LILLEY: Trudeau's border move is smoke and mirrors
Brian Lilley
Published:
April 16, 2019
Updated:
April 16, 2019 8:14 PM EDT
A group of asylum seekers arrive at the temporary housing facilities at the border crossing Wednesday May 9, 2018 in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que.Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Justin Trudeau’s one and only move to deal with the influx of asylum seekers crossing the border is nothing but a political gesture.
This after all is the same PM that wants to use the justice system for political reasons in the case of SNC-Lavalin. He’s also the same PM that just forced Public Safety to alter a terrorism report on threats to Canada to appease certain factions of the Sikh vote in Canada, listening to political pressure rather than our intelligence agencies.
So is it really shocking that Trudeau’s move to deal with the border issue is nothing but smoke and mirrors?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement in Kitchener on April 16, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
I’ve been listening to Trudeau receive praise for a section of the recently introduced budget bill that makes an amendment to the Immigration Act but he doesn’t deserve the praise.
The amendment is a good idea, stop asylum shopping by changing the law to say that if you have applied for asylum in another country then you can’t apply in Canada.
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Unfortunately, it won’t actually do anything with Canada’s main border problem, people flowing across from the United States at Roxham Rd., the infamous spot that straddles New York State and Quebec.
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While some of the early arrivals that began pouring over the border after U.S. President Donald Trump promised to enforce American law and after Trudeau sent out his #WelcometoCanada tweet, were people that had applied for asylum stateside, most now are not.
The average profile of someone crossing at Roxham Rd. is a Nigerian national who flew into New York a day or two before they arrive in Canada and they never claim refugee status in the U.S.
Immigration lawyer and system expert Richard Kurland told me this amendment is pure politics.
“It solves a pre-election political problem in the event that hundreds of people jam into Canada from the U.S.,” Kurland said.
It allows a candidate facing questions on the border issue to say the government has heard concerns and that they’re acting on the issue.
“Does it take care of it? No it does not,” Kurland said. “It gives political candidates a sound bite to say they are addressing it.”
Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel called the change crass politics.
“After spending two years vilifying anyone that asks questions, all of a sudden they are once again using the asylum system for political gain,” Rempel said Tuesday.
“The actual key change that needs to be made is nowhere in sight.”
So what is the solution for dealing with the more than 20,000 people that came across the border illegally in 2017, the more than 19,000 in 2018 or the more than 3,000 so far this year?
Rempel believes the best way is to amend the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. That’s the agreement that says neither country will accept refugee claimants from the other country.
Except for the loophole that Rempel wants closed, people crossing in between official border crossings, like Roxham Rd.
Kurland, meanwhile, says the Americans need to be called out for letting this happen and they need to enforce their own visa rules properly.
No one who knows how the system works thinks Trudeau’s change will have any impact on the illegal border crossers, but it was never designed to do so.
Trudeau just wants political credit and to stop losing votes.
As with all things involving Trudeau, the policy is driven by attracting votes, not doing what is right.
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-trudeaus-border-move-is-smoke-and-mirrors