Ottawa agrees that discussions with the United States are “tricky” to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement, and is unable to estimate how soon asylum seekers will be welcome back in regular border crossings.
“There’s no timeline that I can refer to to say ‘it’s going to take this long,'” federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser told a parliamentary committee on Thursday.
He was responding to a question from Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, who asked him how soon Ottawa wants to sign a new version of the immigration agreement with the United States.
The day before, the Trudeau government refused to agree to Quebec’s request to “close” Roxham Road, and assured that discussions are going well with the United States to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement.
In its current form, the Safe Third Country Agreement pushes asylum seekers to irregular crossing points like Roxham Road in Quebec to avoid being turned back at regular border crossings. In effect since 2004, this pact authorizes Canada to refuse any asylum request made at an official post at the Canada-US border on the pretext that the United States is a “safe” country.
Delicate discussions
It would be precisely the United States which has little appetite to modify the Agreement on safe third countries, can we understand from the little information provided on the progress of the negotiations by the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
“These negotiations, and these conversations, which are very positive and which are progressing well, are, we understand, delicate at a political level for the Americans,” he indicated during a press conference Thursday in Ottawa.
Canada’s neighbor and main trading partner would like to have the same approach for its border with Canada as for its border with Mexico, from where many more migrants come. “We understand that this is a challenge for them,” added Justin Trudeau.
The Prime Minister declined to go into the details of Canada’s specific demands, except to say that he wants a new agreement that allows asylum seekers to enter through official border crossings. “At the same time, if we closed Roxham Road, people would go elsewhere. We have a huge border, we are not going to start arming it, putting a barrier on it. »
He took the opportunity to drop an arrow at the Legault government, without naming him, to whom he says he sent financial aid in the hundreds of millions.
“I understand that people are concerned about it and that [la situation] leads to some controversy for some political parties. »
Quebec disappointed
The Quebec Minister of Immigration, Jean Boulet, did not hide his disappointment on Thursday at the refusal imposed on him by Ottawa in the Roxham Road file.
” [On est] disappointed, yes, agreed the elected caquiste Thursday noon, leaving the Blue Room. When we refer to the “rigor of the immigration system in Canada”, I’m sorry, but that’s not what we see on the ground. »
The government of François Legault demands the immediate closure of the Roxham border crossing, in order to respect its accommodation capacities. According to estimates by the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, 35,000 asylum seekers will present themselves there by the end of the year. “It’s a colander; it is recognized internationally, deplored Minister Boulet on Wednesday. It can’t go on like this. »
So far this year, more than 10,600 migrants have sought asylum in Canada through the southern Montérégie border crossing.
Thursday, the elected members of the National Assembly spoke with one voice to ask the Trudeau government to “accelerate the negotiations in progress with the United States”. In a motion, adopted unanimously, Quebec parliamentarians also call on Ottawa to “establish efficient mechanisms for transferring asylum seekers to other provinces to take into account Quebec’s reception capacity”. Quebec estimates its accommodation capacity at around 1150.
“Quebec’s absorption capacity has been exceeded,” said Mr. Boulet in a press scrum on Thursday. The processing times, in my opinion, are times that are not acceptable. »
According to Quebec’s calculations, the federal government takes an average of 14 months to process the files of asylum seekers who go through Roxham.