Rustad’s comments on asylum seekers ignite politicized fear-mongering

Criticism arose in opposing camps after a briefing document was leaked during a Liberal caucus gathering in Nanaimo, last week, that suggested BC could soon be in for an involuntary increase in asylum seekers.

An asylum seeker is someone looking for international protection from potentially lethal dangers in their home country. They may have lodged a claim for refugee status that hasn't yet been determined legally. A refugee has already been deemed a “protected person” and has permanent resident status in Canada.

Due to violent conflicts, persecution, human rights violations, and environmental degradation, millions of people around the world are forced to flee their homes as asylum seekers. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported a historical high of 114 million displaced people globally in October 2023.

Last Wednesday, John Rustad, leader of the BC Conservative Party issued a media release claiming, according to his interpretation of a leaked Liberal briefing document, “Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government are dumping thousands [22,000] of asylum seekers in BC without a plan or funding, all while our province grapples with an unprecedented housing crisis.”

Because the housing crisis is felt acutely in Victoria and the CRD, comments like Rustad’s can make people feel like they're in a faceoff for hard-won resources. “Dumping thousands of asylum seekers” is the kind of rhetoric former US president Donald Trump has used to stir anti-immigration sentiment in his third bid for the White House.

In response to Rustad’s comments, Victoria Coun. Susan Kim said, “To say dumping is so dehumanizing. This is an example of a political leader who does not see the inherent dignity of his own future residents and that should concern us all because it starts there. We've seen that slippery slope cognitively happening across the political spectrum.” In Racism in Greater Victoria  (2021), the Greater Victoria Local Immigration Partnership reported that 71% of people who identify as Indigenous, Black, Asian or a Person of Colour had personally experienced racism. Racism needs no encouragement.

Winnie Lee, director of operations at Intercultural Association (ICA) of Greater Victoria, has a strong counter-message to that kind of rhetoric. She told Capital Daily, “When you hear public officials describing refugees as a burden, it really dehumanizes those fleeing persecution and really ignores their strength and the contributions they make to Canada.”

Immigration minister clarifies, says no 'dragging' people to different parts of the country

In response to criticism from Alberta and New Brunswick’s premiers, Immigration Minister Marc Miller held a news conference last week, where he discussed the numbers of asylum seekers they would be “forced to receive.” Miller said, “It’s not a question of uprooting people and dragging them off to different parts of the country. We’ve been looking at a consent-based model whether it’s consent from the province or from individuals themselves” for redistribution.

According to the briefing’s theoretical modeling chart, BC would receive 21,123 asylum seekers based on a formula related to its population. No commentary accompanies the chart Capital Daily received from Rustad’s team. The distribution model is meant to take existing disproportionate pressure off Ontario and Quebec. In his own statements to the press, Rustad rounded that number up to 22K.

According to the BC Chartered Professional Accountants Check-Up Live 2023 r eport, 117K new residents came to BC in 2022. Of those, 7.9K made  Vancouver Island their home from places outside of Canada. New Canadians arrived from different regions of the globe, under the auspices of various federal and provincial partner programs. The total number of asylum claims processed by Canadian Border Security in BC in 2023 over land, air, and sea was 1,320 compared with Quebec’s 46.3K.

The majority of clients the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS) served in 2022-2023 came from Syria (19.4%) and Iran (16.3%) followed by Mexico (12%), a representation of where rises remain and have shifted in recent years.

Refugee claimants and asylum seekers often have pre-arranged hosts

Speaking directly to the notion that refugees or asylum seekers are taking housing away from CRD residents, and, in particular those who are low-income and most in need, Lee said, “I am always hesitant to use the word ‘competition.’ We’re dealing with housing where family and friends have stepped up, or the connections we've made where a handful of landlords have stepped up, and so we’re able to build relationships and maintain those relationships in supporting our clients.”

Refugees “usually settle in the city or town or area where their constituent group sponsor members are and for support that some do move after that, so we do see some movement. BC has one of the largest numbers of secondary migration for immigrants and refugees,” said Lee. “Regardless of what immigration status or refugee status, Canada is recognized as a global leader in resettlement programs, offering new homes to refugees escaping various dangers, war, political or religious persecution.”

Since Operation Syrian Refugees, beginningin 2016 , and supporting government- assisted refugees, the ICA has supported 736 people. And since 2022, roughly 950 Ukrainians have arrived on Vancouver Island, a number based on information provided to the ICA by Ukrainian cultural organizations across the Island. In their report Finding Housing for Displaced Ukrainians and Refugees the ICA stated that 103 families have hosted those displaced Ukrainians, most of which were matched prior to their arrival in Canada. Of all the Ukranians who settled here, 16-18% found housing through friends or family. Many surveyed by the ICA were either living with their host families or in another type of shared accommodation.

“I've gotten to tour the gurdwara’s housing project that provides housing for some of their own new members. These are the micro ways in which religious and ethnocultural spaces are already doing the legwork of trying to shore up their own resources and support incoming immigrants and new residents. We can say that the unaffordability crisis is actually what's making it harder for communities to step up,” Kim said.

BC’s population growth relies heavily on immigration

With population numbers stalling, immigration will continue to support government programs and tax-based municipal programs that benefit the population as a whole. For the first time in a decade, BC lost more people to interprovincial migration in 2023 than it gained, according to figures from Statistics Canada.

All of BC’s population growth recently is owing to international immigration. For the first time in the province’s history, the number of deaths here in 2022 outpaced the number of births. Any country needs 2.1 children per woman for population replacement, while Canada’s fertility rate dropped to a record low of 1.4 children per woman in 2020. In fact, in 2021/2022 Greater Victoria has the largest gap between death and birth rates than any other Canadian municipality.

The impact of those numbers, weighed by economists whose winning calculus relies on perpetual growth, would be considered devastating. Some environmentalists do argue that population decline, particularly at western levels of consumption, represents the potential to slow and restore the impacts of humans on ecologies. But regardless of broad takes on population growth, there is an existing population in the CRD that will need support as residents age.

Immigration BC lists “critical need” for employees in key sectors, prioritizing childcare, healthcare and veterinary care for its provincial nominee program. The economic program lets the province select immigrants with relevant skills and experience who will live in BC and help fill job vacancies or operate businesses.

In July 2023, Miller announced a first round of invitations under the Express Entry system for people who work in trades. To qualify, an applicant must have accumulated within the past three years, at least six months of full-time, continuous work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work experience) in skilled trades in Canada or abroad.

Beyond not-for-profit advocacy groups and other individual efforts, support for refugees is “really reliant on local community, faith groups, and the ethnic groups that are already established here that want to support people coming out of those countries and recognizing hardship. It’s not always just families, it’s really community members that support, welcome and want to be inclusive and build on our diversity.

Whatever the case, it is true that the co-current trends of increased immigration to BC and an ongoing housing crisis here exists, but experts caution against drawing a causal relationship between the two.