Here’s an attention-grabbing charge: the idea that Canada might be assisting an invasion of the United States by the other country on the continent.
Even more surprising? The comment came from a member of the United States Congress during a congressional hearing in Washington.
Less surprising? That member was Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversy-courting Republican best known as a gleeful flinger of partisan bombs.
It came during a hearing organized by Republicans titled: “Biden’s Growing Border Crisis: Death, Drugs, and Disorder on the Northern Border.”
She used her spot in the committee hearing to draw attention to the fact that Canada allows Mexicans to travel into the country without a visa.
And she alluded to an increase in Mexicans being stopped trying to enter the U.S. between ports of entry, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials reporting 1,604 such incidents at the northern border in the first four months of this fiscal year compared with 882 for all of last year.
“It’s extremely concerning, and dangerous to the United States of America’s national security, that Canada’s immigration policy allows Mexicans to travel, to Canada, without a visa,” Taylor Greene said.
“It seems that Canada wants to participate in Mexico’s invasion of the United States…. They end up coming into the United States.”
What’s the context
There has indeed been an increase in migrants entering the U.S. through Canada. Republicans have started raising it as an issue, part of their campaign against what they call the Biden administration’s lax border policies.
In that process, some have cherry-picked the data: they’ve made the numbers sound more dramatic by comparing them to early in the pandemic, when there was little travel, and they’ve in some cases lumped together routine incidents at border checkpoints with stops between checkpoints.
The number of apprehensions is indeed up significantly from the last few years. But even at the current pace, Border Patrol Agents would stop fewer than 9,000 people coming from Canada this year; that’s less than in the early 2000s, and a rounding error compared to the more than two million on the Mexican border.
A Democrat called the hearing a waste of time and said it would be better spent on serious problems.
“This manufactured northern border crisis,” is how Glenn Ivey of Maryland referred to it.
“There’s nothing going on with respect to Canada that merits them being treated like some kind of rogue state…. They’re a good working partner with the United States.”
Democratic lawmaker Glenn Ivey at a U.S. congressional hearing on Tuesday accuses Republicans of exaggerating migration numbers from Canada, saying they’re comparing the current-year trend to abnormally low crossing numbers during the pandemic. (CBC)
Several Republicans, other than Taylor Greene, went out of their way to point out that their issue wasn’t with Canada. The chair of the hearing, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, said: “They’re friends — not anything other than that.”
The problem, several Republicans said, was that the northern border is severely understaffed. Barely 10 per cent of U.S. Border Patrol Agents are stationed along the vast Canadian frontier, and even among that limited pool many are seconded for stints at the busier Mexican border.
The head of the U.S. Border Patrol Agents’ union, Brandon Judd, said: “It’s impossible to patrol the [northern] border.” He said there’s only one agent every 30 miles (48 kilometres).
Some speakers at the hearing referred to the new Canada-U.S. migration pact announced last week while U.S. President Joe Biden was in Ottawa, and suggested it benefited Canada more than the U.S. Others, the Democrats, referred to it as a good example of co-operation between two friendly countries.
What’s next
There’s no pressure on Canada, for now, to restore visa requirements on Mexicans. At issue is the fact that the country between Canada and Mexico, the U.S., requires a visa for Mexicans to enter.
This was a major irritant years ago. The Harper government created a visa requirement for Mexicans. The Trudeau government relaxed it.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer tells migrants to read the new border sign before they cross into Canada at Roxham Road, an unofficial crossing point from New York State to Quebec for asylum seekers, in Champlain, New York, on Saturday. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters)
Some U.S. immigration-watchers have been wondering whether the pressure from the U.S. could come for a policy switch.
Taylor Greene most certainly does not speak for the Biden administration, or for the Democrats who control the Senate, or even for many in her party; but she has a knack, sometimes, for serving as a bellwether of where her party is heading.
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
