Liberals compare PQ leader to Trump for wanting to close Roxham Road border crossing
Liberals compare PQ leader to Trump for wanting to close Roxham Road border crossing
By wanting to close Roxham Road to prevent irregular entries of asylum seekers in Quebec, the Parti Québécois and its leader are behaving like Donald Trump, says the interim Quebec Liberal Party leader Marc Tanguay.
In a press briefing at the National Assembly on Tuesday, the MNA for LaFontaine compared his political opponents to the former U.S. president, who preached the construction of a wall to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States.
Tanguay did not hesitate to call the PQ proposal a "deportation policy."
"I find it quite difficult to accept that a political party wants to close Roxham Road," he said. What are they going to do, send the Sûreté du Québec to arrest the people? Put them back on the bus that brought them here and send them where? Come on!" Tanguay said.
"For all intents and purposes, when the Parti Québécois says we have to stop immigrants from coming through, that's building a wall, like Trump said, with security guards," he added.
The Liberals preach "orderly immigration" but put the ball back in Ottawa's court.
"Ottawa needs to renegotiate the safe third country agreement," said Tanguay. "I hope they already have a strategy and a timeline."
"We want the U.S. to take more responsibility, not just be a bridge," continued the Liberal leader. "They must not allow individuals to take these people, who need help, and put them on a bus. They are not a commodity."
The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, explained again Tuesday morning how he planned to stop the massive entry of asylum seekers through Roxham Road.
The MNA for Camille-Laurin has been hammering away for several weeks now that if Ottawa does not act clearly and quickly to stem the crisis, the Quebec government can and should close Roxham Road.
Since the province has jurisdiction over its roads, it would be possible, according to St-Pierre Plamondon, to prevent access to Roxham Road, as New Brunswick had done for its roads leading to Quebec during the pandemic.
When pressed by reporters, he was unable to say how law enforcement would proceed.
"It's not up to me to define how the police would intervene," the PQ leader said during a press conference at the National Assembly.
"What we are saying is that if the federal government, after six years of using the road, intends to make it permanent, it will take an intervention from Quebec. I did not say that the SQ would intercept people," he said.
"I said that they have the authority to close the road, to block it. So, at that point, Roxham Road becomes an enclave managed by the feds and the LPC donors, but it becomes unusable because we have jurisdiction."
St-Pierre Plamondon reminded reporters that the closure of Roxham Road during the pandemic reduced the number of asylum seekers to 3,000 to 4,000 annually; since its reopening, there have been 10 times that number.
The PQ leader added that asylum seekers would be forced to present themselves at official border crossings to enter Canada. "These crossings should be used so that their arrival is not chaotic, but orderly," he argued.
This is the only way to protect these immigrants from smugglers who abuse their vulnerability, a phenomenon that St-Pierre Plamondon describes as a "criminal network of human trafficking."
Quebec's immigration minister, Christine Fréchette, told a press scrum that the Parti Québécois proposal to have Quebec provincial police manage the border instead the feds "made her laugh."
"The PQ is living in a parallel world," she said. "Border management is a federal responsibility."
Fréchette reiterated that the current problem at Roxham Road demonstrates the "urgency" for Ottawa to "solve the problem for good," notably by renegotiating the safe third country agreement.
"Trudeau must negotiate," she said. "If he has other solutions, let him do it. That's his responsibility."
Québec solidaire also believes that the PQ is on the wrong track by wanting to close Roxham Road and that it is the duty of Quebec to welcome and protect refugees.
"The PQ is confused," said co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. "If we were to unilaterally close Roxham Road tomorrow morning, other illegal roads would unfortunately appear, and it would make it even more difficult to document the people who enter."
The MNA for Gouin believes that St-Pierre Plamondon is "playing politics" on the backs of asylum seekers.
"It's easier than proposing pragmatic solutions to the problem," Nadeau-Dubois said in a press conference.
Instead, Quebec solidaire is calling for the safe third country agreement to be suspended while it is renegotiated, which would force migrants to cross borders in a "legal, safe and orderly" manner.
"We must recognize that this migration flow exists," added Nadeau-Dubois. "It can be done, but in a humane way."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 7, 2023, with the financial assistance of the Meta Fellowship and The Canadian Press for news.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
As the federal government looks to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., an eastern Ontario mayor says his city needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers arriving through irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
Potato farmers on Prince Edward Island are taking the federal government to court due to the decision to restrict the movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes.
The new provincial budget features items specific to southwestern Ontario, including a new English public elementary school in London, Ont. that will serve 556 students and include 88 licensed childcare spaces.
A young Strathroy, Ont. man believes there's a promising way forward in the effort to fight his disease. But, he's being told, right now, that path isn't open to him. Friends and family are stepping up to try and make a case for Kyle McPhee to receive immunotherapy treatments.
The co-owners of a new liquidation store in North Bay, Samuel Quesnel and Chloé Boivenue, say they want to bring a treasure hunt shopping experience to the city.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
The ‘Catch the Ace’ jackpot is still up for grabs in Hagersville. There was no winner Thursday night so the total prize money is now an estimated $1,526,067.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
Following a court appearance Thursday, a B.C. woman facing more than 20 charges – including manslaughter – in connection with alleged druggings of men who used escort services was remanded into custody.
The man killed in West Vancouver earlier this week was a retired urologist who was involved in several legal disputes over valuable real estate, CTV News has learned.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
After a year-and-a-half without, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) says it’s narrowing in on hiring a permanent chief medical officer of health.
When the permit to construct a replacement span for the Ambassador Bridge expired in the summer of 2022, many thought that would bring an end to a 20-year saga of boarded up homes in the city’s west end.
A recent report from the province’s privacy commissioner says the Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (MACSI) failed to take appropriate steps after patient treatment files were discovered in a recycling bin.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Emergency crews responded to a call for a stabbing on Hartsmere Drive, off Stittsville Main Street, at approximately 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Two police cruisers guarded the parking lot of the Trustee M. Curry Park late Thursday evening.
The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est has announced plans for a four-day school week pilot-project this fall, becoming the first school board in Ontario to offer families a shortened school week schedule.
An alleged victim of a former staff member of Legacy Christian Academy can now be identified after she successfully petitioned in court to have a publication ban lifted.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s provincial budget, school divisions in Saskatchewan were expecting funding levels to increase, with the province repeatedly touting its $1 billion surplus.
