Upgrading Safe Third Country Agreement about reassuring Canadians: PM Trudeau
CTV
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he feels it is his role to see the Safe Third Country Agreement upgraded, in order to make sure Canadians can continue to have confidence in Canada's immigration system.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he feels it is his role to see the Safe Third Country Agreement upgraded, in order to make sure Canadians can continue to have confidence in Canada's immigration system.
"Right now we have people crossing into Canada irregularly, between border crossings. And our responsibility as a country that is signatory to UN treaties of various types is, if someone asks for asylum in our country, we process their claims. Now, the challenge is, the increase in irregular migration has massively spiked over the past years, which is not just a challenge to individuals sometimes crossing at great personal risk... but it's also a challenge to Canadians' confidence that we have an immigration system that is rules-based, robust and applies evenly to everyone," Trudeau said in an English media exclusive interview on CTV's Your Morning Thursday, ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Ottawa.
"That's why we've been working with the Americans over the past many months… to try and make sure that we're protecting those individuals and abiding by our international obligations of being a welcoming country."
Trudeau has been under pressure to make renegotiating the border pact a priority during Biden's visit and, while both sides have acknowledged the issue will come up, it remains to be seen how much progress will be accomplished during Biden's visit.
The cross-border agreement was signed in 2002, and came into effect in 2004. Despite some recent tweaks, talks about modernizing it have been ongoing since 2018. Under the pact, people seeking refugee status in either Canada or the U.S. must make their claim in the first country they enter.
That agreement applies only to official land border crossings, however, meaning asylum-seekers who manage to enter a country via an unofficial crossing — such as at Roxham Road — are not returned. Federal figures show more than 39,000 people claimed asylum after crossing into Canada by land in 2022, with most coming through Quebec.
"Upgrading the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States is part of giving Canadians reassurance, so that we can continue to bring in the people who need to come in, the people we need to come in," Trudeau said.
