Cornwall, Ont. prepares for potential influx of asylum seekers following U.S. election
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.
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
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
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.
Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person
The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.