Flow of cross-border migrants ebbing
But Liberals worried about a winter uptick
OTTAWA • A tent city erected in Cornwall, Ont. was never used, and that city’s conference centre is emptying of its temporary residents as the flow of illegal migrants into Canada ebbs. However, the federal government is trying to pre-empt another such crisis flaring up in winter by stepping up its south-of-theborder outreach, and looking into acquiring heated trailers.
Thousands of people have recently crossed illegally — or irregularly, as the government puts it — into Quebec, many of them Haitians afraid the United States will end a temporary protection program that had been put into place after a devastating 2010 earthquake.
From a volume of 250 people every day a couple of weeks ago, the number of migrants crossing the border daily has dropped to about 100. That has stayed steady for a little over a week, said Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for public safety minister Ralph Goodale.
“Nonetheless, while the number of people coming to seek asylum has somewhat moderated recently, we cannot be complacent. It is far too soon (to) determine a trend,” he said. “While Canada is an open society that manages immigration in an orderly way, we do not condone irregular migration. Entering Canada illegally is not a free ticket; those seeking refuge here must follow the proper processes.”
Still, the feds are worried about the well-being of asylum seekers in winter — earlier this year, a woman had died of cold after crossing into Manitoba.
The procurement department has asked companies to provide information about rentals of heated trailers for border town Saint-Bernardde-Lacolle, Que., as temporary housing set up during summer soon won’t be tenable.
According to Hursh Jaswal, a spokesman for immigration minister Ahmed Hussen, the Nav Centre in Cornwall, which borders both Quebec and the United States, was to be emptied by Friday with no new asylum seekers being directed there.
Tents the Canadian Armed Forces had set up were never occupied, Jaswal said, though they will still be available to house as many as 500 migrants if an urgent need arises. “Now that capacity to conduct eligibility interviews is ramping up in Montreal, the additional temporary accommodations in Cornwall are no longer needed. Our government will continue working closely together with the provinces and the municipalities involved,” he said.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who chairs an ad hoc “intergovernmental task force on irregular migration,” said looking at trailers is a precautionary measure.
A procurement document shows the government is looking for trailers that include sleeping spaces, eating facilities, living and rest spaces, sanitary services, perimeter fencing and other services like laundry and a medical clinic.
Another bit of “homework” Garneau said the government is doing is identifying which groups, aside from the Haitian community, may be looking north. “There are diasporas in the United States that are on the so-called temporary protected status, and so we will be reaching out to those as well,” Garneau said.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, temporary status for people from Sudan and South Sudan expires in November; from Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua in January; from Syria and El Salvador in March; from Nepal in June; and from Yemen and Somalia next September.
Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg, who has a Haitian background and can speak Creole, travelled to Miami last week to meet with the Haitian diaspora. It is part of the government’s effort to combat misinformation about the Canadian system, which Dubourg said he has personally seen online. A key message: about half of Haitian claims in 2016 were denied.
Liberals have faced criticism for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s public statements and social media posts, which have focused more on Canada’s openness toward refugees than on its stringent application process. A poll released Friday by the Angus Reid Institute says 54 per cent of Canadians think Trudeau’s messaging has been “unclear,” while 57 per cent disapprove of how he has handled the crisis.
The government is trying to speed up claims processing for those already here.