Debates of Feb. 23rd, 2026

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, six million Canadians do not have access to a family doctor, and it takes 30 weeks for the average Canadian to see a specialist. However, the Liberals use Canadian taxpayer dollars to fund a Cadillac health care system for asylum claimants, including free access to glasses and contact lenses, physiotherapy, nursing homes and hearing aids. These are free benefits that regular citizens do not get and this does not come cheap. It cost nearly $1 billion this year.

Will the Liberals support our motion and ensure that asylum claimants do not get better health care than regular Canadians?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would say is that the Conservatives call them “bogus” asylum claimants. There are actually a great number, in fact millions, of legitimate asylum claimants all over the world. Our country has distinguished itself over its history as being a welcoming place for legitimate asylum claimants, and we will always be a welcoming place. When people arrive here from war-torn areas or children are in need of health services, every single Canadian I know would insist that we provide those health services to that person. That is what we are going to continue to do. Enough of the—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Saskatoon West.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it does not change the fact that the Liberals have created a two-tier health care system that disadvantages ordinary Canadians. The Liberals continue to betray Canadians, putting bogus asylum claimants first by giving them access to health care benefits that regular citizens do not get. We just learned that the government automatically gives residency to refugees from North Korea, Afghanistan and Yemen without even talking to them. Instead of an in-person interview, these Liberals are blindly granting residency, all while giving generous health care benefits.

Therefore, I ask again: Will the Liberals support our motion and ensure that asylum claimants do not get better health care than regular Canadians?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to our humanitarian obligations, in many cases treaty obligations, as Mr. Harper found out when the Supreme Court ordered him to restore health benefits to asylum claimants for their well-being, in our case, we have managed the number of asylum claimants down. We have passed a law in the House to move that number down, and we are about to pass a law to take benefits down for this category of person. We will continue to manage this carefully.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of people in B.C. cannot see a family doctor, yet the Liberals now provide deluxe health care benefits to rejected asylum claimants at taxpayers' expense. The PBO has shown that the interim federal health program has skyrocketed in costs to almost $1 billion.

Will the Liberals support our motion and ensure that rejected asylum claimants do not get better health care than Canadians?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, asylum seekers who come to this country who are legitimate ones, those who are found to be—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Order. There is a certain ambient noise in question period that is totally acceptable in the atmosphere of debate, but when it gets a little past a certain threshold, I have to ask the respondent to start again.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure all Canadians that asylum seekers who come to this country are judged for their legitimacy. If they are found to be legitimate refugees and asylum seekers, as in all compassionate countries and all signatories to international agreements, they are permitted to stay. Those who are not found to have respected those criteria are asked to leave.

The government has made very tough measures in Bill C-12, currently before the Senate, to make sure that we can continue to get that number down.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what the member did not mention is that Liberals at the health committee are currently filibustering any attempt to even study this program. That does not sound like they are trying to fix anything. They want a cover-up.

Conservatives are clear on the solution: no more physio or vision care for rejected asylum claimants. Will the Liberals support our motion and ensure that rejected asylum claimants do not get health care benefits that are superior to those of Canadians?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it is really unfortunate that we have this kind of conversation, where we are talking about the health of Canadians and asylum seekers. The reality is that those people are in the country. We have an agreement, and the health system is a compassionate system. What we are saying is that those people need to have access to health. We are also working closely with provinces and territories to get more access for Canadian people.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reports that the interim federal health program will cost nearly $1.5 billion a year to cover health care for fraudulent asylum claimants. This program gives anyone claiming asylum better health care than the Canadians who pay for it. Even if these claims are denied, as wait times grow and health care access shrinks for citizens, the Liberals prioritize a growing list of bogus refugees over Canadians.

Will the government support our Conservative motion to stop criminal claimants from receiving superior health benefits at Canadian taxpayers' expense?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I would put more credence in my hon. colleague's argument if he or his party actually had a record of defending better health care for Canadians. Think about the record they have demonstrated over the time I have been a member of Parliament. They have opposed the largest transfer to provincial health care systems. They have opposed dental coverage for Canadians. They have opposed birth care and other essential medicines that Canadians need. This is not about the quality of health care that Canadians need. The only solution they are putting forward is to deny the children of refugees dental care. Frankly, this is disgusting, un-Canadian and beneath the House.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, too many people in Niagara cannot find a family doctor. Right now, taxpayers are being charged up to five times the provincial rates to provide health care to rejected asylum claimants. Families have waited long enough and our failed asylum system is making them wait even longer. Conservatives have proposed common-sense solutions to address this horrible situation. It is time for the government to remove benefits for bogus claimants.

Will the government support our motion and ensure that non-citizens and non-permanent residents do not get health care superior to that of Canadians?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, do we know what happens to failed asylum seekers? They are removed. Last year, we removed over 22,000 individuals who were inadmissible. We as a government are ensuring—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I need to hear the questions and answers so I can tell if any rules are being broken.

The hon. Minister of Public Safety, from the top, please.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, do we know what happens to failed asylum seekers? They are removed.

Last year, we removed over 22,000 inadmissible individuals from Canada. This year, through the strengthening Canada's immigration system act, Bill C-12, which is now going through the Senate, we will be removing more individuals. More will be ineligible to seek asylum. We are hiring 1,000 new CBSA officers, the first cohort of which is graduating this Friday. We are strengthening our border and ensuring that those who are inadmissible do not remain here.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that minister knows very well that he has lost 32,000 people who have been ordered deported.

As a physician, as the son of a refugee to Canada, this issue is very close to my heart. I wish we were speaking about health care today, but instead we must speak about health care fraud. We are talking about people who claim refugee status only after they are investigated or arrested for crimes like terrorism or extortion. We need to talk about such people because they are receiving better health benefits than ordinary tax-paying Canadians. When seniors in Kitchener cannot find family doctors and cannot afford their medicines, how on earth does the Liberal government—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. Minister of Jobs and Families.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think that member was around when the opposition party voted time and again against the investments that provinces and territories had been asking us to make in strengthening our universal health care system. That is how we build a health care system that everybody is proud of. It is something we built on the foundations of our forefathers and mothers in this place, to ensure that people can access quality, affordable health care across this country. It is not by tearing down different groups of people.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government's loss of control during the Roxham Road crisis is worse than we feared. According to the C.D. Howe Institute, when the federal government was overwhelmed by too many refugee claims, it scaled back its assessments.

Between 2019 and 2023, 25,000 people were accepted as refugees without being interviewed. These are 25,000 refugees who were accepted, many of them in Quebec, and nobody even met with them to double-check their statements. We learned in committee this morning that this approach is still being used today.

When will the government take action?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the safety of Canadians and Quebeckers is our priority. Officers carefully review each refugee claim before referring it to the Immigration and Refugee Board. Ineligible claims are not referred.

Under our government, the number of refugee claims has dropped by a third. With Bill C-12, we will be able to do even more to prevent sudden surges.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the federal government was swamped with asylum claims at Roxham Road, its solution was to accept refugees indiscriminately in order to speed up the process. Ottawa drew up a list of countries whose applicants were automatically accepted without any questions asked. Those countries included Russia, Afghanistan, Iran and many others that are currently problematic. As a result, at the height of the Roxham Road crisis, the acceptance rate for asylum claims rose from 65% to 80%.

Why did the government agree to accept refugees without meeting them?