A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer details the cost of the asylum claims process across Canada's southern border. And it's not good news for Justin Trudeau's government, who are running out of money to cover the costs of dealing with the influx of asylum seekers crossing the border.
00:00:00.000I've long said that the federal government's mishandling of the illegal border crossing file has been unsustainable.
00:00:06.240Canadians now have some very detailed numbers proving exactly that.
00:00:11.080The parliamentary budget officer did an investigation on the cost of what's happening at our borders in Quebec and Ontario and Emerson, Manitoba and all of these other places.
00:00:20.900The report, Costing Irregular Migration Across Canada's Southern Border, found that the total cost for the asylum claims process in 2017-2018 was about $340 million.
00:00:34.740In the 2019-2020 year, it's expected to balloon to just shy of $400 million.
00:00:41.440That is something that is nearing half a billion dollars, all because the Prime Minister of Canada doesn't seem to care that our border is being treated like a welcome mat for people who are breaking the law.
00:00:54.740Now, the government earmarked over the next two years $173 million.
00:01:03.100Two years where, according to the PBO, the cost is nearing $750 million.
00:01:09.940And Justin Trudeau thinks this is sound fiscal management.
00:01:15.220The cost per irregular border cross, or if we use the liberal lingo on this, is about $14,000 a person.
00:01:22.120But this number has not reached a natural cap because the influx is still going on, which means therefore the numbers are still going to go up and the cost will continue to rise.
00:01:32.320And what Yves Giroux said in his report was that the government simply didn't prepare for what's happening.
00:01:39.060Our estimate suggests that they have not budgeted enough, which will result in increased backlog at the Immigration and Refugee Board, he said.
00:01:47.540So that $173 million number was based on a gross underestimation of how many people were actually crossing the border in this way.
00:01:56.580And the government has actually tried to obscure the details here by not tracking specific numbers of those who cross illegally or irregularly and speaking more in general terms about those claiming asylum.
00:02:09.340But now the independent and non-partisan investigator of the federal government's books is calling nonsense on what Justin Trudeau is doing.
00:02:18.420For the True North Initiative, I'm Andrew Lutton.
00:02:20.720For the True North Initiative, I'm Andrew Lutton.