Conservative deputy leader says Canadian ‘consensus’ immigration is under strain

Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman says the Canadian “consensus” on welcoming newcomers is straining under the Liberal government’s push to increase immigration levels.

In an interview with The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson, Lantsman said that the federal government needs to build “capacity” for increased security screening and immigration enforcement.

“There’s a serious conversation about, you know, about immigration, about the consensus that we enjoyed in the system, about the Canadian dream that is promised to people when they come here,” Lantsman said in an interview.

“People like my parents, people like parents across the country, grandparents who came here to build a better life for their families and now are forced using food banks, who don’t have the housing, who don’t have the health care or can’t see a doctor, can’t find a spot in school.

“This is a system that is broken and it deserves a conversation, and it deserves a government that’s going to take it seriously and not break it.”

The Liberal government’s 2024-2026 immigration plans set a target of 485,000 newcomers this year, rising to half a million new Canadians in both 2025 and 2026.

The majority of those come under “economic” streams, such as high-skilled workers and people nominated by the provinces and territories, as well as family members of Canadians — spouses, children, parents and grandparents.

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But those new Canadians will face the same pressures being felt across the country, particularly when it comes to housing and economic opportunity.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has previously suggested Canada’s immigration targets be linked to new housing starts, although it’s not clear precisely how that would work. The federal government controls immigration targets, but it does not directly control how many houses are built each year.

“We have built a country, and a strong country on people who have come here and a system that is broken fails those people, and it fails Canadians who can’t get the access to housing and who can’t get the access to professionals like doctors and nurses that we have a serious shortage of,” Lantsman said.

Canada’s immigration system has also come under increased scrutiny after two high-profile arrests over the summer of men accused of planning terrorist attacks.

Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi arrived in Canada in February 2018, and his refugee claim was accepted in 2019. After receiving a “favourable recommendation” from security screeners at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), he became a Canadian citizen in May 2024, according to the federal government.

The RCMP arrested Eldidi and his son, Mostafa, on July 28 for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired terror attack in Toronto.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan received a student visa in May 2023 and arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport a month later. He was arrested in Ormstown, Que., earlier this month and accused of attempting to make his way across the U.S. border to carry out a terror attack in New York on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

None of the charges against the three men have been tested in court.

Lantsman said that national security agencies and the Canada Border Services Agency need more “capacity” in the system to address security threats. But she stopped short of committing a Conservative government – who have made “fixing” the federal budget one of their core commitments – of boosting the budgets of those agencies.

Asked how Canada can avoid the kind of anti-immigrant rhetoric being pushed by U.S. Republicans in the presidential election, Lantsman said she thinks Canadians “agree that our national security should be at the forefront” in the conversation.

Speaking to reporters in Québec Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked why foreign intelligence agencies detected the recent terrorism allegations before Canadian authorities acted.

Trudeau called both cases “extraordinarily serious” and that they highlight “just how effective” Canada’s security apparatus is.

“We work with partners around the world as a Five Eyes country sharing intelligence, and there’s many situations where Canadian intelligence has been important to partners around the world,” Trudeau said.

“But all of us are confronting similar threats of violent extremism and radicalism that requires us to be vigilant. We are constantly making sure that our security services and intelligence agencies are keeping Canadians safe, whether it’s through vetting people wanting to come to Canada or ensuring that people here are not threatening to cause harm to other Canadians.”

Trudeau said his government will continue to “step up” investments in national security and law enforcement.