Regaining access to Canada’s third largest market for beef is beneficial for Alberta producers, but Conservative deputy critic of rural affairs Arnold Viersen says Mexico’s desire to have visa restrictions lifted — a reversal of a 2009 action by the former Harper government to stem the tide of false refugee claims, could prove to be a detriment long-term.
“We are quite excited about the beef ban being lifted,” Viersen said in a telephone interview on July 4, adding in his opinion Canadian ranchers, and especially Albertan beef producers, have the best tasting beef in the world.
“We [the federal government] believe Mexicans should have access to it,” he said. Canada pursues open borders and free trade generally, Viersen said, but added that when it comes to the issue of visa restrictions, it is concerning.
“In the past, what was happening, we had a lot of people coming to Canada through Mexico claiming refugee status and many of those claims were false,” he said, adding that due to the surge in the number of Mexican nationals falsely claiming that status, the former Conservative government instituted visa requirements for Mexicans in 2009.
The evident decline in the number of asylum seekers, he said, indicates the system is working well.
According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, between 2005 and 2008, the number of asylum claims tripled and Mexican nationals accounted for approximately 25 per cent.
In 2009, there were over 9,500 claims alone.
“Canada has responsibility for its own borders and to make a trade like this, one for the other, is not necessarily a good idea. They are two completely different realms and we [the Conservative Party] would rather see a decision be made on one thing based on the best interests of Canada. This is a positive and a negative, playing one off the other,” Viersen said, adding in his opinion the Liberals claim the move is based on evidence contrary to that which was provided by the Harper government.
“They continue to ignore our calls for visa exemptions, or to even hold a review on visa exemptions, and they just unilaterally passed this without giving any real rationale other than saying ‘hey we’ve got the beef ban lifted’ you know? What about the refugee claims we had to deal with before? Immigration Canada is already completely overwhelmed with the Syrian refugee crisis we are currently dealing with, and if we get a rash of false Mexican refugees now as well, that will clog up the system even more. That is a real concern for us.”
Moving forward, Viersen said it is hard to speculate on what is going to happen next.
“On the one hand, it is going to be exciting because of the new market access for Alberta’s beef – Mexico typically has been our third largest market, and this can only be good for the producers in our province,” Viersen said, adding that as far as false refugee claimants, this could prove to have a negative impact on Canada.
“We could see a spike in this, but we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out,” he said.
