Gerry Byrne says P.E.I, for example, gets $90,000 per immigrant while NL only gets $9,000, and that is the trend across the country.
Saying “it’s the true reality of the inequalities of Canada,” Corner Brook MHA Gerry Byrne has argued, complained, drawn criticism, and pleaded with Federal MP’s in NL to draw attention to this in Ottawa. He says we are being short changed compared to other provinces when it comes to supporting newcomers. Byrne says P.E.I, for example, gets $90,000 per immigrant while NL only gets $9,000, and that is the trend across the country. Meanwhile, in Vancouver last week, Premier Andrew Furey spoke to reporters about the issue, one which he says has been there for a long time. He says NL is 1.3 percent of the population and we get take 3.0 percent of the refugee allocation but not properly compensated for it. Byrne says on average, provinces and territories get 45,000 per newcomer to support their resettlement needs, while NL gets one fifth of that.