Impatient, François Legault asks Justin Trudeau to secure the borders without delay to reassure Donald Trump, who is threatening to impose customs tariffs of 25%.
• Also read: Customs duties of 25%: an opportunity to curb American appetite, believes a former prime minister
According to the Quebec government, the Canadian Prime Minister bears some responsibility for the ultimatum of the American president-designate, due to the laxity of the lines between Canada and the United States in recent years.
For a second day in a row, François Legault put pressure on his federal counterpart.
“Justin Trudeau must not try to deny the problem, so we should quickly remove this argument from Mr. Trump,” said the Quebec Prime Minister on Wednesday, a few hours before a special meeting of the Council of the Federation.
The warning from the future occupant of the White House broadcast on the social network X at the beginning of the week forced the holding of an emergency virtual meeting between the Prime Minister of Canada and his provincial counterparts.
François Legault considers Donald Trump’s fears about illegal immigration to be entirely legitimate. He has already made it known that he wants a place for Quebec at the negotiating table with the United States on customs tariffs.
“It must not pass” at the borders
His Minister of Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, asks Ottawa to use “all possible technological means” and “all possible personnel” to monitor the borders and prevent the entry and exit of illegal migrants.
“There is an obligation to achieve results. It is not for me to say (if) it is 1000, 2000 or 3000 people that they must hire, but that must not pass,” he insisted, in a press scrum at the Assembly national.
This is because several dozen migrants presented themselves at the border crossing in Lacolle to apply for asylum during the weekend, a sudden increase which occurred shortly after the election of Trump. A situation that worries the minister.
According to information obtained by our Bureau of Investigation, at least 80 of them requested asylum between Saturday and Sunday, while the average in recent months was more like a dozen per day.
Stay alert
For the moment, the Quebec Minister of Public Security has not been informed of a significant irregular flow at the borders. But the authorities must remain on the lookout, warned François Bonnardel.
“The federal government absolutely must be involved and take the situation very, very seriously,” he added. According to him, Prime Minister Trudeau has a “significant” share of responsibility in this threat from Donald Trump to impose high customs duties due to carelessness at the borders.
“The border is immensely important and we should not see any significant flow, on one side or the other.”
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