Refugee advocates say omnibus bill will cut off refugees from social services

The federal government wants to stop people it believes are bogus refugees from coming to Canada. But advocates for refugees wonder if Ottawa wants to host any refugees at all. Today, we look at how the budget bill could impact refugees.

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander says refugees won' t be affected by the budget bill. (Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

Refugees are absolutely unaffected by the measures in this bill. We are simply establishing the authority for provinces to have a minimum residence time in this country for categories of persons not including refugees should they wish to use it. It's a provincial jurisdiction, we respect that Mr. Speaker.Chris Alexander, Citizenship and Immigration Minister

Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister defends the controversial provision in the government's budget bill. But while Chris Alexander says refugees won' t be affected, advocates say it could be devastating.

The proposed legislation would allow provinces to impose residency requirements in order for refugees to access social assistance. Currently, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act prohibits any minimum period of residency requirements.

• Karam is an Iraqi refugee living in Toronto. We have agreed to only use his first name.

• Loly Rico says it's not as if refugees want to leave their homes and native lands for a softer life -- what they're looking for is safety and security. She's a former refugee and President of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

• Aaron Wudrick is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

The Current requested an interview with Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. He was unavailable.

This segment was produced by The Current's Shannon Higgins, Josh Bloch and Kristin Nelson.