Major summit meetings between Canadian Prime Minister and American President do not always result in major announcements. That between Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden, however, will have been an exception. Ottawa and Washington have finally agreed to completely close the border to irregular entries, and this, from the first hour on Saturday. Joe Biden also tried to reassure Canada about its protectionist aims, while Justin Trudeau pledged to continue his aid to Haiti and specified his plans for modernizing NORAD.
The city center of the federal capital was besieged with security devices on Friday for this first visit by President Biden to Canadian soil. Police patrolled the streets surrounding the parliamentary precincts, which had been closed for the occasion. Access to parliament itself was also restricted.
Inside, the Canadian and American delegations were all smiles, ready to announce a series of new measures.
The main one was unequivocally the conclusion of several years of negotiations aimed at amending the Safe Third Country Agreement, more specifically closing the loophole that allowed migrants to enter Canada or the United States by avoiding the official border posts. More than 39,500 migrants thus entered Canada in 2022, including nearly 39,200 through Quebec. Nearly 110,000 made the reverse journey, to the United States.
From midnight on Saturday, any migrant intercepted within two weeks of crossing – whether at a border post or not – will be turned back. The agreement provides for rare exemptions: an unaccompanied minor or a migrant who already has a family member in the country he is trying to reach.
The memorandum of understanding cites negotiations concluded in the spring of 2022. It states that the changes were to take effect “once the United States and Canada formally notify each other that they have completed the necessary domestic procedures.”
In a press conference alongside his counterpart, Justin Trudeau argued that the two countries knew the “theoretical” solution to the agreement. “But it takes complex processes to manage our borders, and it took a number of months before we could move forward with this announcement,” he explained.
The United States has long resisted changing the agreement, but elected Republicans had started to pressure Joe Biden by denouncing the recent increase in irregular entries from Canada.
In exchange for this modification, Ottawa agrees to welcome 15,000 more migrants “from the Western hemisphere” per year, “for humanitarian reasons”. In order to “compensate for the closure of these irregular passages”, argued Mr. Trudeau.
The federal government has not specified the criteria or process for admission to this new program. Behind the scenes, we were delighted to finally settle the Roxham file, and this, in return for the reception of a fraction of the number of migrants who otherwise crossed the border irregularly.
Migrants already on the way
No sooner had the change been confirmed than messages were already circulating, especially in Creole on WhatsApp, to invite migrants to hurry up “because otherwise you won’t get in”.
At the Canadian border, in New York State, The duty found that the Border Services Agency was busy Friday putting up new signs warning migrants that it was now “illegal to cross the border here or at any other place other than a port of entry”.
A family from Nicaragua arrived by taxi, having rushed in before knowing the precise date of the cross-border change.
A four-year-old girl, bundled up in a candy pink jumpsuit, exclaimed to her parents: “There is a lot of snow! All three will have been among the last to cross, before the tightening scheduled for the night.
On the American side of Roxham Road, there was no rush Friday afternoon, but arrivals punctuated the day, like in previous months.
Amnesty International denounced the change, calling it a “dehumanized view” of asylum seekers and a “death sentence” for those tens of thousands of people.
François Legault, for his part, said he was “really happy”. “This is good news for Quebecers, for Canadians,” he said, assuring that Quebec would continue to welcome its share of asylum seekers. “It is our humanitarian duty. »
Help for Haiti and the Great Lakes
Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden have also tried to reassure each other on a few other issues.
Canada will contribute up to $100 million to the Haitian National Police to help train its troops and purchase equipment.
President Biden refused to say he was “disappointed”, he whose administration behind the scenes wanted Canada to lead a military mission in this country in crisis. The option remains on the table, but will not take place at this time, as it would require consultation with the United Nations and the government in place in Haiti, he said.
Mr. Trudeau had no new defense investments to promise the president. However, he made two announcements related to the modernization of NORAD: the installation of early warning and threat surveillance systems in southern Ontario and the granting of $7.3 billion already earmarked to upgrade facilities where next-generation F-35 fighters will operate.
If in 2016 President Barack Obama had called on Canada to devote more money to defense, President Biden refrained from doing the same.
Joe Biden has repeatedly stressed that the Canadian economy will not be harmed by his Inflation Reduction Act. Canada has the critical minerals that the United States can process to create “reliable and resilient North American supply chains,” he said. However, Canada would like a broader exemption to the measures “ Buy American” from the President. Joe Biden has pretended that he “does not understand” that these measures are hurting the Canadian economy.
Mr. Trudeau announced an investment of up to $250 million in semiconductor-related projects. A sum of 420 million will also be devoted to the protection and restoration of the waters of the Great Lakes.
Joe Biden was careful not to get involved in the file of foreign interference in Canada. At most, the two countries indicated, in their joint press release, that they would continue “their cooperation in order to combat foreign interference”.
With Sarah R. Champagne, Boris Proulx and Marco Bélair-Cirino