Unity in Action Gives Rise to Partial About-Face on Immigration Policy
As a result of the efforts of the many
organizations across Quebec and Canada to uphold
the rights of asylum seekers and temporary
foreign workers on the front line of fighting
COVID-19, both the Quebec and federal
governments have been forced into a partial
retreat on their abhorrent treatment of asylum
seekers and migrant workers.
The following is an update on what has
transpired over the past week or so.
Enter the Premier of Quebec
On May 21, a journalist commented to Premier
Legault that there are increasing calls "for
asylum seekers who are also front line workers,
to be able to stay in Canada." The journalist
continued, "My question to you would be why are
you not pushing for this yourself and what do
you make of those calls?"
"These are two different issues," Legault
responded, "I want to be clear. I am very, very
happy about the work that is done by some of
them in our residences. We need them, we are
lucky to have them, so it's very fine." The
Premier then pointed out that it is the federal
government that determines whether or not
someone is accepted as an immigrant.
"We have to be careful," Legault continued.
Specifically referring to those going through
Roxham Road or other irregular crossings, he
said: "We cannot open the door to say [that] if
you come illegally, if you find a job, that's
okay, I will accept you as an immigrant. That's
not the way it works. There are some rules [...]
for the people who would like to become
immigrants and there are some rules regarding
the asylum seekers regarding their rights in the
country where they are coming from." He
concluded, "I think it's important to respect
the rules."
Four days later during his press briefing on May
25, Legault made the following statement: "I
want to tell you how grateful we are to all
those who have gone to work in the CHSLDs
[residential and long-term care centres] over
the past two-and-a-half months, including asylum
seekers." He said: "What must be understood is
that asylum seekers are people who entered
Canada and the criteria as to whether or not
they will be accepted as refugees is to
determine if their physical safety is in danger
in their country. [Of course the Premier conveniently
bypasses the fact that specifically with
regard to their work in the CHSLDs, because of
government irresponsibility at all levels here
in Canada, their lives are also at risk here
-- WF Ed. Note] It has always been
that. [...] However, I have specifically
requested that Immigration Minister Simon
Jolin-Barrette look into this on a case-by-case
basis, to see if we are able to have them
recognized as immigrants and welcome them here,
not as refugees but as immigrants. We will
therefore be analyzing this on a case-by-case
basis. Of course, this is a way of saying thank
you to them."
Questioned on why he had changed his mind, the
Premier responded: "I haven't changed my mind.
What I say is that we have two different
matters. [Regarding] asylum seekers, I want to
be careful, I don't want to send the message
that in the future we will accept everybody if
they find a job in Quebec. That's the situation.
But we also have another situation where it's
really critical to get more people working in
our CHSLD[s]. So those people [...] are already
working in CHSLDs, so how can we bring them via
the normal immigration process. That's what I'm
looking [into]. Of course we'll have to have
discussion also with the federal government. But
it won't be as asylum seekers, because [...] in
order [for asylum seekers] to be accepted, they
have to prove that their physical situation is
in danger in their country. That's a different
story."
Enter the Prime Minister of Canada
The following day, Prime Minister Trudeau was
questioned by a journalist as to whether his
government was ready to commit to dealing with
the applications of Haitian asylum seekers
working in CHSLDs. His response was that for
weeks now, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino
has been hard at work on the issue. "We know
that there are extraordinary people who are
doing heroic work in our long-term care centres
and that we must look into how we can assist
them and we are in the process of looking into
that situation closely."
Questioned as to whether he agreed with the
principle of either regularizing the status of
certain persons, accelerating the processing of
their applications or shifting them over to
immigration status applications to thank them as
Quebec appeared to be asking, Trudeau answered:
"For a long time now we've recognized to what
point people coming into the country contribute
to our safety and our success as a country. Our
government has always been open to immigration
and has always valued people who come here. With
regard to asylum seekers who have arrived
irregularly but who work in our CHSLDs, who
carry out heroic work in protecting Canadians,
we are in the process of looking into how we can
recognize that work and maybe speed up the
process [...]."
The journalist commented, "I sense that there
has been a change in position. Around a week or
so ago, your Deputy Prime Minister, Ms.
Freeland, told us that we are a rule of law
country and that the procedure had to be
respected, so I understand that you may now be
ready to circumvent the present procedure in
order to thank them."
"We are in a particular and exceptional
situation," Trudeau replied. "The COVID-19
crisis demands that we revisit certain things.
Of course our immigration system is anchored in
respecting procedures and fairness and equality
for everyone. It's important that procedures are
followed but within this exceptional situation,
we can of course consider exceptions."
Another journalist asked Trudeau what his
evaluation was, in terms of the number of
irregular asylum seekers whose status could be
recognized. The Prime Minister responded, "I
think that people recognize that the heroes who
are doing exceptional work within an extremely
difficult situation should receive certain
recognition. However, we have an immigration
system that is robust and rigorous and
complex, therefore the Minister of Immigration
is carefully looking into it. As to the
details regarding such an approach, we
understand that there is a willingness on the
part of the population to recognize and thank
these people, however, we must ensure that this
is done in the proper manner and in due form."
Enter the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was
asked later that day to further clarify her
government's newly adopted position on
regularizing the situation of certain refugee
claimants working in CHSLDs.
"As the Prime Minister said today, Canada is a
country built on immigration and our government
is very open towards and welcoming of
immigrants. We understand that there is a very
specific situation right now where many people
in Canada and in Quebec are particularly
grateful to the refugee claimants who are doing
such important work taking care of our elders.
People are grateful, people want to express that
gratitude and we really understand that. We know
also that it's very important in all issues,
very much including immigration, to do things
properly and carefully [...]
"The specific issue which we feel that people
are most concerned with at the moment is the
asylum seekers who are doing absolutely
essential and extraordinary work right now. That
being said," Freeland concluded, "this is a
major issue and Immigration Minister Marco
Mendicino, as the Prime Minister said, is in the
process of looking into the issue. And as I
said, we must, we will do it in close
collaboration with Quebec."
This article was published in
Number 38 - June 2, 2020
Article Link:
Unity in Action Gives Rise to Partial About-Face on Immigration Policy
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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