Quebec is ready to contribute to welcoming refugees. But the current imbalance between its efforts and those of other provinces is neither normal nor healthy.
Posted yesterday at 5:00 a.m.
Especially since this imbalance, far from diminishing, is widening. It’s up to Ottawa to react.
We know that Roxham Road has established itself as THE point of passage for asylum seekers who enter Canada irregularly. This year, no less than 99.2% of the interceptions made by the RCMP in the country were in Quebec.
Month after month, the number of migrants using this passage is increasing, so much so that the federal government predicts that 50,000 people will have crossed it this year. This is 2.5 times the previous record of 18,836 people recorded in 2017, when we had to use the Olympic Stadium to accommodate them.
Added to this is a new phenomenon. Radio-Canada revealed this week that for the past few months, thousands of Mexicans have been arriving at Canadian airports and applying for asylum. 8,000 have done so this year… 80% of them at Montréal-Trudeau airport1.
Many of these people would come to Montreal and then go to the United States irregularly, according to what we hear. But once again, Quebec receives a disproportionate number of asylum seekers compared to other provinces.
It’s not about panicking.
A good proportion of people who apply for asylum really need help. They must be welcomed with humanity. The violence that is shaking Haiti and many Latin American countries, in particular, explains the current influx.
We also need to put things into perspective.
Quebec is neither Turkey nor Colombia, which respectively welcome refugees from Syria and Venezuela to the tune of millions.
And nearly 250,000 people cross the US-Mexico border…every month. Our geographical location largely isolates us from major migratory flows.
The fact remains that within the Canadian federation, Quebec assumes disproportionate responsibilities.
Refugees who arrive here must be housed and cared for while their applications are processed. Their children must go to school. Certainly, the federal government transfers large sums to Quebec for this. But the pressure on infrastructure is real, especially since we are experiencing a housing crisis, our health system is cracking and there is a lack of teachers in our schools.
Ironically, this situation also occurs at a time when the CAQ has set a threshold of 50,000 immigrants per year while the Trudeau government wants to open the floodgates (Ottawa announced on Tuesday a target of 500,000 immigrants per year for 2025). Socially, the issue is delicate.
Tackling the root causes of the arrival of asylum seekers in Quebec is not easy. We have already written that closing Roxham Road, as François Legault claims, would be like placing a stone in a river in the belief that it will stop the water. The migrants will pass elsewhere, forcing the police to play tag with them. It would be both undignified and ineffective.
The solution requires negotiation with the Americans, which is not easy.
The challenge for the Mexicans is different. Historically, barely one in three requests is accepted. Canada would be well advised to deploy information efforts before Mexicans board the plane to avoid disappointment and to work with Mexican and American authorities to dismantle possible smuggling cartels.
While waiting to resolve the problems at Trudeau Airport and Roxham Road, Ottawa must help Quebec fulfill its obligations to people who deserve to be treated with all possible dignity. And the other provinces must do their part.