Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for the federal government to close the Roxham Road border crossing within 30 days amid a rising influx of migrants entering Quebec irregularly and spurring calls from Quebec leaders who say their communities cannot keep up with the pace.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Poilievre laid the blame for the surge of migrants squarely at the feet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he accused of encouraging irregular crossings at Roxham Road and not addressing a backlog of refugee claims.
Read more: Quebec premier pitches English Canada for closure of Roxham Road and transfer of migrants Read next: Part of the Sun breaks free and forms a strange vortex, baffling scientists The Conservative leader argued that Trudeau had already demonstrated Roxham Road could be closed without violating the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, and urged the government to do so again — failing to mention the entire border was shut down during that time. “If we are a real country, we have borders.
And if this is a real prime minister, he is responsible for those borders,” he said. The Safe Third Country Agreement requires asylum seekers arriving in Canada or the U.S.