Mr. Speaker, I have not heard of a single province, no matter how Conservative, ever trying to get out of its responsibility to make social assistance payments to refugee claimants. Will the minister stop hiding behind provincial jurisdiction and admit the reality that his law intends to persuade provinces to deny social assistance to refugee claimants, even though these are among the most vulnerable people in the world, and even though they often cannot work and have no other means to put food on the table?
In the House of Commons on October 27th, 2014. See this statement in context.