Senator Gold: Obviously, the situation at Roxham Road is having a financial impact, but there’s a much broader issue at play here. This also involves our international obligations to refugees and our commitment as a country with fundamental values, which means that those who come here are treated in an appropriate and humane manner. The Government of Canada is working with the Government of Quebec and also, as I said in response to your earlier question, the U.S. government in this regard to find a fair and equitable solution for everyone, including both Canadian taxpayers and those seeking asylum here in Canada.

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Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I want to come back to the problem of Roxham Road, which is still very accessible, allowing for illegal border crossings into Canada and allowing unscrupulous smugglers to make money by extorting poor people. Despite the lofty promises your government has been making over and over again for over a year, stating that it is negotiating a new agreement with the Americans, we can only say that nothing has changed. Despite millions in questionable spending to obtain immigration advice from the McKinsey firm, nothing has changed.

On December 14, the Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, said that an agreement had been reached with the Americans. Two weeks ago, the Minister of Immigration, Sean Fraser, said the opposite. Somebody is going to have to tell us the truth. I have some questions. Who’s telling the truth and who’s lying? Where do we stand?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Leader, let’s continue in the same vein of the question that Senator Dagenais raised about Roxham Road.

The Trudeau government has done nothing — absolutely nothing — to fix the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States and has presided over massive backlogs at the immigration department for people waiting patiently to come to Canada legally.

Last weekend, leader, the New York Post reported that U.S. National Guard soldiers have been distributing free bus tickets at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to asylum seekers in order to take them to our border so they can illegally enter Canada at Roxham Road in your province and that of Senator Dagenais.

When did the Trudeau government learn that American authorities are giving free bus tickets to people seeking to cross into Canada at Roxham Road? If you don’t have the answer, please get it for us. Has your government raised that practice with the Biden Administration, and if not, why not?

Senator Plett: In December, leader, the RCMP intercepted 4,689 people at Roxham Road. This is more than the total number of people who entered Canada at Roxham Road in all of 2021 combined. The situation is getting worse, yet the Trudeau government told Canadians last month not to expect a resolution to this when the Prime Minister meets with President Biden in March.

If you’re not going to fix the agreement with the Americans anytime soon, what exactly is the Trudeau government’s answer to Roxham Road, leader? Is it for the immigration department to keep giving taxpayer money to Liberal-friendly consultants at McKinsey?