Provinces filling void left by Ottawa’s inaction on Canada-U.S. border, Poilievre says

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the provinces are stepping in to fill a border leadership void caused by Ottawa’s inaction on border security.

Speaking on Thursday, the day after an emergency meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premiers over pledged tariffs from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, Mr. Poilievre said Mr. Trudeau bears responsibility for problems at Canada’s borders, citing Quebec’s Roxham Road, which turned into an unofficial border crossing for asylum seekers, and American concerns about thousands of foreigners sneaking into the U.S. from Canada.

On Monday, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products over accusations of illegal migration and drug smuggling into the United States.

“We didn’t have these problems before Justin Trudeau, we didn’t have Roxham Road before Justin Trudeau, we didn’t have these illegal border crossings,” Mr. Poilievre said. “The number of asylum claims have gone from 10,000 to over 200,000 under Justin Trudeau,” he said.

“What we’re seeing now, though, is that because the Prime Minister has vacated the border and turned it open to anyone who wants to come in, the Premiers are now taking responsibility for our border,” he said.

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On Wednesday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her province will be “acting urgently and decisively to patrol our own shared border with Montana, with more details to be announced soon in that regard.”

Also on Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters he had met with representatives of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Canada Border Services Agency to discuss what Canada needs to do to tighten its borders. Ontario, the Premier said, is adding 2,000 police officers a year and the OPP was open to partnering with the other agencies to improve border enforcement, such as on lakes and waterways, for example.

Earlier this month, Quebec Premier François Legault announced the Sûreté du Québec will begin to patrol the border with the United States.

“Now, because Trudeau has so thoroughly broken the border, we’re getting a patchwork of premiers who have no choice but to try and hold the border together with bubblegum, scotch tape and elastic bands,” the Conservative Leader said.

On Wednesday night, the federal government announced it will pump more money into Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP.

Ottawa’s pledge to spend more on border security followed an emergency first ministers’ meeting Wednesday evening to address Mr. Trump’s announcement of new tariffs when he takes power in January.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland emerged from the 90-minute virtual meeting to announce more border funding, although they offered no details or a timeline.

Mr. Trump’s promise of tariffs is based on his complaint that Canada is not stopping migrants and fentanyl from crossing the border into the U.S. According to numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in the last fiscal year, U.S. border patrol officers stopped people 23,721 times trying to cross illegally from Canada, more than double the 10,021 the year before. But it pales in comparison with the Mexican border, where border patrol officers stopped people more than 1.5 million times in the same time period.

 

Similarly, U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last year compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.

 

 

 

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