There is a particular strain of ugly anti-immigrant rhetoric which has largely been tamped down in this country but has started to re-emerge thanks to the permission structures being formed by the Republicans in the US, and which are being laundered into Canada by blaming the Liberals for somehow “breaking the consensus” around immigration in recent years with high arrival numbers, ignoring that the vast majority of these numbers have been asked for by provincial premiers. Nevertheless, the issue with asylum seekers (which are not economic immigrants) has disproportionately landed in Quebec’s lap because of the ease of border crossing there, and Quebec has made demands of other provinces to share the load.
Well, the federal minster, Marc Miller, has had discussions with provinces about taking more of these asylum seekers—with federal supports—but that was enough to get New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs to start lying about it over social media. (Higgs is floundering in the polls ahead of an election and has been turning to Christian Nationalists as his strategy to stay competitive). And while Miller has called out Higgs for his fictitious alarm, it has already spread to other provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, with BC’s Conservative leader also weighing in (and talking out of his ass as he does about many, many files).
This is a highly irresponsible comment by Premier Higgs. While we expect every province to do their fair share in the federation when it comes to asylum seekers, nobody said we’d force New Brunswick to take 4,600 asylum seekers. https://t.co/1WuoaV0O3o
— Marc Miller ᐅᑭᒫᐃᐧᐅᓃᐸᐄᐧᐤᐃᔨᐣ (@MarcMillerVM) September 11, 2024
To date, and despite commitments to the contrary made during the Council of the Federation, the New Brunswick government has shown very little interest in doing its fair share, even with a commitment of federal financial support.
— Marc Miller ᐅᑭᒫᐃᐧᐅᓃᐸᐄᐧᐤᐃᔨᐣ (@MarcMillerVM) September 11, 2024
Alberta premier: we won't take asylum seekers, especially without federal financial assistance
Fed immigration minister: We've never said we would relocate asylum seekers to provinces without financial assistance. pic.twitter.com/oWFb8nA9Ln— Jason Markusoff (@markusoff) September 12, 2024
https://twitter.com/marcmillervm/status/1834359608481100045
Premier, I would encourage you to reach out to your Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration, Jill Balser who co-chairs our working group and has a better appreciation of the facts. Let’s stay at the table and work on solutions. https://t.co/efCNYWsvvs
— Marc Miller ᐅᑭᒫᐃᐧᐅᓃᐸᐄᐧᐤᐃᔨᐣ (@MarcMillerVM) September 12, 2024
Miller is an effective communicator, unlike most of his fellow Cabinet members, so he’s actually mounting a good defence, but we cannot forget that this particular xenophobic rhetoric has been creeping into the discourse here, enabled by certain premiers and by Pierre Poilievre who have been blowing this particular dog-whistle while the Elder Pundits shrug and insist that it’s not really happening because Canada is different (it is, but it’s not that different), but they see it being used effectively in the US, and in places like Hungary, and they want a piece of that action if it’ll get them the power that they crave. We’ll see if Miller can score enough blows, but I suspect that with the Elder Pundits dismissing the nature of these attacks, the effectiveness of his counters, even with receipts, will be blunted in broader public.
In case you missed it:
- My Xtra column on the three upcoming provincial by-elections, and how conservative parties all moved further to the right in each of them.
- My weekend column on the way the Public Accounts committee went from being the best, most non-partisan committee in Parliament to yet another sideshow.
- My Loonie Politics Quick Take that explains Supply Days, and why they’re going to be a lot more weighty now that the NDP have reneged on their agreement.
- My column on the tiff at TIFF over that Russian film, and why Conservatives blaming Trudeau are really telling on themselves about their own censorship ambitions.
Ukraine Dispatch
https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1834204204405039436
⚡️ Romania condemns Russia's 'deliberate attack on cargo ship' with Ukrainian grain.
Romania's Foreign Ministry said on Sept. 13 that Russia's strike against a cargo ship loaded with Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea is an "unprecedented escalation."https://t.co/RvnbkruPmi
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) September 13, 2024