A special feature interview with Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel-Garnet. She talks about re-migration and de-deportations, and her opposition to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which has been a hot-button issue in Canada since the election.
00:04:45.560It's actually the temporary foreign worker program is a fundamentally non-conservative program
00:04:50.160because it inserts the government into the price of wages, right?
00:04:54.940So when you have an endless supply of temporary foreign work, what ends up happening is you end up suppressing wages.
00:05:02.280It's a direct government intervention on the ability of wages to keep up with the demand for labor.
00:05:08.320And so it's fundamentally a far left policy.
00:05:11.840And it's one that we've seen, you know, have massive social implications because it's not just about the loss of jobs for Canadian youth in particular,
00:05:21.140but it also treats the people who come to Canada like an indentured labor class.
00:05:26.000You know, Canada, that's not how it's supposed to work in Canada.
00:05:29.600And you have all these lobby groups, Ezra, right?
00:05:31.660You know about them that come into Ottawa and they ask for all these extra foreign labors to do exactly what you talked about.
00:05:37.820Suppress wages, increase profits, and frankly, not have to invest in things like productivity.
00:05:43.240So it's long past time that these programs were abolished or severely reined in.
00:05:48.860And anybody who's making the case that the Canadian government shouldn't be betting on Canadian youth first and foremost,
00:07:15.440You shouldn't be mollified to hear that.
00:07:17.580So just a little bit of context for your listeners.
00:07:21.500What happened was the Liberals about five years ago, four or five years ago, they decided to completely juice the number of foreign student permits that Canada issued on a year-to-year basis.
00:07:33.240You even had the now justice minister who has a track record of failure, Sean Frazier, as the immigration minister.
00:07:39.700He even came out and bragged about raising the number of foreign student permits to the highest levels ever in Canada.
00:07:46.820I don't know if you know this, Ezra, but there's actually over 3 million temporary residents in Canada right now.
00:07:52.340It's close to 8% of the Canadian population.
00:07:55.280If you compare that to 10 years ago, that was a number that was, I think it was under 1%.
00:07:59.340I'd have to check, but it was certainly far lower than that.
00:08:02.080So the point I'm trying to make is that it was a deliberate decision by the Liberal government to increase these foreign student permits.
00:08:11.200You know, they made, there are certain colleges, particularly on Ontario, that just made absolute bank off of these kids.
00:08:18.740And like, let's talk about the humanity of the situation for these kids too.
00:08:22.400A lot of times these are people who come to Canada paying their entire life savings or their family life savings.
00:08:27.700They end up living under a bridge or in a house with like 20 other kids.
00:08:32.260There was all these ads about, you know, trading sexual services to get rent.
00:08:37.240And meanwhile, these college presidents, I had a couple of them in front of our committee.
00:08:46.080We've been advocating for, of course, far lower numbers there.
00:08:49.440But there's other problems, Ezra, that are, that we're going to see in the next several years because of this sort of big bulge, this big influx that the Liberals allowed.
00:09:00.060So for example, I asked the Liberals six months ago and they still haven't answered.
00:09:03.960There are 3 million temporary residents in the country.
00:09:11.000And what we've seen is an increase in asylum claims, bogus asylum claims being made by people who have expiring work visas.
00:09:21.700So, you know, this is why myself, my colleagues in the Conservative Party, we undertook a series.
00:09:28.120I think it's the most substantive immigration reform package that has been announced in decades in Canada over the last several months,
00:09:34.540particularly with regard to the asylum system, lowering overall immigration levels, dealing with non-citizens convicted of serious crime,
00:09:43.940ensuring that those persons in those situations would be deported.
00:09:47.980There needs to be wholesale reform, and that's what the focus of our fall session was.
00:09:51.740And I think because, as we put that policy out, I think that's why you're seeing the uptake from the Canadian public on trusting the Conservative Party with immigration vis-a-vis the Liberals.
00:10:04.540It's one thing to cut down the numbers of people still coming in, but that sounds like more growth.
00:10:11.340In the United States, they've really cut down the number of people coming in.
00:10:16.460They've reduced asylum claims, I think, to 15,000, 1,500.
00:10:23.920And they've indicated that they're going to prefer boar farmers from South Africa who are the subject of a racial purge by the South African government.
00:11:38.420Well, I think we have to start with the position of stating a fact, which I know that there are people who watch your show who have migrated to Canada playing by the rules and have invested in the country by bettering themselves and bettering the country while they do it.
00:11:58.300They're law abiding citizens who are here to build Canada.
00:12:01.200And those are those are people who obviously, you know, these are the people that the consensus for Canadian immigration, which the Liberals broke, is built around.
00:12:11.000So the question then becomes, what about the people who don't play by the rules or who might want to abuse the system?
00:12:18.340And that's where I think Canadian public policy needs to be focused.
00:12:21.120It's where I've been focused with some spicy stuff this year, for example.
00:12:24.380So, you know, I have a private members bill.
00:12:26.820I have I put forward multiple amendments to the Liberals Border Bill, Bill C-12, to ensure that non-citizens who are convicted of serious crime, that they're immediately deported.
00:12:37.820Like they're right now, people in those situations can endlessly appeal their deportation.
00:12:44.480There was a story in B.C. this week about people who are convicted of serious or sorry, I charge with serious extortion charges and then able to appeal or to claim asylum.
00:12:55.920The Liberals, of course, they voted against our policy measures, but we're putting forward policy measures to ensure that if somebody is not playing by the rules in Canada, committing serious crimes like extortion, sexual assault, of course, they shouldn't be here.
00:13:08.360Of course, they should be on a plane off the country.
00:13:10.760And newcomers to Canada who play by the rules agree with that.
00:13:14.060The other thing, Ezra, is you talked about the asylum system.
00:13:16.400You know, you are very familiar with the politics of the United Kingdom and you've watched the migration issue there very much descend out of control.
00:13:26.080And a lot of it is because of the abuse of the UK's asylum system.
00:13:30.000In Canada, I don't know if you know this, we actually had more, both by real numbers and by percentage of population, asylum claims in Canada than the UK did during a similar period of time.
00:13:41.300So we have to stop and we know a majority or a bulk of those cases are bogus.
00:13:47.080And those are people who are incentive to make bogus asylum claims because it allows them to extend temporary visas or come into the country through fraudulent means and then claim government benefits.
00:13:59.300So conservatives this fall, we, you know, we're not just talking about this, we're taking action.
00:14:04.560I put forward amendments to Bill C-12 to ensure that people who make bogus asylum claims, people that have failed asylum claims, can't claim federal benefits beyond the most, you know, urgent emergency health care.
00:14:18.400People get hotel, housing, health benefits the Canadians don't get, like mental health services, right?
00:14:25.780I could talk to you for hours about this, but I think what needs to be clear is that where the Liberals have failed and that there needs to be immediate action is that people who have broken the rules and, like, non-citizens that have, you know, been convicted of serious crimes, yes, you need to leave.
00:14:42.100I shouldn't have to say things like people who, non-citizens who have raped little girls should be deported from Canada.
00:14:49.120But then also we need to ensure that the system's not being abused so that people who are playing by the rules are prioritized, but also at the same time, to be very clear to your listeners, that the numbers are set to a point where they haven't been, which is, like, the numbers have been set to a point where housing can't keep up, health care can't keep up, and jobs can't keep up.
00:15:11.480So, you know, I'm proud of our work this fall, and I think the fact that, again, as you mentioned on the front end of your show, you're now seeing a majority of Canadians see our policy as the right way to go on that, I think it's indicative that we're on the right path.
00:15:24.620If you add up the number of people who their visa in some way has expired, they were here for a certain period of study, that's over, they were here for a temporary foreign job, that's over, so there's no doubt, there's no accusation that has not yet been adjudicated.
00:15:42.520Perhaps they're an asylum claimant who has been rejected.
00:15:47.360So if you add up people for whom it's already been decided, they are not allowed to be here, how many of those people are there in Canada?
00:16:06.180There have been reports, for example, by the Globe and Mail that there's at least 500,000 undocumented, like people with expired visas or people that should leave that are definitely in the country.
00:16:18.440Then you have that whole three million person who have expiring visas coming up that the Liberals don't have a plan.
00:16:25.260So they're going to add to that number, right?
00:16:27.140And then on top of that, there was a story right before the House of Commons rose that showed that Statistics Canada actually undercounted the number of temporary residents in the country or non-citizens by close to 38% in the last census.
00:16:42.480So, like, you asked me such a good question, but the problem is the government isn't even really tracking this, right?
00:16:48.800So how can we possibly match this to jobs or health care if they're not – or figure out removals of people who have no legal reason to be here if we don't even know what those numbers are?
00:18:20.880No, no, because, like, think about this.
00:18:23.240If that doesn't happen, then that – this is the sort of policy that completely undermines the public's confidence that the immigration system is functional.
00:18:34.000And right now, I'm glad in Canada that people aren't pointing fingers necessarily at immigrants, right?
00:18:40.260Like, it's a very precipitous – like, we're right on the edge of that, and I'm glad that's not happening.
00:18:44.780People are pointing the finger at the Liberal government.
00:18:47.380But the Liberal government has a duty to address this issue.
00:18:51.100They can't just, you know, turn a blind eye to it and then say, okay, well, we're just going to allow people to make bogus asylum claims, right, so that they can stay in the country or work in probably inhumane conditions under the table where they're being exploited.
00:19:08.460The system has to be brought under control, and that's why I've been asking these questions in the House of Commons.
00:19:13.020If we make the number even lower, let's call it 365,000, that would be 1,000 people a day, enough for several large aircraft.
00:19:23.880Now, I think that's quite doable, but it would require resolve.
00:19:28.980It would require tasking probably, you know, expanding a particular police force, whether it's something like ICE in the States or maybe the RCMP or border.
00:19:39.160It would, like, there's a lot of logistics involved, I mean, to remove them to where and how.
00:19:46.380Like, that's a big undertaking, and I can imagine a lot of people objecting legal challenges.
00:19:53.120You have Mayor Chow in Toronto declare the city a sanctuary city.
00:19:58.040Does the Conservative Party of Canada have the will and the steely nerve to look down the barrel of the regime media who will call you racist, call you xenophobic, call you Trump-like, if you actually tried to put into action even a fraction of the deportations necessary?
00:20:19.060That's right. I've already been called all of those things for years.
00:20:21.720I was the first one to say that it was insane for them to hashtag welcome to Canada tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people illegally across the border at Roxham Road.
00:20:33.420That was one of the main things that led to the loss of immigration consensus.
00:20:38.600This is something Conservatives have been advocating for for 10 years, in spite of all the things that happened to you.
00:20:44.020Because at the end of the day, if you want the immigration system to work, you know, people leaving at the end of their visas is a key part of that.
00:20:53.640So, like, just as another proof point on this, it was the first, my first, I think it was my first question to Lina Diab.
00:21:00.880There's been a lot of terrible immigration ministers, but she's right up there.
00:21:03.960After the election was, there are untold number of people, like you said, at least 500,000 people in the country that need to be removed.
00:21:15.860I still don't have an answer to that question, but it's something the Liberals have to get on.
00:21:19.800And this is why we've been unrelenting on that issue.
00:21:23.840So, you know, I think the proof is in, like, in terms of asking for a common sense, humane, rule-following process that's already in law.
00:21:35.220Like, Ezra, we're not asking for anything that's not already in the law.
00:21:38.520We're just asking for the law to be enforced.
00:21:41.820Like, I think, like, I don't think that beyond, like, a far-left fringe, there aren't, like, this is a pretty normative position in Canada.
00:21:49.740You've been very generous with your time.
00:21:52.480I have just one last question, and it's a little bit personal.
00:21:55.120It's about the neighborhood I live in.
00:21:56.560I live in Toronto, in a fairly Jewish neighborhood.
00:21:59.040And every weekend, for about a year now, a group of, and they're foreign nationals, or at least they certainly, that's what they say when I ask them where they're from.
00:22:12.560I don't know their exact immigration status.
00:22:15.200Some of them are more famous than others because they've been arrested for various crimes.
00:22:18.860But every weekend for more than a year, a pro-Hamas group, and I'm not exaggerating, they support Hamas, they say so, has been shouting at local Jews with PA systems, blocking, they go for walks in residential neighborhoods, screaming at any Jews they find.
00:22:38.020But to me, the most shocking part of it is that these are people who are either still guests of our country as temporary workers or students, or maybe they've become naturalized.
00:22:51.480They're people who have come to Canada making certain promises to be good citizens, and either before they've been naturalized or afterwards, they're tearing the community apart.
00:23:00.560And after the shootings in Australia, I'm even more worried that something terrible will happen.
00:23:06.880Do you have anything to say about people who are not yet naturalized, who participate in hateful, if not necessarily criminal conduct?
00:23:17.800Like, you already talked about criminals, but even someone who's not breaking the law but is still spewing venom, is that someone you would consider perhaps revoking their privileges to be here if they were not locked into the country as citizens?
00:23:33.740Well, if you'll indulge me in a little bit of a rant, I'm going to start with saying something that I think is really important, which is I think part of the problem is the fact that there is entrenched anti-Semitism and hate in senior Canadian institutions that are perpetuated by Canadians.
00:23:53.900I'm talking about academic institutions, senior levels of the public service, where you see, you know, like you just see blatant anti-Semitism.
00:24:03.520You know, like they almost appointed, you know, somebody who had some pretty sketchy words to the Human Rights Tribunal, right?
00:24:10.440Like, there's all sorts of instances of that.
00:24:14.540But this is important because, you know, as you talk about non-citizens, and I think what you're getting at is the issue of integration, right?
00:24:21.320If you come to Canada, what are you integrating into?
00:24:24.440What are the behaviors and norms that Canadians expect newcomers to Canada to adhere to?
00:24:32.620And if you go into the citizenship guide, it actually says in the citizenship guide, so this is the liberal citizenship guide, that newcomers to Canada are expected to abandon any violent or extreme ideology, as well as hateful prejudices.
00:24:46.000That's an expectation that we have for people coming to the country.
00:24:49.600So then the question then becomes, how are the people that are Canadians, that are in these senior positions that hold these anti-Semitic beliefs, how are they allowed to allow those beliefs to perpetuate and proliferate to the point where we're not enforcing laws that allows anybody, newcomer alike, to get away with some of the behavior that you're talking about?
00:25:14.640And that is at the heart of this question here.
00:25:18.280You know, we have laws for newcomers that they're supposed to adhere to, and if they don't adhere to them, they're supposed to be removed.
00:25:25.120But what happens, Ezra, is you have law enforcement, senior politicians, academics that say, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, that shouldn't be enforced.
00:25:32.520And then in the judiciary, you have all of this leniency.
00:25:35.620So if it's miraculously enforced and there's a conviction, there's endless appeal opportunities to happen.
00:25:41.580And the end result is that the end result and the end message to newcomers is don't worry about that section.
00:25:51.960And to me, that is anti, like, that's fundamental to Canadian, like, it's antithetical to Canadian pluralism, to the respect for the rule of law.
00:25:59.940And it's antithetical to the concept that if you come to Canada, you enjoy a lot of privileges, but you have a lot of responsibilities, too.
00:26:08.520And I think after a decade of liberal post-nationalism, we have to start about talking about the value of Canadian citizenship and integrating into fundamental aspects of Canadian pluralism, like respect for the rule of law.
00:26:22.520I just want to, I'll just close with my rant with this.
00:26:25.120The level of anti-Semitism that we've seen in Canada, perpetuated across and normalized by politicians, academic leaders, journalists, is disgusting.
00:26:36.840And, you know, there aren't strong enough words to condemn it.
00:26:44.320And this is why a lot of the policies that I've put forward, I've forced the liberals to vote on this year, have been related to restoring those principles.