Eliminate the mexican visa cost$ 30 Million to customs

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With the elimination of the visas imposed on mexican visitors in 2009, Canada expects a new wave of asylum seekers to this country. We will inject so$ 30 million next year in the border services Agency of Canada to deal with it.

Christopher Nardi

Saturday, 16 December 2017 00:09

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Saturday, 16 December 2017 00:09

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OTTAWA | The decision of the Trudeau government to cancel the visa requirement for Mexicans was imposed by the Harper government in 2009 will cost not less than $ 30 million next year to the border services only. An expensive choice that in fact jump more than one.

“Once again, we see that the government makes policy decisions without regard for the price,” says Carl Vallée, a former press secretary under Stephen Harper, today quebec director of the canadian taxpayers Federation (FCC).

In 2009, before a significant increase in the number of asylum-seekers from Mexico, the conservative government had decided to require that all travelers of this country arm themselves for a visa if they wanted to enter Canada.

At this time, we wanted to reduce the high number of asylum requests from Mexicans in limiting those who could travel here.

It was thought that the implementation of this initiative would cost between$ 180 Million and$ 300 Million over five years. However, a few months after his arrival to power in 2015, Justin Trudeau decided that Canada would free at the end of 2016. No costs had been unveiled at this time.

Finally, the financial documents of the Agency of Canada border services (CBSA), obtained by The Journal reveal that the decision of Trudeau’t cost less than$ 29.1 Million in the next year. This without counting the costs to other government departments, such as Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

New agents

Of this amount,$ 10 Million will be used to train new border agents to manage the expected increase of asylum requests from Mexico;$ 9.6 Million will go to the ” hearings, detention, investigations, and referral of asylum-seekers “.

However, the amount appears to be exorbitant for the simple elimination of a visa, according to the conservative mp Gérard Deltell.

“How is it that we can expect public servants to a rigorous management of expenditure when the government which runs them does not do it himself ?” asks the critic of the treasury Board.

Mend relations

On the government side, it was explained that the decision to eliminate the mexican visa was to “repair and strengthen our relationship” with Mexico, which would have been “considerably damaged” by the conservative government.

It is estimated that mexicans spent more than$ 250 Million in Canada in the first six months after the disappearance of the visa.

“The lifting of the visa will also help improve the bilateral relations, increase business opportunities and increase investment and stimulate tourism. The result will be lasting economic benefits, ” said a spokesman for the Immigration minister, Hursh Jaswal.

Costs of the decision

• Preliminary check: $0.4 Million
• Determination of the asylum: $9.6 Million
• Network of international liaison officers: $2.2 M
• Treatment at entry points: $1.9 M
• Law enforcement inside of the country: $1.8 M
• Establishment of a specialized team: $10.5 Million
• Management and monitoring: $0.3 Million
• Legal fees: $0.3 Million
• Organizational support: $2.1 Million

►Total for 2017-2018:$29.1 Million