(Quebec) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon asks Quebec to set a “deadline” against Ottawa for it to close Roxham Road, failing which the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) would block the road on the Quebec side of the border to create an “enclave” for asylum seekers. The Legault government quickly turned this suggestion to ridicule.
The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) clarified his demands on the Legault government on Tuesday, while The Press revealed that the number of children crossing the border alone has increased since the start of the pandemic.
“I find this really heartbreaking as news. Remember that what leads people to go through Roxham are networks of criminal smugglers, which raises the question of what awaits these children on the other side of the border, ”first reacted Mr. Saint-Pierre Plamondon.
The PQ leader was then questioned about a motion that his party tabled last week and which asked Quebec to close Roxham Road itself, if Ottawa did not do so.
“If the federal government, after six years of operation, after having institutionalized this transition, after having promoted it on Twitter, intends to make it a permanent way of operating, it will take an intervention of part of the Quebec government,” reiterated Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. He asks Ottawa to suspend the agreement on safe third countries to allow asylum seekers to submit their application at a border crossing.
If the federal government does not act, the PQ insists that the SQ, which has “jurisdiction over roads”, blocks its access.
“At that point, Roxham Road becomes an enclave run by federal and Liberal Party of Canada donors. It becomes unusable because we have expertise in terms of roads,” insisted Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
Quebec puts pressure on Ottawa
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette
In response to this proposal, the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, accused the PQ leader of living “in a parallel world”.
“The PQ proposes to send the SQ to Roxham Road to make sure to tell the [Gendarmerie royale du Canada] “get it, from now on, I’m the one who manages the border”? There are areas of jurisdiction that must be respected and border management is assumed by the federal government. We are putting pressure on the Canadian government to ensure that it resolves this issue,” she said.
” [Paul St-Pierre Plamondon] is not bad in the field. The SQ can walk around and arrest people […], but on what basis? If there was a violation for vehicles traveling on Roxham Road, yes, but beyond all that, there are children crossing Roxham. What do we do here with these children who are alone? “Questioned the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel.
Last week, M.me Fréchette also said that closing Roxham Road, where asylum seekers cross the border from the United States to Canada, in Montérégie, would be “dangerous”.
“Roxham Road, if it is closed, it will simply recreate another one a few kilometers further. It solves absolutely nothing just to propose [le] close, ”she said before retracting a few hours later, since Prime Minister François Legault has been asking Ottawa for months to close the road.
The Press also reported that the arrival of asylum seekers is pushing up the number of welfare recipients because of the federal government’s slowness to issue work permits. The Legault government is demanding that Ottawa assume the costs incurred and that it renegotiate with the administration of American President Joe Biden the agreement on safe third countries.
Currently, only official crossing points are subject to the agreement, which leads asylum seekers who want to enter Canada to go through an irregular route, such as Roxham Road.
Tanguay compares the PQ to Trump
The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Marc Tanguay, accused his PQ counterpart on Tuesday of dealing with the issue of Roxham Road as Donald Trump would have done during his presidency in the States. -United.
“I find it quite difficult to accept that a political party like the Parti Québécois say “we are closing Roxham Road”. What are they going to do? They’re going to send the SQ to arrest people? […] Let’s see. It doesn’t make sense,” said Mr. Tanguay.
« Le Parti québécois, quand il dit qu’on devrait empêcher [les gens] to pass, for all intents and purposes, they say we should make a wall. […] Reminds me of Trump policies,” he added.
For their part, the Liberals are calling on Ottawa to renegotiate the safe third country agreement so that it applies to the entire border, rather than just official border points.
“The United States cannot just be a land of transition,” Tanguay said. Until negotiations are concluded, the Liberal leader is asking Ottawa to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
Avoid the proliferation of clandestine paths
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his part, wants the agreement that binds Canada to the United States to be suspended so that asylum seekers in future go through a border crossing to to enter the country.
“If we managed to unilaterally close Roxham Road tomorrow morning, one of the unfortunate conclusions that would undoubtedly occur is that there would be other clandestine roads that would appear, perhaps even less supervised. It would even become difficult to document the people who return to the territory of Quebec and Canada, ”he said.
“I heard Mr. Plamondon, what is he going to do? A fence ? The police ? He does not say it. It’s not clear. It’s easy to play politics on the back of Roxham Road. It’s more complicated to propose pragmatic solutions that will work and protect people,” added Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
With Fanny LevesqueThe Press