Canadians are now confronting how generous we really are

by Angus Reid | May 7, 2018 2:36 pm

This is soon to be our summer of our discontent, disagreement and discomfort, as Canadians watch increasing numbers of people claiming asylum try their luck at undesignated border crossings

Discontent over Justin Trudeau’s government’s handling of the file. Disagreement over how it should be handled, and discomfort over the realization that despite the often-proffered narrative of Canada’s endless, unconditional welcome of newcomers, we’re wary to say the least, about this phenomenon.

As they try to escape the ever fear and uncertainty of Donald Trump’s ever-tightening restrictions on immigration, and spurred on by that now infamous prime ministerial tweet[1], they do so by circumventing Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement[2] (STCA), which denies entry to those who have already claimed or obtained status in the United States, by crossing into Canada not at airports or other, staffed border crossings, but anywhere they can, along thousands of kilometers of unmonitored perimeter.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site[3], where it was initially published.

Endnotes:
  1. now infamous prime ministerial tweet: https://twitter.com/justintrudeau/status/825438460265762816?lang=en
  2. Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/agreements/safe-third-country-agreement.html
  3. Ottawa Citizen’s site: http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/kurl-canadians-are-now-confronting-how-generous-we-really-are

Source URL: https://angusreid.org/canadians-now-confronting-generous-really/