Two federal departments have spent over $50 million since 2015 on hotel bookings for migrants illegally crossing the Canadian border and also for lawful refugee applicants, new government figures show.
In an Inquiry of Ministry recently tabled in the House of Commons, the Department of Immigration and Department of Public Works said they have paid a combined $50.6 million since November 2015 on the hotel room bookings, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
The inquiry showed that over 63,700 foreigners stayed in the hotel rooms, with over 26,300 of them being illegal immigrants.
The information was requested by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner.
“How many hotels has the government contracted for housing asylum seekers or refugees?” she asked in the inquiry, while also requesting a breakdown of the hotel bookings “by city or municipality” and for the contracts pertaining to each….