Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is saying that law-breaking should not be rewarded following Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s promise to offer illegal immigrants a pathway to legal residency.
Miller said in an interview last week the federal Liberal government was putting together a “broad and comprehensive program” that would allow for immigrants in Canada illegally to acquire permanent residency.
In an exclusive interview on True North’s Andrew Lawton Show, Poilievre rejected “systematic illegal immigration.”
“I support lawful immigration. People have to come in the right way. We can’t have systematic illegal immigration as the Liberals presided over with the Roxham Road, that they persisted for many many years and other forms of illegal entry,” Poilievre told Lawton in the interview, which premieres Monday at 1 p.m. ET.
“It causes chaos in the system and it also creates resentment among the people who actually followed the rules. When I’m prime minister, we’ll restore lawful immigration and we’ll make sure there are no perverse incentives for people to break the law to get in.”
Lawton pressed Poilievre for not giving a direct, yes or no response to the question of amnesty for people who arrived in Canada illegally, and asked again, referencing Poilievre’s now infamous apple munching exchange with a B.C. reporter in October.
“Don’t apple me for misrepresenting what you’re saying, but are you saying no amnesty?” asked Lawton.
“Well I think what he’s saying (referring to Miller) is he wants a path to permanency. I think permanency should be given to people who come here lawfully, not to people who deliberately broke the rules to get into the country,” said Poilievre.
Miller’s proposal would aim to regularize the status of individuals who entered Canada illegally and those who entered legally but overstayed their visas.
Miller acknowledged the divisive nature of the policy, but said this just means there is a need for a “greater conversation as a country.”
“The conversation on regularizing people that are here, and by my estimation – my belief – should be Canadian, is not one that’s unanimous in the country,” he said. “We have to have a greater conversation as a country about that.”
The year-end interview between Poilievre and Lawton also covered inflation, immigration’s effect on the housing crisis, and the Israel-Hamas war.
