It no doubt came as news to many Canadians when Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland assured us last week that Canada’s borders are “safe and secure,” that “Canada controls our borders” and that “every Canadian has the absolute right to expect that our country chooses who comes here and who doesn’t.”
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Seriously, minister?
Does that mean Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s virtue-signalling tweet on Jan. 28, 2017 that, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” didn’t contribute to a wave of asylum seekers flocking into Canada starting seven years ago? This after President-elect Donald Trump cracked down on illegal immigration to the U.S. during his first term of office.
As we recall, Trudeau’s ill-chosen words were a key factor that resulted in tens of thousands of migrants being literally escorted into Canada by Canadian authorities to file refugee claims here.
This despite entering the country at illegal border crossings, putting enormous strain on social services in cities such as Toronto and Montreal to house them, before that policy was finally shut down.
Alternatively, does Freeland’s assertion that “Canada controls our borders” mean our government has tracked down the 34,000 foreign nationals ordered to leave the country that the Canada Border Services Agency had lost track of, according to a 2020 report by federal auditor general Karen Hogan?
Does it mean that Trump’s new border czar, Tom Homan, is misleading Canadians when he says there is an “extreme national security vulnerability” along the Canada-U.S. border which needs to be addressed?
That would be odd, since the Trudeau government says it shares U.S. concerns about border insecurity contributing to the threat of terrorism in both countries and to human trafficking and smuggling operations run by organized crime.
Given this, it would seem logical for Canada to work closely with the incoming Trump administration to address these issues seriously — especially given concerns that Trump’s election promise of mass deportations of illegals from the U.S. could again increase the flow of migrants seeking entry into Canada.
Indeed, such co-operation would be a “win-win” for Canada both in combatting illegal migration and laying the groundwork for increased co-operation between Canada and the U.S. on other issues.