Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre demanded that the federal government present a plan to Parliament to strengthen border security as US President-elect Donald Trump threatens to impose strict tariffs on Canada.
The plan should include measures to increase patrols and technology to combat illegal drug trafficking, as well as tighten visa rules and work with provincial authorities, Poilievre said at a news conference on Sunday.
“The reality is that Trudeau has lost control of the deficit, immigration and our border. In less than two months, President Trump will take office. “He has threatened the possibility of imposing tariffs unless action is taken to address Trudeau’s broken border,” he said.
With the deadlock in Parliament set to continue, Poilievre said the Conservatives “will make arrangements to quickly pass a border plan if it aims to fix Trudeau’s broken border.”
He said Canada should also limit the number of asylum seekers as it faces a significant influx of asylum applications.
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Canada had almost 250,000 asylum applications pending as of September 30, 2024, having approved more than 33,000 applications between January and the end of September.
In all of 2023, Canada accepted 37,000 refugee applications and in 2022 it accepted 28,000.
“I love real refugees,” Poilievre said. “Our country was built in large part by real refugees who were truly fleeing danger, like my wife. But I don’t have time for people who lie to come to our country, and that is the problem we have to stop.”
Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico unless the two countries stop illegal border crossings and prevent illicit drugs like fentanyl from entering the United States.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday, a meeting the president-elect later described as “very productive.”
Sources said Trudeau and Trump discussed trade, border security, Ukraine, NATO, icebreakers, the Middle East and the Group of Seven meeting in Alberta next year.
Trump’s presidential inauguration is scheduled for January 20.
In a statement, NDP public safety critic Alistair MacGregor said Stephen Harper’s Conservative government fired 1,100 border agents, “allowing toxic drugs and illegal weapons to flow into Canada.”
“The Conservatives cut, and that makes us all less safe,” MacGregor said.
Cuts to the Canada Border Services Agency occurred in 2012.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
