“Lack of empathy and humanism”, “dysfunctional structure”: the critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of the Bloc Québécois, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, does not mince words when speaking of Immigration Canada, in interview with The duty.
The Bloc Québécois is holding a press conference at Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport on Saturday to highlight the arrival in the country of Rose Eva, a Cameroonian expelled from the territory in 2020. The young woman had obtained a study permit to complete a IT technician at the Teccart Institute.
She had obtained her diploma early thanks to her good results, and had then continued to work in a clothing store, where she had been hired during her studies.
The visa held by Ms. Eva, however, prohibited her from working once she had obtained her diploma, which she did not know. The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada therefore sent her back to Cameroon in January 2020.
“Today, she returns with a permanent residence and we are very happy about that,” rejoices Rhéal Éloi Fortin, Bloc Québécois MP for Rivière-du-Nord, the riding in which the young woman resided. “But it is a situation that I deplore for the whole of Quebec and Canadian society: we had a qualified and integrated immigrant, and we returned her to her home. »
In a press release, the Bloc indicates that the constituency office of Mr. Fortin helped Ms. Eva in her administrative procedures “since her exclusion in January 2020 until her return. »
Ms. Eva was originally scheduled to arrive in Montreal around 11 a.m., but she would have been “detained in Toronto” and would have missed her flight, indicates the Bloc Québécois. She must finally arrive around 3 p.m. in Dorval.
A “dysfunctional” ministry
For the MP for Lac-Saint-Jean, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, this situation is symptomatic of a “lack of empathy and humanism” at Immigration Canada. “If there is a ministry that must be human and empathetic, this is it,” he insists. The files we manage are not statistics, they are real people. »
He invokes the case of Rose Eva to illustrate his point. “They detained her, took her phone, put her in a closed room. It’s upsetting, […] it is extremely humiliating. “For him, the observation is clear:” This ministry is dysfunctional. »
This fall, the government eased some of the student visa restrictions. Some students can now work more than 20 hours a week, which was previously prohibited. The Bloc Québécois is now asking the government to lift the regulation that cost Rose Eva her visa, that is to say the ban on working once she has completed her diploma.
Roxham Road, a hot topic
Questioned on a hot topic of the hour, Roxham Road, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe did not want to position himself in favor or not of its closure. “We have been asking the government since 2019 to suspend the safe third country agreement,” he said.
This agreement stipulates that a migrant who first sets foot on American territory must apply for asylum on American soil, and vice versa if he first arrived in Canada. This is why many migrants prefer to arrive in Canada by taking Roxham Road, an unofficial crossing where they will not be checked by border agents.
“If we suspend this agreement, migrants could apply at border crossings across the Canadian border, which would take the pressure off Quebec,” said Brunelle-Duceppe.
He points out that the Canadian government would have the power to suspend the agreement on safe third countries for a minimum period of three months, without the agreement of the American government. “At some point, you will have to put on your panties, he asserts. But the Canadian government may be afraid of offending the Americans. »
Recall that on January 4, the Haitian migrant Fritznel Richard was found dead near Roxham Road, while trying to reach the United States.