Bloc, NDP slam Tory MP over refusal to help Quebec family of refugees facing deportation | 24CA News

After a Quebec Conservative MP refused to assist migrants in his driving keep away from deportation and characterised them as “illegal refugees,” a member of their household is looking the feedback “offensive” and “ignorant.”

Leticia Cruz and her son arrived in Canada by way of Roxham Road, an unofficial border crossing south of Montreal, in 2018 to hitch their family, mentioned her brother-in-law Jose Nicola Lopez.

In an interview with The Canadian Press in French, Lopez mentioned Cruz travelled from the U.S. to hitch household in Canada as a result of she feared being expelled attributable to insurance policies beneath the administration of then-president Donald Trump. She additionally feared a return to El Salvador, he mentioned, the place she may have been a goal for road gangs.

Returning to the nation can be “putting one’s life in danger,” he mentioned.

Lopez is becoming a member of a refrain of federal politicians from different events who’re asking Conservative MP Richard Martel to rethink the feedback he made when discussing the household in a Radio-Canada interview revealed on Tuesday.

“I think he should at least say that it’s possible he miscalculated his words and that he should revisit them, and make a public apology,” mentioned Lopez, including that he himself immigrated to Canada 24 years in the past and is proud to have since develop into a citizen.

Liberal ministers and Bloc Quebecois and New DemocratMPs roundly criticized Martel for his feedback on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Quebec premier ‘more optimistic’ on well being funding deal after assembly with Trudeau

Like Cruz, hundreds of asylum seekers have entered Canada between official ports of entry lately after which made a refugee declare as soon as they have been on Canadian soil. Those who arrive at official border crossings are forbidden from doing so beneath the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States.

Bloc MP Mario Simard mentioned Martel, who didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Tuesday, shouldn’t have merely dismissed the household as “illegal” with out figuring out any particulars about their story.

Simard mentioned he labored with federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to assist the household keep away from deportation earlier this month after Martel declined to do the identical.

“It is deeply disappointing to hear that any member of Parliament would refuse to even look at a plea for assistance from families in need simply because of how they came to Canada,” Fraser mentioned Tuesday in a written assertion supplied by his workplace.

“The decision by Conservative MP Richard Martel to turn his back on a family in need by labelling them as illegal is inconsistent with the values of compassion and inclusivity that we hold dear as Canadians.”

Fraser added whereas debate on immigration on coverage is wholesome, MPs ought to take a “humane” method to the difficulty, “without resorting to harmful labels and divisive categorization.”

Simard, talking in French, known as on Martel to apologize and mentioned he desires to see Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre make it clear that “illegal immigrants” don’t exist.

Issues round Roxham Road might be mentioned whereas nonetheless displaying folks humanity, he added.

A spokesperson for the social gathering who was requested for remark from Poilievre as an alternative supplied a press release by Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus, the Quebec lieutenant.

4:34
Helping newcomers to Canada have a contented vacation season

Previous Video

Next Video

Paul-Hus mentioned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has “opened the floodgates to unlawful entry” as he fails to deal with an immigration utility backlog.

Conservatives assist having an “open, inclusive and diverse country, but also one that protects our borders, respects the rule of law and promotes safety,” the assertion mentioned.

“Our members of Parliament assist people of all walks of life and support Canadians who are left behind by the Trudeau government while standing for a fair and compassionate immigration system.”

Paul-Hus’s assertion didn’t deal with Martel’s choice to not help the household due to their immigration standing.

“I would certainly hope that no one would ever discriminate on the basis of refugee status,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino instructed The Canadian Press throughout a year-end interview.

“This is one way in which we can stand up for human rights. Canada’s a beacon when it comes to welcoming refugees.”

Marc Miller, the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and a Montreal-area MP, tweeted in French that Martel’s feedback lacked “humanity and compassion.”

Quebec NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice mentioned if Poilievre is honest about his latest outreach to cultural communities, he ought to ship a transparent message to his MPs “to treat all the refugees equally.”

In his first three months as chief, Poilievre has made a number of journeys to the Greater Toronto Area and travelled to Vancouver to fulfill with new Canadians and members of newcomer communities whose assist the Conservatives need to harness.

One of the messages Poilievre has pushed house is that the federal social gathering helps immigration and the concept of reaching a Canadian dream via laborious work.

“This is really hypocritical,” Boulerice mentioned Tuesday. “If he’s sincere, he’s going to send a clear message to all his MPs to offer services to everyone who needs it.”

Boulerice added that Martel’s response to the household’s request for assistance is “not a human way to to treat people.”

Rudy Husny, a Conservative management candidate within the social gathering’s 2020 race and political analyst, mentioned in an electronic mail that the problem for Poilievre is putting the precise steadiness “between being compassionate, enforcing the rules and having a fair immigration system.”

“Mr. Poilievre needs to find this balance to win the hearts and minds of Canadians,” Husny mentioned.

Husny identified that the Roxham Road crossing stays a significant challenge in Quebec, with Premier François Legault telling reporters it was among the many points he raised on Tuesday when he spoke to Trudeau, who spent the day in Montreal.

Legault mentioned the hundreds of individuals coming into via Roxham Road locations additional strain on the province’s public companies.

Figures supplied by the federal Immigration Department present there have been greater than 33,000 asylum seekers apprehended by the RCMP at irregular border crossings in Quebec between January and October, the newest month for which knowledge is on the market.

— With information from Jim Bronskill