As the potential of mass deportations looms following Donald Trump’s re-election on Tuesday, border cities just like the Metropolis of Cornwall are making ready for a possible inflow of asylum seekers.
“The preliminary response is panic,” says Steve Densley, an area resident.
“It is a good factor and immigration is what Canada is understood for. We’ll have extra folks which are coming and they’ll work. They’ll get jobs, and so they’ll decide to society prefer it’s all the time been.”
The RCMP are on ‘excessive alert’ as many worry a rise in migrants looking for refuge in Canada, notably in Quebec, and different border cities.
“We’re most likely going to have extra officers on the bottom, extra roving patrols,” says Sgt. Charles Poirier of the RCMP.
“And relying on the size of all of it we would must lease an area, purchase some buildings like we did previously, purchase some extra police cruisers, cost some buses like we have executed previously.”
Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale anticipates a rise in asylum seekers within the coming months earlier than Trump takes workplace in January and is urging the federal authorities for extra funding to deal with the anticipated surge.
Earlier this 12 months, the federal authorities ended funding for short-term refugee housing on the Dev Centre within the metropolis, the place 500 migrants, together with youngsters, had been pressured to search out new lodging.
“We’re completely happy to do it once more, we’re able to do it once more and we have now sufficient expertise to do it once more, however I’d as soon as once more reiterate my calls to the federal authorities to assist us out in that regard. We’re nonetheless on the lookout for help with the fee that we incurred at an administrative degree,” mentioned Towndale.
“We’re simply asking for our fair proportion and the federal authorities has been very, very, very beneficiant to cities like Toronto and Ottawa and far, a lot bigger municipalities.”
Martha Woods, government director with the Jap Ontario Coaching Board, which provides employment companies to newcomers, says native teams equivalent to theirs are prepared to supply all the required companies.
“From housing, to education, to authorized support, clothes to home items, there’s rather a lot that goes into it,” mentioned Woods.
“It has occurred earlier than so if it occurs once more, we’re positively prepared for it. It will likely be a dialog across the desk at our subsequent native immigration partnership assembly when it comes to if we do see that inflow we shall be prepared with boots on the bottom once more.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced the revival of a particular cupboard committee devoted to Canada-U.S. relations specializing in “vital” points between the 2 nations. Among the many cupboard ministers sitting on the committee is Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc mentioned he was briefed on contingency plans drawn up by the RCMP and the CBSA however declined to enter specifics.
With information from CTV Nationwide Information
