With federal immigration policy increasingly under fire from provincial and national conservatives, the question of how many newcomers Alberta and Canada should welcome remains a matter of keen public interest.
Whether Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith will succeed in changing the immigration system remains to be seen. What is known is that immigration levels will continue to have significant economic and social impacts, including in central Alberta.
Conservative Party of Canada leader Poilievre says he plans to make immigration reform a top priority.
“We will secure our borders by putting an end to the Liberal open borders experiment of mass immigration, which has been a disaster,” he said following his Aug. 18 Battle River-Crowfoot byelection win.
“Conservatives welcome lawful, orderly immigration, but it has to be done in our national interests, with the right people and in the right numbers.”
The Smith government has also joined in the immigration debate, with Joseph Schow, minister of the Jobs, Economy and Trade department, saying current federal immigration policies hurt Alberta.
“Each year, the federal government sets immigration targets while provincial governments are responsible for the majority of supports including health care, housing and education,” he said. “Unfortunately, the decisions regarding immigration targets are often made without proper consideration of provincial needs or priorities.
“Nowhere is the strain more obvious than in Alberta, where record population growth is being felt in communities province-wide. It is time to regain control of our borders, protect the services Canadians rely on, and restore trust in our immigration system.”
For her part, Federal Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab says the Liberal government is focused on reasonable and sustainable immigration.
“Federal immigration remains one of the most powerful tools in Canada’s policy arsenal,” she said. “It fuels nearly all of the country’s labour force and population growth, and is increasingly tied to economic recovery, innovation, and regional development.”
Is anyone surprised that, as with other hot-button issues such as gun control and international trade, conservatives and liberals are now deeply divided over immigration?
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
