Premier Doug Ford called for a “slow down” to Canada's sky-high immigration levels, highlighting the strains this rapid influx has placed on Canada's public services.

“What do you expect when you bring in over two million people — and I'm all pro-immigration,” Ford said.

“But in saying that, we've got to slow down now because the foundation of our health-care system, our education, our infrastructure; everything we do is one thing, that's our economy. We just need to make sure that we can keep up building the schools building the hospitals, building infrastructure.” 

On Thursday's Rebel Roundup livestream, hosts Tamara Ugolini and Drea Humphrey commended the statement from the Ontario premier but said it was something that needed to be addressed years ago.

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“That should have happened 10 years ago, five years ago. That should be done before you open the floodgates,” said Tamara.

“Now, it's like, how do we manage all this? The mess is here, now we have to mitigate, when it should have been: OK, this is our plan, this is where we're headed, how do we ensure we have everything in place to successfully integrate this staggering number of people coming into the country,” she continued, suggesting the premier's comments were “a little too late, but better late than never.”

Even legal immigrants are fed up, added Drea.

“Immigrants who go through the correct process and check all of the boxes” don't want to see the country's public services overwhelmed, she said. “At least Doug Ford is saying something,” unlike B.C. Premier David Eby who has remained quiet on the issue.