Up to 900 asylum seekers can find shelter in city
About 300 have arrived, but capacity with tents can be up to 900, city says
Within hours of Transportation Minister Marc Garneau announcing they were coming, asylum seekers began arriving on Thursday evening at the Nav Centre, where they are going to be housed until their claims can be processed.
By Friday afternoon, there were 245 asylum seekers, most of them Haitian, at the complex, with more arriving throughout the day from Montreal on Government of Canada-branded buses.
All of the asylum seekers arriving on Thursday and Friday are being put up inside the barrackslike residences inside the Nav Centre. The complex currently has space for 300 people, but Maureen Adams, Cornwall’s chief administrative officer, there could be an additional 500 to 600 people brought to the city if required.
“The cap for Cornwall is no more than 900. So there could be enough room in the Nav Centre for up to 400 people ... and then there might be available (space) for another 500 through the interim lodging site,” explained Adams.
That interim lodging site is a tent city that was constructed in a field on the northern end of the Nav Centre’s property on Friday.
About 75 soldiers from the 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group were sent to Cornwall from CFB Petawawa and spent the day erecting 50 modular tents.
All the tents will also be hooked up with electric light and heating, according to the brigade’s public relations officer, Lt. Karyn Mazurek. The goal will be to keep as many people as possible inside the Nav, she said. People will be moved out of the tents as rooms in the building free up.
Most of the asylum seekers visible on the grounds and lobby of the Nav Centre were young to middleaged adults, with a greater number of men than women. There were also a few families and women with children ranging in age from toddlers to teens.
Postmedia approached several people asking about their decision to seek asylum in Canada, but all of them declined to share their stories. One man explained that they had all been advised not to talk to the media.
The mostly francophone asylum seekers were spending their first afternoon in Cornwall exploring the labyrinthine interior of the Nav Centre’s campus and sitting at tables outside talking on cellphones, with a few even heading into downtown Cornwall for some shopping. Public Safety Canada confirmed on Friday that the people at the Nav Centre are free to come and go as they wish.
“As the CBSA has conducted all required security screening and determined that these individuals are admissible to Canada, they are not being detained,” said spokesman Jean-Philippe Levert.
Although the military presence at the Nav Centre has been vastly increased, Mazurek said soldiers are not there for security purposes and that the RCMP been given that task.
Local RCMP spokesman Const. Jean Juneau, however, confirmed there is no RCMP presence currently at the Nav Centre because the people there have already passed their security screenings.
Asylum seekers will be housed in Cornwall while they wait to see whether they are eligible for hearings in front of the Immigration and Refugee Board. The public safety ministry said the length of this process can change depending on individual circumstances. Adams believes it is likely Cornwall would continue to receive more people as cases are resolved.
One question that has not been answered is how long Cornwall could be receiving asylum seekers.
The number of people crossing illegally into Canada from the United States to seek asylum has been skyrocketing this summer. In June, 780 people crossed the border, but there were 3,000 in July, and there have already been 3,800 crossings this month. Those numbers overwhelmed facilities in the Montreal area.
Public Safety Canada skirted the issue when asked if asylum seekers would continue to be sent to Cornwall.
“The Government of Canada is working closely and is in constant contact with the province of Quebec as well as with other government and non-government organizations, to ensure the support provided is as effective and efficient as possible,” said Levert. ahale@postmedia.com