Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s suggestion that the federal government close the Roxham Road irregular border crossing is “reckless.”
“It’s reckless and frankly, not a thoughtful approach to simply say ‘within 30 days, you close Roxham Road,'” Fraser told reporters during a media availability in Dartmouth, N.S. on Wednesday morning.
“What would happen if we took such an approach rather than actually dealing with people with dignity and respect, and pursuing an option that requires bilateral conversations with the United States, is you would simply displace the problem to other points along the Canadian-U.S. border,” Fraser said.
“The result would likely be serious risks that would fall upon vulnerable migrants who are seeking safe haven in Canada, who would be forced to potentially cross through a dangerous portion of the border not knowing how the elements — particularly at this time of year — would impact themselves and their family.”
On Tuesday, Poilievre called for the federal government to present a plan to close the crossing at Roxham Road along the Quebec-New York border within a month, suggesting it can be done as it was for some time during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a press conference on the topic, the Conservative leader accused Trudeau of encouraging irregular crossings there, after failing to find a solution for years.
“If we are a real country, we have borders. And if this is a real prime minister, he is responsible for those borders,” Poilievre said. “He’s had six years since the influx began. It is his job to close the border and we’re calling him to do it.”
This comes on the heels of Quebec Premier Francois Legault putting the issue back on the national political agenda by asking Trudeau to make renegotiating the Safe Third Country agreement a priority when U.S. President Joe Biden visits next month. Legault says that agreement has resulted in an increased and disproportionate flow of migrants into Quebec.
Federal figures show more than 39,000 people claimed asylum after crossing into Quebec by land in 2022.
Fraser said Wednesday that Legault is right to raise the issue, noting that Quebec is facing disproportionate pressure on the province’s social services as well as its health and education systems. He nevertheless called Poilievre’s approach: “brash bumper sticker arguments that seek to gain political favour in a time of a real challenge.”
“It’s a time to solve problems through adult conversations with our most important strategic trading partner in the United States,” Fraser said, pointing to ongoing conversations with his American counterpart on a “lasting solution” through modernizing the Safe Third Country Agreement.
The cross-border agreement was first signed in 2002 and, despite some recent tweaks, talks about modernizing it have been ongoing since 2018. Under the pact, people seeking refugee status in either Canada or the U.S. must make their claim in the first country they enter.
The loophole that the agreement applies only to official land border crossings means asylum seekers who manage to enter a country via an unofficial crossing — such as Roxham Road— are not returned.
Work is also underway across the country, Fraser noted, to fund communities in other provinces, including in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, which would have the capacity to accommodate additional asylum seekers.
“Because it’s not fair or right that one community or one province ought to bear the brunt of a challenge that we’re facing as a result of Canada abiding by its domestic and legal obligations,” Fraser said.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
