March 14, 2019

OTTAWA, ON – The Hon. Michelle Rempel, Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, and Pierre Paul-Hus, Shadow Minister for Public Safety, Border Security, and Emergency Preparedness, issued the following statement on reports of concerns raised by the Department of Immigration that the Safe Third Country Agreement is enabling illegal border crossers:

“Today’s reports that the Trudeau government is deliberately ignoring concerns about the Safe Third Country Agreement prove that it has always been its intention to create an express entry system for illegal border crossers from upstate New York.

“For years, Conservatives have sounded the alarm over the loophole in the Safe Third Country agreement and how it has allowed tens of thousands of people to jump the queue ahead of others and enter Canada illegally.

“Today, not only did Canadians learn that the immigration department has been raising the same concerns, but that Trudeau’s immigration minister has been ignoring them. It is even further proof that Justin Trudeau has never intended to stop illegal border crossers from coming into Canada and has, in fact, gone out of his way to make the problem worse.

“Of course, there are real, human consequences of this. The people entering Canada illegally from the safety and security of the United States jump ahead of others around the world whose lives are in peril as they wait for asylum in Canada. This is an injustice of what should be a fair, orderly, and compassionate immigration system and it has been Trudeau’s plan all along.

“Conservatives believe Canada’s immigration system should put the world’s most vulnerable people first. We will restore fairness, order, and compassion to our immigration system and close the loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement.”

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For more information:

Office of the Hon. Michelle Rempel
Michelle.Rempel.A1@parl.gc.ca
613-992-4275

Office of Pierre Paul-Hus
Pierre.Paul-Hus.A1@parl.gc.ca
613-995-8857