About those “falling” border crossing numbers

It’s been interesting to watch the Trudeau Liberals claim simultaneously that there is no problem on the border and that they are fixing the problem that they claim does not exist.

That is what has been happening these past few days. Anyone questioning the government on the immigration file holds views that are “not Canadian” according to the minister.

The Liberals have also put on a full court press against using the word illegal even though their own immigration minister said he used the word and was fine with it just a few months ago.

Games being played.

At the same time as all of this is happening, Ahmed Hussen, Trudeau’s immigration minister, is out there saying that there is no problem at the border.

Why?

He fixed it!

Did he? No, not by a long shot.

What the Liberals are touting is that for the second month in a row the number of people crossing the border illegally and being intercepted by the RCMP fell. Media outlets have been dutifully reporting that the numbers fell by half from April to June.

What they don’t tell you is that the numbers are still up year over year.

In June of 2017 a total of 884 people were intercepted by the Mounties. This June it was 1,263, an increase of 43% over last year.

Another reason not to roll out the “mission accomplished” banner just yet is that last July the numbers spiked to over 3,000 and in August to over 5,000.

Cities demand help.

Cities like Toronto and Ottawa in Ontario, Montreal in Quebec, have been asking for the federal government to pay up for the costs they are incurring.

So far the feds are offering little.

On June 1, 2018 Minister Hussen announced that they had set aside $50 million to offset housing, social assistance and other costs. So far, none of that money has been delivered.

Quebec was promised $36 million, Ontario $11 million and Manitoba $3 million. It barely scratches the surface. Ontario’s share is just 6% of what the province said they have spent so far.

The response from Trudeau and Hussen?

They made an announcement that they would fund housing in Toronto. It was a press release with zero details and zero dollars attached.

Trudeau and company are starting to feel the heat of creating a problem and not having a solution or the funds to pay for it. This announcement was desperation.

At the Commons immigration committee on Monday the Trudeau Liberals were at it again. They wanted to claim there was no problem and that they had fixed the problem.

They want to say there is nothing illegal about crossing the border at Roxham Road. To do that requires ignoring the government signs, tweets, documents and statements by Hussen himself.

The Trudeau Liberals seriously do not have a clue on this file, a point Canadians have caught on to.

Let’s see how long they keep up the charade.