Cory Morgan: Canada Must Act at Once to Fix Immigration, Border Security and Avoid US Tariffs

Commentary

President-elect Donald Trump brought Canada’s porous border with the United States into focus when he threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods if the border isn’t brought under control. While immigrants and drugs aren’t passing into the USA from Canada in volumes like those crossing at the Mexican border, the United States has valid concerns with its northern neighbour. Terror suspects are the most troublesome export crossing into the United States from Canada.

Last year, 410 suspected terrorists were caught at land crossings trying to enter the United States. Of those, 87 percent were coming from Canada. The border between Canada and the USA is 8,891 kilometres, making it the longest international border in the world. Much of the border is in isolated areas, making it logistically nearly impossible for Canada to effectively control outward migration in non-sanctioned crossings. That means if Canada is to stem the outward flow of terror suspects into the USA, it must begin by controlling immigration into Canada itself. This will be a monumental task as Canada’s immigration system is a backlogged catastrophe.

The federal government recently admitted it made mistakes with immigration and is making plans to reduce the number of newcomers entering Canada. While reducing the flow of incoming people into the country is required, it won’t address the current mess created by years of mass immigration.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is sitting on a backlog of 1.1 million applications, and the list is still growing. Simply throwing more money at IRCC or hiring more bureaucrats won’t help with this problem. The IRCC department more than doubled its staff from 5,342 employees in 2013 to 12,949 employees in 2023, and the addition of staff appears to have made the department even slower and more inefficient. The entire department must be scrutinized and reformed, and we can’t afford to move slowly.

The time frames offered by the IRCC to process refugee applications are shocking. Projected wait times for refugee applications are 24 months. If the application is rejected, an appeal is almost always initiated and the average time for an appeal is 12 months. The numbers are ridiculous and unacceptable. Meanwhile, if an inappropriate person manages to get onto Canadian soil and makes a refugee application, they will have three years to game the Canadian system before a final decision is made to deport them.

Speaking of deportation, Canada has been using an honour system when it comes to removing people from the country when their visas expire or their applications for residency are rejected. Unsurprisingly, deportees tend to disappear rather than report to an airport to be sent home. In 2020, it was reported that the Canadian Border Services Agency had lost track of 34,700 people who were supposed to be deported. There is little doubt that many of them headed south of the border. The Liberal government’s plan to reduce immigration numbers in Canada is counting on 2.4 million non-permanent residents to voluntarily either leave the country or change their residency status within the next two years. It’s an absurd expectation.

As a nation that thrives on immigration to bolster economic growth, Canada should have one of the most efficient immigration processing systems in the world. The government must put the IRCC under a microscope with the intention to mercilessly reform the bureaucracy. Having immigrants caught in limbo for years at a time while applications are hung up on processing is unacceptable. It’s unfair to the immigrants trying to make a new home in Canada, and it’s straining national social services as unprocessed immigrants await rulings. It’s also a system that invites abuse through human trafficking and makes Canada an ideal jumping-off point for terrorist-minded people to enter the USA.

Canada should be beefing up border security with its largest ally and trading partner to the south, and it sounds like the prime minister and several premiers intend to do so. Domestic fentanyl production and exports are growing problems that Canadian policing must address as well as the money laundering associated with it. While Mexico has a larger problem with narcotic trafficking and organized crime than Canada does, permissive Canadian drug policies are setting Canada on the wrong track.

The United States must see Canada as a safe, stable, ally and trading partner. President-elect Trump wanted to get our attention when he threatened tariffs, and he got it. Trump needs more than our attention, though. He needs to see action. If Canada can’t maintain and control its immigration processes and numbers, it will continue to draw the ire of Trump. If the tariffs are imposed, the economic impact will be crippling.

Canada must get its act together right now.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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