‘Immigration and the border’ are tough issues for Trudeau

Bloomberg

Justin Trudeau’s latest headache is unusual for a country bounded by three oceans and just one neighbour: the border.
Canada has seen a steady flow of asylum seekers since Donald Trump’s election, with people who fear the US will deport them or reject their bids for asylum crossing the 4,000-mile undefended border and filing a claim. While the total numbers are relatively modest, the influx has strained resources and prompted calls for more funding.
The issue has the Canadian prime minister caught between demands for tighter security and his own pledge of open arms. The controversy has ramped up in recent weeks, in part because of Ontario’s election of a conservative government led by populist Doug Ford. He and two other premiers have called on Trudeau to act, and a political sparring match is underway over what values are more Canadian: welcoming refugees, even those arriving illegally, or securing the border?
Trudeau moved to quiet the storm last week by naming Bill Blair, a former police chief, as minister for border security. “When conservatives across the country are playing the fear card, we need strong, reassuring voices to counter that,” the prime minister said after shuffling his cabinet. He warned that his rivals have begun “a very dangerous game” by “pitting Canadians against each other and raising the kinds of anxieties that quite frankly don’t help solve problems.”
Canada and the US have signed a Safe Third Country Agreement, which means they generally don’t accept refugee claims already being made in the other nation.
But there’s a hitch: Someone who enters Canada anywhere other than a regular border crossing, such as an airport, can make a claim, even if the act of crossing is illegal.
The issue is most prominent in Quebec, where it’s been percolating for 18 months.
A makeshift processing centre has even been built in the French-speaking province, at a border crossing that had been little more than a dirt path through a ditch.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested waves of people as they exited taxis, dragged out luggage and crossed over from New York state. Last August, more than 5,700 people were arrested crossing illegally into Canada — nearly all in Quebec, where at one point Montreal’s Olympic Stadium was commandeered to help handle the influx. But this year, the arrest average has been about 1,800 per month nationwide.
The province has nonetheless asked Ottawa to speed up processing times for asylum claims and warned it won’t ensure housing to an unlimited number of migrants.
“These days, it’s contained,” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, head of the Customs and Immigration Union, which represents border workers and has been pressing the federal government for more resources.
“If we get a spike like we got last year, that’s where we do have some major concerns.”
Despite that, the rhetoric is becoming heated. A meeting of Canada’s immigration ministers this month saw Trudeau’s lead on the file, Ahmed Hussen, criticise those who conflate regular immigration with asylum seekers as “not Canadian.”