Emerson-Franklin Reeve Dave Carlson applauds efforts by the province to get more compensation for Manitoba border communities dealing with asylum seekers.

Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen has been pushing for more federal funding to assist communities like Emerson and Gretna, that have been directly impacted by the inflow of illegal border crossers.

Carlson says compensation would assist them with some of the costs that have been incurred.

"It was well documented that Emerson was hard hit by the asylum seeker situation. There was some inconvenience for some residents and I know our fire department had to go out quite often to deal with different things. It puts them in harm's way and it's a wear on people and equipment, so we're definitely curious about what kind of compensation might be available."

The federal government has provided about $3 million in compensation, but the province says the real cost is closer to $17 million province-wide.

Goertzen has indicated those costs include providing things like health care, housing, education, and other social services to those who are seeking refuge. He feels communities like Gretna and Emerson that have graciously been putting resources towards helping refugees in need should see most, if not all, of that money return to their pockets.

Carlson admits the number of asylum seekers has slowed down significantly compared to 2017.

The latest incident occurred last month when a pregnant woman attempted to walk across the border into Canada near Emerson and became stuck in deep snow. She was in labour, but was able to use her cell phone to call for help. Local emergency responders immediately went out to search for her in the dark and eventually rescued her.

"It hasn't happened as frequently ... but we did go out a few times last year, and of course, 2017 was pretty much off the charts. It would be nice to get some clarification on what compensation will be coming because I think we definitely should be part of that conversation."

Goertzen has been communicating with the Minister of Border Security, Bill Blair, about the issue. He says officials from Ottawa will be coming to Manitoba to discuss the outstanding funding.