Michelle Rempel questions 'offloading' Syrian refugee student costs

A Calgary Conservative MP is questioning the "offloading" of costs for Syrian refugee students to the Calgary Board of Education, and the board says it will need help to meet the needs.

Michelle Rempel asked the federal government about the costs in question period Thursday.

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"In a letter to the prime minister, the Calgary Board of Education indicated that they have spent millions to accommodate the needs of Syrian refugee students," Rempel said.

"Alberta is facing difficult times right now and this school board is already running a deficit. They expect that they are going to have difficultly providing ongoing support for these students. Why is the government offloading costs for their Syrian refugee initiative onto local school boards?"

Immigration Minister John McCallum said the claim will be investigated.

"Mr. Speaker I would question the premise of that question, but we will certainly look into it. I think on the whole we have had great success working with provincial governments on the refugees," McCallum said.

The Calgary Board of Education told CBC News in March about 425 Syrian refugee students had been settled in schools at a cost of roughly $3 million.

At the time, board chair Joy Bowen-Eyre said Alberta Education told the CBE to keep track of the costs, but CBE said they had not received any compensation.

The most recent statistics were not available Thursday.

Alberta Education Minister David Eggen said in a statement the 2016 provincial budget "included funding for all refugee students."

Grants that help with special language needs were protected, he said.

"We will continue to work with the federal government and school boards to ensure all students in Alberta receive a quality education," Eggen said.