Plan needed to deal with U.S. migrants

It was entirely predictable — not that it diminishes the tragedy — that someone was going to die trying to illegally make their way from the United States into Canada.

And so, a woman was found dead last week in a ditch near the Manitoba border. Mavis Otuteye, age 57, died of what police believe was hypothermia. Her body was discovered a kilometre from the border between Minnesota and Manitoba, and authorities believe she was attempting to enter Canada. An official autopsy on Otuteye, reportedly from Ghana, is forthcoming.

While it’s not clear that she was coming here as an asylum seeker, her death is illustrative of the travails people face in moving illegally between the U.S. and Canada.

Her death comes months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau trolled U.S. President Donald Trump over his targeted immigration ban, by tweeting “Canadians will welcome you.” It casts, in stark relief, the potential consequence of two things: Trump’s moves to restrict immigration and loose talk within Canada signalling that we’re some kind of paradise with open borders, when we simply are not.

If asylum seekers come through official border crossings with the U.S., they’re likely to be turned away because of an agreement that designates the U.S. as a safe country. But trek across the border on open land and one can claim asylum because of a United Nations refugee convention.

There have been calls, from the New Democratic Party and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, for Canada to pull out of the first treaty, the Safe Third Country Agreement. The idea is that such a move would encourage newcomers to head for safe crossings rather than sneak in.

But repealing such an agreement with the U.S. is a complicated matter. The government has done enough virtue-signalling vis-à-vis the U.S. without seriously jabbing at Trump by declaring our neighbour to the south unsafe for refugees — the inescapable conclusion of any withdrawal — when sensitive issues, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, are in play.

Summer may provide a respite for desperate travellers, but also an increased burden for those living near the border. All many of us can do is step up and help, as we’d like to think Canadians will always do.

For politicians, though, a concrete plan, developed in consultation with premiers and local communities who are dealing with the bulk of these migrants, could help mitigate further tragedy. Lives are at stake, as this has made clear. Now’s the time for policy, not politics.