The Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Christine Fréchette, rejoiced on Tuesday at the fact that almost all of the asylum seekers who crossed Roxham Road last weekend were sent to Ontario.
Among the people who took this irregular passage route on Saturday and Sunday, only 8 of the 380 remained in Quebec, said Ms.me Fréchette, in a scrum. “We are very happy with that and we hope it will continue over time,” she said.
Recently, “500 additional rooms” were reserved by Ottawa in Ontario to accommodate asylum seekers, she said.
Minister Fréchette maintains that “Quebec’s reception capacity has been exceeded”. “We are asking that the proportion of asylum seekers who stay in Quebec be equal to the political weight of Quebec within Canada,” she added. So we are talking about 22 to 23%. There, we would be in acceptable waters. »
Christine Fréchette admits, however, that the issue will be “really settled” by a renegotiation of the Agreement between Canada and the United States on safe third countries. Roxham Road, located south of Montreal, is not subject to the agreement because it is an irregular passageway. 39,171 asylum seekers were intercepted there last year.
Last July, Jean Boulet, who was then Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, welcomed the federal government’s decision to redirect to Ontario a hundred asylum seekers who entered Quebec irregularly.
The office of the federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, says it has been adapting since this summer according to Quebec’s capacity and its needs. “We recognize that in Quebec it’s a big burden,” said the Duty Émilie Simard, spokesperson for the Minister.
Legault met with the American ambassador
Earlier Tuesday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he will continue to pressure his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, to “speed up” negotiations with the U.S. on the third-party accord. safe countries.
He also took advantage of his meeting the same day with the American ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen, to deplore the fact that Roxham Road is not included in the Agreement.
On Twitter, Mr. Cohen was pleased to have been able to discuss “the objectives of the United States and Canada on clean energy, trade and our common borders”.
With Alexandre Robillard, Boris Proulx and The Canadian Press