the system by putting "bogus" asylum seekers and "failed" refugee claimants ahead of Canadians who are seeking health-care services and refugees who are in need of real protection.
It's worth noting that the changes would, for instance, not cover Roma fleeing central Europe. For starters.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander publicly scolded the Ontario government today for defying the federal government's decision to reduce the level of health care available to refugee claimants.
Ontario introduced a new program, effective Jan. 1, that will provide refugee claimants with access to primary care and urgent hospital services as well as medication coverage regardless of their refugee status, following cuts to a federal program that administers temporary health-care benefits to refugee claimants.
"I've expressed our government's disappointment with the Ontario government's recent decision to reinstate health-care benefits to all asylum seekers and even rejected refugee claimants," Alexander said.
[. . .]
The federal government's reforms for the asylum system introduced in December 2012 include, among other things, a list of 37 countries that "do not normally produce refugees, but do respect human rights and offer state protection."
Claimants from this Designated Country of Origin (DCO) list, which includes the U.S. and most countries from the European Union, now have their refugee claims heard faster.
The goal of the policy, the minister said, is to ensure that people who are in real need of asylum get the protection they are seeking fast, while those with unfounded claims are sent home more quickly.
Alexander said the number of asylum claims from countries that are generally considered safe but used to produce a high number of unfounded claims has dropped 87 per cent.
"I want to make this point very clear, because it seems some people still don't understand the great benefit to genuine refugees that flow from our reforms. The beneficiaries of these reforms are yes, Canadian taxpayers, but mostly and overwhelmingly genuine refugees."
The immigration minister said Ontario was compromising the integrity of the system by putting "bogus" asylum seekers and "failed" refugee claimants ahead of Canadians who are seeking health-care services and refugees who are in need of real protection.
It's worth noting that the changes would, for instance, not cover Roma fleeing central Europe. For starters.