As the possibility of mass deportations looms following Donald Trump’s re-election on Tuesday, border towns like the City of Cornwall are preparing for a potential influx of asylum seekers.
“The initial response is panic,” says Steve Densley, a local resident.
“This is a good thing and immigration is what Canada is known for. We’ll have more people that are coming and they will work. They will get jobs, and they’ll commit to society like it’s always been.”
The RCMP are on ‘high alert’ as many fear an increase in migrants seeking refuge in Canada, particularly in Quebec, and other border towns.
“We’re probably going to have more officers on the ground, more roving patrols,” says Sgt. Charles Poirier of the RCMP.
“And depending on the scale of it all we might have to rent a space, buy some buildings like we did in the past, buy some more police cruisers, charge some buses like we’ve done in the past.”
Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale anticipates an increase in asylum seekers in the coming months before Trump takes office in January and is urging the federal government for more funding to handle the expected surge.
Earlier this year, the federal government ended funding for temporary refugee housing at the Dev Centre in the city, where 500 migrants, including children, were forced to find new accommodation.
“We’re happy to do it again, we’re ready to do it again and we have enough experience to do it again, but I would once again reiterate my calls to the federal government to help us out in that regard. We’re still looking for assistance with the cost that we incurred at an administrative level,” said Towndale.
“We’re just asking for our fair share and the federal government has been very, very, very generous to cities like Toronto and Ottawa and much, much larger municipalities.”
Martha Woods, executive director with the Eastern Ontario Training Board, which offers employment services to newcomers, says local groups such as theirs are ready to provide all the necessary services.
“From housing, to schooling, to legal aid, clothing to household items, there’s a lot that goes into it,” said Woods.
“It has happened before so if it happens again, we’re definitely ready for it. It will be a conversation around the table at our next local immigration partnership meeting in terms of if we do see that influx we will be ready with boots on the ground again.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the revival of a special cabinet committee dedicated to Canada-U.S. relations focusing on “critical” issues between the two countries. Among the cabinet ministers sitting on the committee is Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he was briefed on contingency plans drawn up by the RCMP and the CBSA but declined to go into specifics.
With files from CTV National News