Posted at 6:00 p.m.
(Ottawa) 1- What is the case about?
The plaintiffs are nationals of El Salvador, Syria and Ethiopia who were deported to the United States after arriving in Canada through an official border crossing – so there is no question of unofficial ports of entry such as Roxham Road. The groups, which are arguing the case on their behalf, believe these deportations violate Section 7 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees “the right to life, liberty and security” as migrants are at risk of being in the United States to be imprisoned. or even deported to the country of origin from which they fled.
2- What is the position of the federal government?
As they expected, federal prosecutors defended the agreement signed in 2002 in the Supreme Court hearing last October. “It’s not about a return to the country of persecution,” emphasized Marianne Zoric. In a democracy like that of the United States, the judicial system must be assumed to be fair and just. Judge Malcolm Rowe had made similar comments. “Are you saying that in a country of 350 million people, where more than 2 million people enter illegally every year, we can no longer deport a person because a handful of people are not treated appropriately? ‘ he had addressed the attorney for the Canadian Council for Refugees.
3 – What happens if the Supreme Court finds the agreement unconstitutional?
Good luck to anyone who knows the answer to this question. “Once the decision is made, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will review the results and determine next steps. We currently have no further information to share,” wrote Rémi Larivière, spokesman for the ministry. In short, the government doesn’t want to say a word about the contingency plans it has developed, if any. “If that happens, and that’s a big ‘if’, nothing will happen in the morning. The court would give the government room to adjust,” notes University of Ottawa law professor Joao Velloso.
4– What is the probability of this happening?
They are thin, says – cautiously – Hélène Mayrand, a full professor at Sherbrooke University Law School. “The federal appeals court had said that this was the wrong way to challenge the agreement, that the appellants should have challenged it administratively, not the charter,” he explains. -She. I think the main task of the Supreme Court will be to decide which remedy is the right one. In short: don’t expect a bang: “I think that it will be very disappointing for the general public, but that law professors and lawyers in this field will all be watching with great interest”, summarizes Ms. Mayrand, reminding that this is the third is time that the pact was challenged in court.
5 – What happens if the court finds that the agreement is consistent with the Charter?
This is simpler: everything indicates that we will move forward with the new frame of reference of the agreement, reviewed and corrected during Joe Biden’s visit to Canada, after which the agreement will apply along the border and that will take in 15,000 migrants from the western hemisphere will be welcomed to Canada in a year. Nearly three months later, Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser admitted Tuesday that the terms of the directive are still pending. “There are still some elements that need to be clarified, for example to see how we can integrate both humanitarian and economic issues into a program that would have the potential to become broader,” he said. I may have an opportunity to visit my counterparts in Washington next week, depending on the House of Commons schedule,” added Mr Fraser.
6 – By the way, how has the situation at the irregular entry points developed?
In a radical way. As we said earlier, the Supreme Court’s decision does not address the violation that caused the revision of the agreement to fail. But we only have to scan the figures from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to see how much the situation has changed: in April 2023 there were 85 arrests, 69 of them in Quebec. In April 2022 there were 2,805. The Canada Border Services Agency processed 618 applications between specific ports of entry between March 25 and May 28. In 2022 there were 7465 for the months of April and May.
The story so far
2002
In a post-9/11 context as countries tighten border controls, Canada and the United States sign the Safe Third Countries Agreement. The agreement will enter into force in 2004.
2017
Asylum seekers bring their cases to federal court, along with organizations such as Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees. In July 2020, the court rules that the agreement violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
2021
The Federal Court of Appeals reversed that judgment. Subsequently, the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case in December 2021; The negotiations will take place in October 2022.