Don't assume U.S. minds are made up about Safe Third Country treaty: Canada's envoy
Don't assume U.S. minds are made up about Safe Third Country treaty: Canada's envoy
WASHINGTON -
President Joe Biden's administration is not dismissing out of hand the idea of renegotiating the bilateral 2004 treaty that governs the flow of asylum seekers across its northern border, says Canada's ambassador to the U.S.
Kirsten Hillman, in Ottawa to prepare for Biden's impending arrival on Thursday, said the administration understands how the Safe Third Country Agreement impacts the flow of migrants across the Canada-U.S. border.
Since those migrants are travelling in both directions, taking steps to discourage would-be refugees from slipping over the border undetected would be in the interest of both countries, she acknowledged.
"I think it does benefit both countries, and I actually think they do recognize that," Hillman said in an interview.
"I would say there's actually a lot of goodwill on the U.S. side to listen to us about this challenge that we're facing."
The agreement, signed in 2002 and implemented in 2004, requires asylum seekers to make their claim in the first country they arrive in, allowing customs agents to turn them away from official Canada-U.S. entry points.
It does not, however, cover claims made by migrants who manage to enter either country between official crossings, such as at Quebec's Roxham Road, the busiest unofficial entry point in Canada.
More than 39,000 claims were filed in 2022 by people who were intercepted by the RCMP, the vast majority of them in Quebec, prompting Premier Francois Legault to expressly ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for help.
Trudeau has acknowledged that the best solution is to renegotiate the treaty, but the U.S. has been widely seen as having no interest in doing so.
"They do care about this challenge that we are facing," Hillman said. "It just exists in a much broader context that is deeply complicated."
That, of course, includes the vastly more problematic U.S.-Mexico border, where agents and officials reported nearly 2.4 million "encounters" in fiscal 2022 and exceeded the one-million mark in the first five months of fiscal 2023.
Both the White House and the Prime Minister's Office have acknowledged that irregular migration will be on the agenda for this week's meetings, part of Biden's first visit to Canada since taking office in 2021.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby offered no new details on that agenda Tuesday, despite being asked whether Biden would be sympathetic to Canada's immigration issues.
"There are a range of issues that you can imagine they'll talk about," Kirby said, deferring to a briefing that's expected Wednesday.
"Everything from Norad and modernization of Norad capabilities, as well as of course military security and national security issues writ large, migration concerns, climate change, there will be certain issues of trade to discuss -- there's a lot."
At last summer's Summit of the Americas, Canada signed on to a holistic approach to a problem that's been manifesting around the world in recent years, exacerbated by the economic impact of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, autocratic leaders and climate change.
Canada agreed to spend $26.9 million in 2022 on slowing the flow of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as $118 million for progressive initiatives to improve the lives of people where they already live.
That included $67.9 million to promote gender equality; $31.5 million in health and pandemic response spending; $17.3 million on democratic governance and $1.6 million for digital access and anti-disinformation measures.
"It's not that the U.S. doesn't want to talk to us about the way in which those challenges are manifested at the Canada-U.S. border," Hillman said.
"That is part of what we are talking about. But it's only part of what we're talking about. What we're really talking about is this crisis in the hemisphere of migration."
It's long been a political problem for Biden, and it's becoming one for Trudeau as well.
In the U.S., Republicans are fond of touting a hardline, zero-tolerance approach to the southern border, depicting Democrats as soft on immigration. Some even want to see Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas impeached.
The northern border -- long seen as docile by comparison -- was dragged into the fray last month with the launch of the Northern Border Security Caucus, a group of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill who say they fear a mounting tide of migrants slipping into the U.S. by way of Canada.
The U.S. does have an illegal migration problem at its northern border -- and it seems to be getting worse.
From October 2022 through February of this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 68,784 encounters at or near the Canada-U.S. border with people deemed inadmissible, including 13,053 in the last month alone.
That's more than twice the 31,119 encounters that took place during the same five months the previous year, and more than halfway to the 109,535 reported during the entire 12-month stretch of fiscal 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2023.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.
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The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
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One of the most notable happenings at Apple's event for developers on Monday is likely the iPhone maker's tweak that will keep its autocorrect feature from annoyingly correcting one of the most common expletives to 'ducking.'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is threatening to use procedural tools to delay passage of the federal budget in the House of Commons if the Liberals don't meet his demands.
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Despite "anecdotal information and allegations," there is no evidence that a prescribed safe supply of opioids is being diverted and causing increased harm and death – specifically among youth, B.C.'s chief coroner said Monday.
The federal prison service says it will have a second look at its decision to move convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security facility as political leaders of all stripes react to the news with shock and outrage.
Hydro One employees killed in a December 2017 helicopter crash in eastern Ontario were remembered by their families as proud tradespeople with 'lifetimes ahead of them,' as an inquest into their deaths opened Monday.
Police in Australia are investigating the suspicious death of a woman who used to live in Surrey, BC, after her body was found in her apartment on the outskirts of Sydney.
While some natural disasters or bouts of extreme weather may require sheltering in place until authorities can restore power to the area, others require residents to evacuate quickly, sometimes in a matter of hours — and if you want to be prepared, you should create a grab-and-go bag.
Rep. George Santos' lawyer said Monday the indicted New York Republican would risk going to jail to protect the identities of the people who cosigned the US$500,000 bond enabling his pretrial release.
The lawyer for the main suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on Monday said his client has changed his mind and plans to challenge his extradition to the United States.
A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state's attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional.
A wolverine was spotted three times last month in the eastern Sierra Nevada, a rare occurrence for an animal that's only been seen one other time in California over the last 100 years.
The monument to Karl Lueger, a statue of an antisemitic politician who is said to have inspired Adolf Hitler, is to be tilted 3.5 degrees to the right.
Candidates to be Guatemala's next president are taking a cue from the leader of neighboring El Salvador and promising their voters they will build mega-prisons and hammer criminal gangs into submission.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is threatening to use procedural tools to delay passage of the federal budget in the House of Commons if the Liberals don't meet his demands.
The federal prison service says it will have a second look at its decision to move convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security facility as political leaders of all stripes react to the news with shock and outrage.
The federal government will be providing up to $1.5 million to Pride organizations across the country for increased security measures at parades and other events this year, as advocates call for all political parties to take part.
Women often use hormone therapy to relieve hot flashes and other menopause symptoms -- and new research suggests patches or creams may be safer for their blood pressure than pills.
One of the most notable happenings at Apple's event for developers on Monday is likely the iPhone maker's tweak that will keep its autocorrect feature from annoyingly correcting one of the most common expletives to 'ducking.'
Apple on Monday unveiled a long-rumoured headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter's ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public's imagination
Actors represented by the Hollywood union SAG-AFTRA voted Monday evening to authorize a strike if they don't agree on a new contract with major studios, streamers and production companies by June 30.
The bar from the television series "Cheers" sold for $675,000 at auction over the weekend, garnering the highest bid among the nearly 1,000 props, costumes and sets from classic TV shows offered up from a collection amassed by one man over more than three decades.
Microsoft will pay a fine of $20 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it illegally collected and retained the data of children who signed up to use its Xbox video game console.
Canada’s housing market saw the largest improvement in affordability in nearly four years in the first quarter of 2023, according to a report from economists at the National Bank of Canada.
The U.S. imposed sanctions Monday on a group of people linked to Russian intelligence who it said had helped the Kremlin destabilize Moldova's democratically elected, pro-Western government through protests in the Moldovan capital earlier this year.
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Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL's hottest postseason goalie, and Adin Hill continued his stellar play as the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers to take a 2-0 series lead Monday night.
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
The prospect of Fernando Alonso ending a decade-long wait for his 33rd Formula One win in front of tens of thousands of fans at his home race proved too good to be true on Sunday.
Max Verstappen had warned that his Red Bull team was good enough to win every single race of the Formula One season. On Sunday he took one more step toward that ambitious sweep by easing to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
