Lloyd Axworthy warns Canada is risking its reputation as refugee champion

November 14, 2025

RED FM News Desk

Former immigration minister Lloyd Axworthy, a globally recognized advocate for refugees, says recent federal policy changes are putting Canada’s longstanding reputation as a welcoming nation at risk.

Axworthy pointed to the Carney government’s proposed border security legislation, Bill C-12, which would block people who have been in Canada for more than a year from making an asylum claim. The bill also grants the government expanded powers to cancel or suspend immigration documents—including permanent resident visas and applications—under what it deems to be the “public interest.”

“We’re basically regressing into a kind of a bubble. And unfortunately, it’s been pressured by a lot of the right-wing politics against immigration,” Axworthy said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Recalling his own time in cabinet, he said the government then worked to defend refugee rights while maintaining an effective system. “We have a basic human rights commitment, and I think we’ve lost that human rights commitment in terms of what we’re doing.”

Axworthy’s comments came as he announced his retirement as chair of the World Refugee and Migration Council, a role he has held since its founding in 2017.