Trudeau government seeks collaboration at first meeting with new Alberta premierhttps://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trudeau-govt-seeks-collaboration-first-meeting-with-new-alberta-premier-2023-06-15/Canada’s top court upholds ‘Safe Third Country’ refugee agreementThe Supreme Court ruling shores up Trudeau’s immigration stance
OTTAWA, Ont. — Canada’s top court upheld the Safe Third Country Agreement, delivering a win for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government despite the law’s severe restrictions on a person’s ability to claim refugee status in Canada.
Refugee advocates, human rights groups and the left-wing New Democratic Party have long called for the nearly two-decade old Canada-U.S. pact to be scrapped.
The Federal Court found the law to be unconstitutional in 2020 for violating their right to life, liberty and security since they are deflected back to the U.S. and wind up in detention, sometimes under solitary confinement or inhumane conditions, and can face deportation to the countries they are fleeing.
But the Trudeau government, which has opted for a politically risk-averse, centrist approach to refugee policy, appealed and it made its way to Canada’s Supreme Court.
The pact sets out that claimants must file in the first “safe” country they arrive in, allowing the country to turn asylum seekers back from Canada-U.S. border checkpoints.
But many have gotten around it by entering Canada through unofficial crossings, where they can claim asylum once they are caught by authorities. That grew into a hot-button political issue in recent years, particularly in the province of Quebec.
Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden negotiated an update to the agreement during their bilateral meeting in March to address that.
Speaking ahead of the ruling, Christina Clark-Kazak, associate professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa, said an outcome like this would help Trudeau to solidify his political position on the agreement.
It could lend the government the “traction” and the credibility that it “sorely needs” after it invested “a lot of political capital” into keeping the agreement alive through legal appeals and a lengthy process of revising it with the U.S.
In the wake of the ruling, immigration advocates involved in the case expressed disappointment it was not struck down and called on the government to suspend the law.
Gauri Sreenivasan, one of the leaders of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said the pact endangers the “lives of people seeking protection and tarnishes Canada’s identity as a compassionate and welcoming nation.”
And it can send them into the arms of smugglers to get into the country, or they may try to enter at dangerous border crossings.
But Immigration Minister Sean Fraser swiftly defended the agreement and its recent expansion.
“We’re not engaged in a conversation internally about suspending the agreement we achieved with the United States through significant months and in fact years of work immediately after the Supreme Court confirms its validity.”
Canada’s highest court did, however, open the door for another challenge.
It referred a lower court to examine whether the agreement violates people’s right to equality under Canada’s constitution.
Rights groups argued it does violate that right, since the U.S. does not consider gender-based persecution as a reason to make a refugee claim.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/16/canada-upholds-safe-third-country-refuge-agreement-00102392
