HARMFUL CONSERVATIVE CUTS TO REFUGEE CARE OVERTURNED
HARMFUL CONSERVATIVE CUTS TO REFUGEE CARE OVERTURNED
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 4, 2014
HARMFUL CONSERVATIVE CUTS TO REFUGEE CARE OVERTURNED
OTTAWA – Confirming what the NDP has been saying for months, the Federal Court ruled today that the government cannot continue to blatantly disregard basic human rights and that Conservative changes to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) constituted cruel and unusual treatment of refugees and therefore violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Conservatives have repeatedly played politics with the lives of vulnerable people,” said Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe (Pierrefonds-Dollard), NDP critic for Citizenship and Immigration. “Today, the Court has told them in no uncertain terms that they have to stop.”
The Federal Court decision found that the government’s changes to the Interim Federal Health Program put the lives of some of Canada’s most vulnerable residents at risk. “The 2012 modifications to the IFHP potentially jeopardize the health, and indeed the very lives, of these innocent and vulnerable children in a manner that shocks the conscience and outrages Canadian standards of decency,” wrote Justice Anne Mactavish.
“Our country was built on the idea that we have a responsibility to look after one another,” added NDP Multiculturalism critic Andrew Cash (Davenport). “Conservatives cannot continue to trample on core Canadian values like equality and generosity. Canadians will always have their say in the end.”
– 30 –
HARMFUL CONSERVATIVE CUTS TO REFUGEE CARE OVERTURNED
February 2014
Press Releases
Community Links Bulletin - July to September 2014
Happy Canada Day 2014
Standing up for refugees
Standing up for refugees
[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_large”,”fid”:”316″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”}}]]
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, today on World Refugee Day, with a global refugee population surging past 50 million people for the first time since World War II, it is time for the Conservatives to recognize the failure of their policies. Instead of a fair and accessible process, the Conservatives have passed laws to shut out refugees, cut access to health care, and spun themselves in circles on the Syrian refugee crisis. Canada must do better.
Would the minister commit today to focusing on protection for refugees instead of playing political games?
Mr. Costas Menegakis (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, CPC): Mr. Speaker, since our government’s comprehensive reforms to Canada’s asylum system took effect, the number of new asylum claims from safe countries has decreased to historic lows, ensuring that genuine refugees, truly vulnerable people from some of the world’s most vulnerable, volatile areas, receive faster and fairer protection. Claims from democratic countries are down by 87%, saving taxpayers more than $600 million so far in welfare, education and health care costs.
Canada has a long and proud tradition of providing protection to those who need it most and we will continue to do so.