I’m Confused

I know, I know, aren’t we all, most of the time?

Still. Here is the headline and first paragraph from a story in my morning Globe and Mail:

RCMP say they’ve stopped 16 people from crossing illegally into Canada from the United States

“The RCMP has announced it stopped 16 people illegally crossing the American border into the Canadian Prairies over the past three weeks, none of whom appear to be involved in the fentanyl trade.”

So, it is good – I think – that some people have been stopped from entering my country illegally. I rather doubt that people who try to cross into Canada from the US in some barely-populated part of the Prairies are coming to engage in benevolent activities, so yay, RCMP.

But, but…..wasn’t the stated point of the increased Canadian surveillance of the Canada/US border supposed to be to stop people from going the other way? Particularly people who might be ‘involved in the fentanyl trade’?

I have written previously that any increased border surveillance is bound to result in increased apprehension of people crossing the border illegally in both directions, and indeed, here we are. But, but, but….the RCMP announced this at a press conference. The article goes on to say:

“They said the apprehensions are evidence that Canada has control of its side of the international boundary, but wouldn’t connect their announcement directly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that Canada lets migrants and illicit opioids flow freely into his country.”

No, of course they didn’t make that connection because these people were apparently heading north and DJT’s concern is supposedly about people heading south. So again, for whose benefit was this press conference announcement? Me? I rather doubt it.

The article goes on to suggest that most of these people are not from the US, but third countries. It says that some hailed from Jordan, Sudan, Chad and Mauritius in one group that was apprehended. Another group is described as ‘…carrying suitcases and not wearing hats, gloves or “anything that we would normally see” at a temperature of -30’. Those people don’t sound like Americans from North Dakota, do they? Being apprehended by the RCMP probably saved those folks’ lives. Exactly one person is identified in the article as a ‘US man’ who got involved in a police chase in Alberta and ended up dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. That certainly could be someone trying to smuggle drugs or guns into Canada, but it could also be a mentally disturbed individual, and the article says nothing more about him. An investigation is ongoing. Of course it is.

Ok, so this is a confusing post, I admit, because I am indeed confused as to the reason for the RCMP making this worthy of a press conference. None of this seems likely to impress DJT, nor, except for the one US man, who was clearly armed, does it seem like anything that Canadians are terribly worried about was prevented. I am happy that the government’s agents are keeping a closer eye on people moving north illegally across the border, I’m pretty sure about that, but otherwise….I’m just confused.

And here is one final element of confusion, which I will just lay out and leave. I intend to look into it more thoroughly, so stay tuned.

If the other 15 people apprehended by the RCMP really are from third countries, my understanding is that the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement implies they will be sent back to the US. If they are from the US, then again, I would expect they would be sent back there. However, on Feb 1 the Globe published an article with the title “Canada’s border cities, bursting at the seams with asylum seekers, brace for more amid Trump turmoil”

and then the subtitle:

‘From Niagara Falls, Ont., to Surrey, B.C., communities foresee that U.S. policies will send more asylum seekers north, into places ill-equipped to house them’

Niagara Falls is on our border with the US, not Sri Lanka, so these folks almost all surely entered Canada from the US. Why are they being ‘housed’ in Niagara Falls? The article says of Niagara Falls:

‘At its peak more than a year ago, there were nearly 5,000 asylum seekers housed in 11 hotels in the city’s downtown core, dotted with souvenir shops, arcades, amusement rides, indoor water parks and a casino.’

How does this happen? If these were all people who came into Canada from the US, as I presume, why are they not sent back immediately to the US, per the Safe Third Country Agreement? Is it simply that the bureaucracy of this Agreement moves that slowly? If so, maybe that is what needs to be worked on. (I know, good luck with that.) I genuinely do not know, but plan to look into it. As I said, stay tuned, your correspondent will try to get to the bottom of this. Assuming there is a bottom.