Communities in southeastern Manitoba housing asylum seekers may soon see an increase in government compensation.

That is the word from Minister of Education and Training Kelvin Goertzen who says he is advocating for communities along the Canada-US border, like Gretna and Emerson, that have been directly impacted by the inflow of illegal immigrants.“Manitobans have been doing what they always do and helping those in need,” explains Goertzen, “this includes those crossing the border and claiming asylum status, and there has been a cost to that.”

The cost Goertzen is referring to come from providing items like health care, housing, education, and other social services to those who are seeking refuge. 

The Federal Government did provide $3 million of compensation to this cause last year, but Goertzen says it only did a small dent in what was calculated to be a $17 million problem province-wide. The government has indicated more funding is coming, but the specific amount remains under negotiation.

As part of these negotiations, Goertzen has been in communication with the Minister of Border Security, Bill Blair.

“Minister Blair is open to discussion,” says Goertzen, “and I understand that officials from Ottawa will be coming to meet with our officials to discuss this outstanding funding.”

Goertzen 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. Though he is pushing for more federal support, Goertzen acknowledges that the number of illegal border crossings in the past two months has dropped considerably.

According to Goertzen, throughout 2018 there were roughly 10 illegal border crossings throughout the province every week. Now, however, the most recent statistics available indicate that only 5 such crossings have happened during the winter months. Goertzen says this decrease is at least partly due to the extremely cold weather but admits it is still an encouraging trend.

“The numbers have gone down significantly, comments Goertzen, “but nevertheless, a lot of costs have occurred over the past couple of years.”

The official assessment of the matter will take place in a couple of weeks.