Canada kicks in to help Quebec with refugees

Quebec settled 90% of the refugees and asylum seekers that have come over the U.S. border in 2017 and 2018, so the federal government has written a $250-million cheque to Quebec to help out. François Legault had wanted $300 million. Not directly a Montreal story, but certainly many of the people concerned were settled here.

Last year, Radio-Canada asked why most asylum seekers arrive via Quebec, and the answer is geography: New Brunswick has thick forests to traverse, Ontario has the moat of the Great Lakes, settlements are too sparse on the Prairies, and then there are the Rockies. Only here do we have towns at the border and a few easy spots where a person can simply walk across.