Debate over whether immigrants are being scapegoated for Alberta’s problems was a highly polarizing feature of an otherwise friendly town hall for Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next Panel in Medicine Hat on Tuesday night.
While discussions around creating a provincial police service and reforming equalization payments elicited their own debates, the province’s proposal to take greater control over immigration by restricting some newcomers’ access to social services brought strong opinions from audience members.
Several said they’re concerned the province’s messaging is stoking animus toward immigrants who don’t bear responsibility for the province’s problems.
Smith said Alberta’s immigration system would be geared toward finding people who can work in the jobs that are available.
Moderator Bruce McAllister, also executive director of the premier’s office, argued that the question was simpler: “Is it too many too fast and should we have more control over what we’re doing?”
One woman from Brooks, Alta., said she’s concerned the province’s language is dangerous and “encourages anti-immigrant sentiment” at a time Alberta needs “to be building understanding and not fear.”
“It’s really easy to scapegoat immigrants for all sorts of things that they are not particularly responsible for, and I’m concerned that this discussion is edging in that direction,” said another audience member.
The latest stop for the Alberta Next Panel in the southeastern Alberta city, known as Gas City because of its large reserves of natural gas, brought out just over 400 people.
The town halls have aimed to address grievances with the federal government that Smith says are fostering separatist sentiment.
Smith, who represents the riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat in the Alberta legislature, told the crowd that dealing with so many newcomers to Alberta has been challenging.
“When you end up with 150,000 people coming a year versus 50,000 a year — which has been our experience last few years — it becomes overwhelming,” Smith said.
“Of all our systems — you’re seeing it in classrooms that are overcrowded. Complexity in classrooms. English language learners. People can’t find a family doctor. We can’t build homes fast enough — there just is a pace that you can’t keep up with.”
The Alberta premier and her panel’s proposals to reform Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa were met with largely unanimous support, but numerous audience members expressed frustration that the discussions were artificially tilted to the government’s preferences, and several people were cut off from the mic.
In response to one audience question, Smith said one of the reasons her government is introducing a digital health card — a point that prompted brief jeers from the crowd — is because Alberta currently has 600,000 more health cards than people.
“We need to figure out why that is, and we need to make sure that we are protecting our taxpayers so that we are not paying for expensive health care for people who don’t even live here, or who are only here to take advantage of the social programs and never pay in.
“I know there’s some questions about why we’re doing it. That’s why we’re doing it,” she said of the digital wallet she had unveiled days earlier.
The panel will travel to Lethbridge for another town hall next week.
