Want 25% tariffs imposed on everything entering the States from Canada as soon as possible? Well then, Mr. Singh, please continue trying to make Canada’s border even more of an immigration concern for the Americans.
LORNE GUNTER
EDMONTON JOURNAL
New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh wants Canada to renege on a treaty it has with the United States that says people illegally in one of the two countries cannot apply for refugee status in the other.
For nearly six years, from 2017 to 2023, the Liberal government itself ignored the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). Tens of thousands of so-called “Irregular” border crossers from the United States were welcomed to Canada, the vast majority of them through the infamous Roxham Road crossing between Upstate New York and Quebec.
Now Jagmeet Singh wants to open the floodgates again, this time to welcome illegal aliens in the U.S. who are trying to avoid deportation as part of the immigration crackdown ordered by newly installed President Donald Trump.
As of Friday, American immigration officials had deported or detained over 1,500 people who were in the U.S. illegally. The vast majority of those rounded up had criminal records. And the vast majority of those had histories of violent crime.
Yet Singh wants Canada to abrogate the STCA and make itself a haven for more illegal immigrants.
When Singh said this week that it was “sad” and “scary” what was going on in the States, I’m confident he wasn’t making a case specifically to turn Canada into a refuge for murderers, rapists, bank robbers and wifebeaters.
However, our border protections are already so weak that they are at the core of Trump’s tariff threats against Canadian industries. If we were to follow Singh’s recommendation and open our borders to American deportees, there can be little doubt that criminals would embed themselves among the other deportees.
“I think it’s really sad for the folks in the States right now,” Singh lamented. “It’s really scary for a lot of folks. I just want to acknowledge how scary that must be for people who … now feel really alone, who feel really afraid.”
“I think what Canada has always done is shown as a country that we are there for people when they are in a time of need. It’s something that has been a point of pride for Canada.”
Yep, sappy sentimentality, that’s the emotion we want driving our immigration policy. Not only do we have a problem of our own with millions too many immigrants, but the future prosperity of our economy is dependent on how we handle our borders with the Americans.
Want 25% tariffs imposed on everything entering the States from Canada as soon as possible? Want the economic repercussions that would go along with the Americans imposing such punitive measures? Well then, Mr. Singh, please continue trying to make Canada’s border even more of an immigration concern for the Americans.
Another consideration is that we already have a problem of our own with super-high immigration.
The Americans estimate they have 11 million illegal immigrants on their shores. Canada has nearly five million foreign students, visitors, tourists and temporary workers whose visas will expire this year, and no way for our government to force those with expired visas to leave.
And remember, we have a population only one-ninth the size of theirs.
If you want to know why the NDP has failed to make headway politically, even as the Liberals have stumbled, here’s a prime example of how completely out-of-touch they have become with where ordinary Canadians are mentally.
It’s true the Liberals have scaled back immigration somewhat, but nowhere near enough. From July through September, the Trudeau government admitted “only” 177,000 people, which, according to Statistics Canada was “the slowest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2022.”
That still means nearly three-quarters of a million immigrants will enter Canada this year. We have capacity in our housing market, our labour force and health care system for about 300,000.
Now on top of that number, Singh wants to add tens of thousands more illegals from the States.
