(Ottawa) The Bloc Québécois once again urges the Trudeau government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement as October was the busiest month of 2022 at Roxham Road in Montérégie, a makeshift crossing used by applicants for asylum seekers to enter Canada irregularly.
Data recently posted online by the federal government indicates that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intercepted 3,901 people last October after they irregularly crossed the Canada-US border through an unofficial land port of entry in Quebec. .
Roxham Road is well known as the main — if not the only — makeshift entry point for setting foot in Quebec from the United States.
“New record at Roxham Road,” said Bloc immigration spokesperson Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe on Friday, in the preamble to an intervention during question period.
“All these people could pass through the border crossing with dignity if Canada suspended the Safe Third Country Agreement, but the federal government’s inaction is pushing them to Roxham where they are received by the RCMP,” he said. lamented.
The member also mentioned that the RCMP officers mandated to carry out security checks on Roxham Road could be reassigned to other tasks and “would be much more useful in the fight against arms trafficking”.
Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe was thus referring to the fact that an RCMP superintendent, Martin Roach, stated in committee last week that he estimated that 90% of the approximately 120 RCMP members responsible for ensuring compliance border rules were assigned to the irregular crossing located in Montérégie.
Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, responded by repeating that Justin Trudeau’s government is discussing with the Americans a possible modernization of the Safe Third Country Agreement.
This agreement ensures that a potential refugee presenting himself at an official Canadian border crossing and having first set foot on American soil is turned away since he must continue his asylum application in the first “place of safety” where he arrives. .
Thus, people who still wish to seek asylum in Canada cross the Canada-US border through passages such as Roxham Road. Once they are in Canada, their refugee claim can be processed.
“Closing the Roxham road or suspending the agreement is not the solution, because it will not solve the problem, in general. […] Canada shares the longest demilitarized border in the world,” reiterated Mr.me The Londe.
“Roxham Road allows officials to collect the identity documents of these asylum seekers and prevent dangerous crossings,” she added.
MNA Brunelle-Duceppe retorted that negotiations with the United States have stalled for too long for his liking. “It’s been four years since there’s been anything on the table. […] When is the minister going to put on his pants, stand up and manage to be taken seriously by the Americans? “, he thundered.
Mme Lalonde, in response, argued that the Canadian government prefers to work with its partners rather than “fighting,” after pointing out the international obligations in terms of welcoming refugees that Canada is bound to respect.
In addition to the Bloc, New Democrats have also long called for the suspension of the Safe Third Country Agreement.
For their part, the Conservatives want the agreement to be applied uniformly all along the border, official entry point or not.