(Terrebonne) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon agrees with Donald Trump: Canada and Quebec have been “bad neighbors” on the issue of illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking at the border.
Posted at 12:29 p.m.
Updated at 1:20 p.m.
The leader of the Parti Québécois believes that Quebec should stand apart by strengthening security at the border to benefit from negotiations with the United States and “minimize the damage” from the imposition of 25% customs tariffs. on Canadian products.
“On immigration [illégale]as on fentanyl, I think the Americans are right. We have been bad neighbors and we have been talking for years about the laxity of these issues which are managed by Canada,” said the PQ leader on the sidelines of a meeting of his caucus in Terrebonne.
“In Quebec, there were 600 overdose deaths last year in Quebec, including a large proportion of deaths linked to fentanyl. It’s happening with us, it’s happening with them. And yes, the border is porous at this level,” added Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
The leader of the Parti Québécois on Wednesday cited an extract from the decree on trade with the United States, called America First Trade Policy to support his point.
“What the document basically says is that the issue of fentanyl is at the heart of Americans’ concerns,” he summarized. The United States must assess the loss of customs revenue linked to the risks associated with fentanyl trafficking, in particular. A report is planned for 1is avril.
We must start with the observation that what is mentioned in this document is true: the mediocre work of the federal government at the border.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon
He proposes the creation of a “special police squad” in the “most at-risk locations” on the border in Quebec, particularly in the territory of the Akwesasne community. Ottawa should also “toughen” penalties for fentanyl manufacturers and traffickers, he believes.
-The Legault government has just announced the “Pélican” plan which would make it possible to coordinate the police response to a sudden migratory flow, in the context where the new American administration is promising a massive expulsion of migrants. During the announcement, the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, specifically indicated that the issue of fentanyl did not pose a problem at the border.
Wednesday, The Sun demonstrated that it is false to claim that Canada contributes significantly to the problem of illegal immigration and drug trafficking in the United States.
“We have been proposing for quite some time to increase the numbers at the border. We did it in 2022 on firearms because a problem for us is that American firearms cross, it’s a porous border, which creates a proliferation of firearms, particularly in Montreal. But it is also true for fentanyl in the other direction,” said Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
In 2023, he also proposed that the Sûreté du Québec police officers form “an enclave” to block the way for illegal immigrants on Roxham Road.
A “screen” for Legault
Tuesday, the PQ leader affirmed that the imposition of customs tariffs on 1is February remains “a hypothesis” even if the American president clarified his intention on Monday. He accuses François Legault of drawing a parallel between the pandemic and the tariff threat “to panic the population”.
According to him, the Prime Minister is using Donald Trump’s threats “as a smokescreen” to avoid answering questions about his record.
“What François Legault wants is to create a diversion by remaining silent on what is happening in Quebec, on the decisions taken by this government, on the impact of cuts linked to their mismanagement of public finances, cuts that affect Quebecers. So, in order to make us forget about disastrous management, they are going to talk to us only about the United States, about tariffs, by positioning François Legault as best as possible,” he lamented.
Tuesday, François Legault launched an arrow at the PQ leader by affirming that in the context, the priority “is not to prepare a referendum on sovereignty”. A grievance also taken up by the interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay. “What is a priority at the moment is to focus on the response and the arguments that can be used on behalf of Quebec in a context of competition with other provinces,” explained Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. “It changes absolutely nothing about our positions which are known,” he added.
