This week, the Liberals are expected to sign a document that many of you have shared your views on: the UN Compact for Migration.
I am opposed to Canada signing this document. I believe in secure borders and a safe and orderly immigration system. Canadians should make decisions about who comes into this country and under what circumstances – not the UN.
That’s why Conservatives introduced a motion calling on the Liberals to cancel their plan to sign the document. If they proceed to sign it anyway, a Conservative government will withdraw from the Compact. Like many UN initiatives, this compact is non-binding. However, we know that the Liberals are willing to use non-binding, ‘aspirational’ UN documents to shape their policies and legislation. In fact, the government admits non-binding agreements like the GCM can become customary international law and inform the interpretation of domestic law. If the Compact is truly non-binding and will have no concrete impacts, why does Canada need to sign it at all?
Instead of committing Canada to multinational migration agreements that could infringe on our sovereignty, the Liberals should focus on fixing the crisis the Prime Minister created at the Canada-US border. The Parliamentary Budget Officer found that the border crisis will cost taxpayers $1.1 billion by 2020 if left unaddressed.
That is an unacceptably high cost for a situation that should never have been allowed to spiral out-of-control in the first place. And we still have no cost estimates for what the Compact for Migration might cost us.
In contrast to the Liberals’ mishandling of this issue, Conservatives have a strong track of record of responsibly managing Canada’s immigration system. Our first steps to getting our system back on track will be securing our border and withdrawing from the UN Compact for Migration.
I can be reached in Ottawa at martin.shields@parl.gc.ca. My Brooks office can be reached at 403-793-6775 or martin.shields.c1@parl.gc.ca, and my Strathmore office at 403-361-2980 or martin.shields.c1B@parl.gc.ca. Please don’t hesitate to contact me about any federal issue.
