Tory Motion Calling for Changes to Asylum Seekers’ Health Benefits Defeated

A Conservative motion to review and cut health benefits for asylum claimants failed in the House of Commons on Feb. 25.

The motion received 198 “nays” and 134 “yeas,” with the Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois, NDP, and Green Party voted against the Conservatives’ motion.

The Tories had introduced the motion in the House of Commons on Feb. 24, calling for a federal review of health-care benefits for asylum claimants. The proposal would limit failed asylum seekers to emergency, life-saving medical coverage only. It also called for the deportation of non-citizen foreign nationals convicted of violent crimes in Canada.

After the vote, Tory MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who serves as her party’s shadow immigration minister, put out a press release calling for Prime Minister Mark Carney to “fire” Diab. Rempel Garner said that Diab is “willfully blind to the problems she and her government created,” and doesn’t “understand the problem she’s been tasked with fixing.”

Rempel Garner said Diab has failed to answer questions like how many non-permanent residents had left Canada, how the government would meet its immigration reduction targets, or how many asylum claims are pending.

Rempel Garner referenced a CBC News article that said nine Liberal MPs were questioning Diab’s performance as immigration minister. The MPs spoke on the condition of anonymity, and The Epoch Times was unable to corroborate their statements.

The article also said several immigration stakeholders had been unable to meet and speak with Diab despite making several requests.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on X on Feb. 25 that Diab had “failed to rein in the open-border policies” that increased demand for housing and health care. “She has lost confidence to manage her file, and must be fired,” he said.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Diab said in the last nine months, she had collectively met with her counterparts more than five times to “ensure coordination and alignment” in strengthening Canada’s immigration system. Diab said with immigration levels being recalibrated, “not everyone will get the result they were hoping for.”

“I recognize that this can be frustrating, especially when individual cases are involved,” Diab said. “I take that seriously, and I am committed to communicating clearly and being transparent with Canadians about our priorities and the decisions we are making.”

Liberal MPs Defend Diab

During a parliamentary media scrum on Feb. 25, reporters asked Prime Minister Carney about Diab’s performance as immigration minister. He replied, “I’m blessed with an exceptional cabinet.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters Diab “works very hard and has experience from her time in the Nova Scotia government.”

Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said Diab is an “excellent colleague” who has served at both the provincial and federal levels. “Results are there. We have seen a drop in asylum seekers and temporary residents,” he said.

Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said Diab’s performance was for “other people to answer, not me,” but said he’d had “some frustrations with that file.” Liberal MP Ben Carr said he would not comment.

Diab said during debate in the House of Commons on Feb. 25 that the “record speaks for itself” when it comes to her work on immigration. She said immigration levels are returning to sustainable levels and the number of international students and asylum seekers in Canada has fallen by one-third.

“We are on track, and we’ve met all our targets,” she said.

Earlier this month, Diab said Canada had met the immigration targets it set back in 2025, and that it was “regaining control of and restoring stability” to Canada’s immigration system.

The federal government began lowering its target immigration levels back in 2024. It did so through measures such as a two-year intake cap on the number of international student permit applications and plans to reduce the number of temporary residents from 6.5 percent of Canada’s population to 5 percent over the next three years.

Budget 2025 stated that Canada would aim to admit 385,000 temporary residents in 2026 and 370,000 in the following two years. The previous year’s immigration plan said Canada would welcome more than 516,000 temporary residents in 2026.