Immigration Minister Marc Miller called out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for his lack of seriousness regarding immigration.
Miller shared his thoughts while answering media questions on Tuesday about Poilievre’s recent statement regarding a cap on asylum seekers.
The leader of the opposition made those comments on December 1 while speaking about US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats to Canada if the feds did not take action on drugs and border security.
Poilievre called Trudeau out for his lax immigration policy and said the federal government needed to fix Canada’s “broken border.”
He also shared his thoughts on the number of asylum seekers and refugees in Canada.
“I think it is time for a cap,” he said. “We need to shut off the flow of false refugee claims… who are sneaking in either through our porous border, through our weak visa system, and then, when they land here, making a false claim.”
CPAC
“I love real refugees,” Poilievre added. “Our country was built in large part by real refugees who were genuinely fleeing danger, like my wife. But I have no time for people who lie to come into our country, and that is the problem we have to cut off.”
In his response to reporters, Miller said that Poilievre “hasn’t been serious [in the immigration] file at all, other than rhyming here and there.”
CPAC
The minister then doubled down in his answer, repeating that Poilievre hasn’t “been serious in this area at all. We do owe it to Canadians to make sure we are taking a look at the volume that’s coming in through regular migration… as part of the discussions with the Trump administration,” Miller stated.
“Canada has to have an open heart but we also have to be realistic with Canadians with the amount of people that we can take in and properly serve with the resources that we have,” he said.
Miller has been vocal about Poilievre lately
In the House of Commons earlier this week, the minister quipped that the Conservative leader was “in his basement figuring out what rhyme to put on Twitter” while the Prime Minister was meeting with Trump.
While Pandering Pierre Poilievre was in his basement figuring what rhyme to put up on his social media, Prime Minister Trudeau was doing the responsible thing and meeting in person with President-elect Trump. This is exactly what Canadians expect of their Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/pJWoW6RfIn
— Marc Miller ᐅᑭᒫᐃᐧᐅᓃᐸᐄᐧᐤᐃᔨᐣ (@MarcMillerVM) December 3, 2024
Last week, the minister said that Poilievre needed to “grow a pair” and get his security clearance.
Year of changes for Canada’s immigration policies
The federal government has made significant changes to Canada’s immigration policies this year.
In October, the feds announced they would be slashing immigration targets by at least 20% for next year.
Previously, the government’s permanent resident targets for the next two years stood at 500,000 per year. Now, the target for next year is set to 395,000 and will taper even further in 2026 (380,000) and 2027 (365,000).
The government also plans to reduce temporary residents by 5% of the population by the end of 2026, adding that the population will “decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to being permanent residents or leave Canada compared to new ones arriving.”
Last month, Trudeau released a six-minute video explaining that the government will prioritize permanent residents with skills, such as healthcare workers and construction workers.
He also addressed temporary foreign workers who will apply for asylum, adding that if their claim fails, “they’ll be sent home.”
Pause on refugee sponsorship
Most recently, the federal government announced a pause on private refugee sponsorship applications, in effect until December 31, 2025.
It also launched a global campaign on the difficulty of being granted asylum in Canada.
In a statement to Daily Hive, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said it runs annual campaigns to “combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation about Canada’s immigration system, including about asylum.”
An English example of an ad that targeted searches related to Canadian asylum/ IRCC
This year’s ads will run through the winter months until March 31, 2025.
“Examples of search queries that would prompt individuals to receive the ads would be ‘how to claim asylum in Canada’ and ‘refugee Canada.’ This campaign targets all searches relating to claiming asylum in Canada,” stated an IRCC spokesperson.
The ads will run in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Ukrainian, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Hindi and Tamil, and the IRCC has budgeted $250,000 for this year’s campaign.
“The Government of Canada supports fair and rigorous immigration procedures that protect Canadians and the integrity of our system, while upholding our international obligations to those in need of protection,” stated the IRCC.
With files from Irish Mae Silvestre