Premier Smith facing criticism over recent immigration comments

Some frustration is growing among those who help newcomers settle in Alberta after the premier seemed to blame immigration for a rising cost of living.

Danielle Smith made the comments during a televised address Tuesday evening, saying high immigration levels are adding stressors to housing, the job market, healthcare, education, infrastructure and other social services.

Critics say newcomers face the same problems when they move to Alberta and solely placing the blame on them is not going to solve an issue that requires a multifaceted approach.

“The moment people started coming to Alberta, we saw we did not have houses to rent, we did not have houses for people to buy,” says Eve Aboka, founder and executive director of Immigrant Champions of Canada.

“We cannot just blame this on people who are coming in, it is also related to interprovincial movement that is happening.”

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Smith has said her government was taken by surprise at the number of people who moved to Alberta last year.

According to the provincial government, Alberta is the fastest growing province in the country with its population nearing 5 million people. Both international and interprovincial migration are the largest factors driving the province’s population growth.

While Smith may have not been premier at the time, it was the UCP government that ran an ad campaign inviting Canadians from more expensive cities to move to Alberta.

“I’m standing in front of something not a lot of folks in Toronto or Vancouver get to see very often, the yard of a single-family home,” said then premier Jason Kenney in an ‘Alberta Is Calling’ ad.

Smith opened Tuesday’s address, an announcement of a capital budget increase of $8.6 billion to help build more schools, by calling on the federal government to take action to cut immigration levels, appearing to place the blame of Alberta’s overcrowded schools on Ottawa’s policies.

“The Trudeau government’s unrestrained open border policies, permitting well over a million newcomers each year, is causing significant challenges,” Smith said Tuesday.

Smith said historically high immigration levels – especially for those with temporary visas – is exacerbating housing shortages and challenging education, health and other social services infrastructure.

“It’s very irresponsible to blame just one community,” says Charlie Wang, chief of staff for the Centre of Newcomers. “By doing that it will cause all kinds of different issues, like hate.

“The housing crisis is complicated. We are dealing with inflation, we are dealing with high costs of construction.“

Smith called for “more sensible and restrained” policies, but did not provide details.

With files from The Canadian Press