A foreign national who has been living illegally in Canada since 2001 is entitled to provincial welfare benefits, an Ontario tribunal has ruled — and the case revealed that welfare intake workers deliberately avoided conducting immigration checks on the applicant to protect his ability to remain in the country.

David Menzies and Sheila Gunn Reid broke down the National Post report on Monday's Rebel Roundup.

The man arrived in Canada in 1997 on a temporary work permit. When it expired four years later, he didn't leave. He worked cash jobs under the table for more than two decades — paying no taxes — until 2023, when he entered the homeless shelter system and applied for Ontario Works benefits.

Staff initially denied the application due to his lack of immigration status before he appealed to a tribunal, which he won.

Adjudicator Eric Brown ruled that given "the sheer length of time and the roots the appellant had established while in Canada," he should not be denied benefits.

Sheila noted the absurdity of the reasoning. "What roots?" she asked. "He was in a homeless shelter."

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The adjudicator also noted that no evidence had been presented showing he had ever been ordered to leave by federal immigration officials and appeared to treat the government's own failure to deport him as grounds for granting him benefits.

"Because the immigration officials didn't do their job, he should get a pass," Sheila said. "Not just a pass — a freebie."

David pointed out the man has not contributed a dime in taxes since approximately 2001 while Canadians who work hard and pay into the system are the ones funding the benefit he just received. "Welcome to Canada," he said, "where we penalize the makers and reward the takers."

Premier Doug Ford posted a statement in response to the ruling, saying his government would always support people in hard times "but that doesn't include people living in Canada illegally" and promising to change provincial regulations if necessary to make that clear.

Sheila and David said they'd hold the premier to his word but added the only time Rebel News gets to ask Ford a tough question is when he visits Alberta, because Premier Danielle Smith lets Rebel journalists into press conferences and Ford doesn't.

Rebel Roundup airs Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.