Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 23, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba AGENDA: Presentation by LQI and MRA on the proposed extension of the Quarry, recap of the Community Consultation Process, followed by a Q & A session. Anyone present can share comments, concerns and/ or suggestions they have. This meeting will be recorded. DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 2025 LOCATION: Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88 033406249?pwd=rg3ZOEBZHbJ dWGEcor4gaLoljzpkES.1 MEETING ID: 880 3340 6249 PASSCODE: lilyfield TIME: 6:00PM CST Contact Us: Lilyfield Quarry Inc. (LQI) has submitted an application for a quarry permit for the extension of the existing quarry as per RM of Rosser Quarry Operation By-Law 8-15. You are invited to a Community Consultation Meeting (CCM). VIEW THE APPLICATION AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS L E A R N M O R E info@mrichard.ca 204-202-7672 mrichardassociates.ca /lilyfieldquarry Note: All interested Persons are invited, no less than 20 days prior to the CCM, to provide in writing to the Quarry Operator (admin@hmcl) any comments, suggestions, and/or concerns that arise from a review of the Quarry Operator’s Application. The entire Application may be reviewed at the Municipal Office (77 E PR 221, Rosser, MB, admin@rmofrosser.com), on the project website (mrichard.ca/lilyfieldquarry) or from LQI (admin@hmcl). J O I N M E E T I N G PLEASE NOTE THE RESCHEDULED DATE OF MARCH 11 TOP NEWS A3 THURSDAY JANUARY 23, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM Moreland worked in Manitoba during the surge of migrants from the U.S. in 2017, during Trump’s first presidency. She said Mounties here have the necessary resources to address a po- tential deluge in crossings that could result from Trump’s threatened depor- tation of illegal migrants in the U.S. The Manitoba government recently announced an unspecified number of conservation officers assigned to the region would be available to respond to border incidents. David Carlson, reeve of Emer- son-Franklin, said there’s a sense in his community that Manitoba is doing its part to stem the flow of illegal mi- grants and illicit drugs on both sides of the border. “It’s good that we have a deterrent,” he said. “If it deters any criminal activ- ity, it’s good for the community.” There’s heightened anxiety about the prospect of a surge in border crossings now that Trump is back in power. He said the community is relieved by the increase in RCMP presence. Carlson said no one wants to see a re- peat of crossings that proved fatal, such as the 2022 incident in which a family from India died after they flew to Can- ada and were dropped off near the bor- der with North Dakota. Jagdishkumar Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben Patel, 37; their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi; and their three-year- old son Dharmik, were found frozen to death in a field about 10 kilometres east of Emerson after trying to sneak into the U.S. as temperatures dipped to -35 C during a mid-January blizzard. The family was among nearly a dozen Indian nationals who had paid traffick- ers to get into the U.S. “We don’t want any more tragedies as we’ve had in the past,” Carlson said. “So if it’s a deterrent or these helicop- ters can intercept and locate somebody quicker, possibly on the ground, we can avoid tragedies in the future.” Not everyone agrees the beefed-up security measures will stem the flow of illegal crossings. Lori Wilkinson, a professor in the sociology and criminology department at the University of Manitoba who holds a Canada research chair in migrant futures, said the strategy will only prompt migrants to take bigger risks. “We’re just going to see more people die,” she said. “Anything we do to try and stem the flow is actually just going to put people’s lives in danger. It’s not going to stem the flow. People just don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to move to Canada.’ That’s not how that happens.” From a human rights perspective, Wilkinson said, nothing will change until the world really starts to care about the issue. “People won’t move if conditions in their home give them hope, give them a job or feed their kids,” she said. Wilkinson acknowledged part of this is out of Canada’s hands, point- ing to what she called Trump’s absurd claim on Tuesday that “millions” of immigrants are pouring over the Can- ada-U.S. border. “He’s lying,” she said. “But the aver- age person doesn’t know that. They don’t eat, breathe and sleep this stuff.” She said that for every immigrant who comes to Canada, 1.1 jobs are cre- ated, and for every refugee the country takes in, that number climbs to 1.9 jobs created, in addition to the jobs filled by refugees. “It pushes more Canadians into bet- ter jobs in most cases because immi- grants take lower-level jobs and people in lower-level jobs get moved into high- er-level jobs,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a perfect storm, and Canada created some of it, too. We’ve had 40 years to fix our housing crisis and we’ve done nothing.” She said the provincial government must shoulder the blame because it is responsible for housing. Alastair Clarke, an immigration law- yer in Winnipeg, said there’s a hefty amount of anxiety south of the border. “We’ve got an influx of people in the United States that are seeking to come to Canada,” Clarke said. “These are both Americans and non-Americans.” Clarke said he has fielded calls from people in Florida, California and Min- nesota who are considering relocating to Canada. “Generally, I’d say a lot of those calls end in frustration because Canada has cut the numbers and the programs and increased the restrictions,” he said. Last week, he received a call from a family in Wisconsin who have a trans- gender child and are afraid of Trump’s presidency. “They talked to me about coming to Canada and filing a refugee claim,” he said. In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would pause population growth by reducing the number of international students, foreign workers and permanent residents allowed into the country. In 2025, Ottawa will accept 395,000 new permanent residents, a reduction from 500,000 last year. Public support for immigration has waned owing to concerns about the stress on housing and social services. Immigration, Refugees and Citizen- ship Canada announced Monday it plans to cut about 3,300 jobs, or about one-quarter of its workforce, over the next three years. Wilkinson maintained that cutting immigration won’t solve the housing crisis. “This war on immigrants we helped create, and it’s around the world, and they just become easy scapegoats that allow politicians to do nothing,” she said. scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca BORDER ● FROM A1 RCMP PHOTO The RCMP has increased security by adding regular Black Hawk helicopter flights along the Manitoba border with the United States. Border town finds itself at centre of Trump appeasement effort Flashpoint Emerson E MERSON — The U.S.-Canada border, once hailed as the “long- est border of peace on Earth,” has become a flash point in bilateral relations. Like much of the 8,891-kilometre frontier, the line dividing this rural town from North Dakota and Minneso- ta is marked by few fences or imposing barriers, a testament to the close ties between the two nations. But now, President Donald Trump is threaten- ing to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing an “inva- sion” of fentanyl and migrants through its northern and southern borders as one justification. Canadian officials bristle at compar- isons to Mexico’s border, where mi- grant and drug trafficking issues far outweigh those on the northern U.S. border. But in an attempt to stave off tariffs, Canada announced a $900-mil- lion border security plan last month. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents apprehend- ed a record number of people at the northern border in the most recent fiscal year, but those apprehensions are minuscule compared to those at the southern border — and are falling. Canadians worry Trump’s immigra- tion crackdown could push migrants north, as was the case during his first term. Emerson — with a population of about 660 — was one of the Canadian communities that saw an increase of irregular border crossers, many trudg- ing across prairie fields through waist- deep snow in harrowing journeys. “We don’t have the resources for a huge influx,” said David Carlson, the reeve of the municipality of Emer- son-Franklin. “I don’t know how we would handle it.” Illegal crossings from Canada are dwarfed by those from Mexico Many irregular crossings from Canada occur in the U.S. Border Pa- trol’s Swanton Sector, a 475-kilometre stretch of border separating Quebec and Ontario from Vermont, New York and New Hampshire. David Favro, the sheriff of Clinton County, N.Y., said locals have found migrants who’ve crossed from Quebec hiding in barns, trailers and aban- doned buildings. Crossing is danger- ous, particularly at night and in winter, and his office is often called to rescue migrants who are lost or hypothermic. “We have a lot of technology up here,” Favro told The Washington Post. “But there’s not enough boots on the ground from the Border Patrol to even respond.” U.S. border agents apprehended 23,721 people at the northern border in fiscal year 2024, according to CBP data — a sharp increase from 10,021 in the 2023 fiscal year and 2,238 the year before that. While the reason for this dramatic increase is unclear, some analysts and Canadian officials suggest it could have been due to migrants acquiring visas to enter Canada as a backdoor to the United States. Under pressure from U.S. officials and premiers, Ottawa last year imposed visa requirements on Mexicans to address these concerns. Still, apprehensions on the northern border account for 1.5 percent of those at U.S. land borders. After peaking in June, irregular crossings from Canada have also fallen. U.S. agents made 510 arrests along the world’s longest border in December, or 16 per day on average. Illegal crossings in the Swan- ton Sector area fell by 89 percent from June to December. Canada is putting Black Hawk helicopters on the border The border security plan announced by Canadian officials last month includes an aerial surveillance task force, Black Hawk helicopters, drones and new technology to detect fentanyl. Officials here said Monday they received “positive feedback” on the plan over the weekend from Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan. But hours later, Trump told reporters that he’s still “thinking” of imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 “be- cause they’re allowing vast numbers of people … to come in and fentanyl to come in.” U.S. authorities confiscated 43 pounds of fentanyl at the northern border in the most recent fiscal year — 0.2 percent of the volume seized at the U.S.-Mexico border. Canadian officials also plan to propose to their U.S. counterparts the creation of a joint task force to target organized crime groups responsible for irregular border crossings. Smugglers on the U.S.-Canada bor- der can make from $300 to $20,000 per person, according to Canadian authori- ties and a Post review of court records. Some advertise their services on social media. One Instagram account touts “fully safe” crossings from Montreal to the United States: “30 min walk no arrest no camp,” it says. “No one should listen to the lies of smugglers; individuals who cross ir- regularly will be subject to removal if they do not have a legal basis to remain and will lose the ability to benefit from lawful pathways,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement. A history of deadly crossings weighs heavily in Emerson On a bitterly cold morning this month, Sgt. Lance Goldau steered his truck across the snow-blanketed prai- rie to “hot spots” for migrant crossings into Emerson, a mixture of gravel, snow and ice crunching underneath. The head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s border enforcement team in Manitoba kept his eyes peeled for footsteps in the snow and items migrants might have left behind. In Emerson, where everyone knows everyone, locals are a useful source of tips, he said. Trump has complained about irreg- ular crossings into the U.S. from Cana- da. But after his election in November, officials here have been preparing for a surge in crossings in the opposite direction — a repeat of what happened during his first term. Under the Safe Third Country Agree- ment, which went into effect in 2004, Canada could turn back asylum seek- ers attempting to enter from the U.S. — and vice versa — but it applied only at official border crossings. Asylum seekers could still enter at unautho- rized crossings to make their claims. Tens of thousands of asylum seekers began to cross into Canada at unof- ficial crossings beginning in 2017 as Trump sought to limit immigration and asylum, most of them crossing through a footpath in Quebec. The agreement was expanded to include the entire land border in 2023. Advo- cates warned that would push migrants to make riskier journeys. The perils of irregular crossings weigh heavily here. In 2017, a Ghanaian woman died of hypothermia just south of Emerson. Several migrants attempting to enter Canada have lost limbs to frostbite over the years. Migrants are “not dressed properly for the climate,” Goldau said. “It poses a huge safety risk.” In 2022, four members of an Indian family, including an infant, froze to death in a blizzard near Emerson while trying to cross into the United States. It was -35 C. One of the smugglers tex- ted his wife: “They going to die before they get here.” A MINNESOTA jury in November convicted two men in the case. U.S. prosecutors alleged that they were part of a large operation that brought Indian nationals to Canada on student visas and smuggled them across the border. Irregular crossings into Canada have continued, even if in smaller numbers. At the Emerson-Pem- bina Border Crossing station, the fourth-busiest on the northern border, authorities said there were contingen- cy plans in case of another surge. In one room, the belongings of two men who had walked across a field into Canada last week were piled into buckets as the Canada Border Ser- vices Agency processed their claims. They were part of a group of six that an RCMP aircraft had spotted. The others had been sent back to the United States, authorities said. Cross-border ties run deep in Emer- son, a town named for the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. Fami- lies and friendships span the frontier. Firefighters from one side respond to wildfires on the other. And authorities rely on cross-border collaboration to respond to migrant crossings. In November, U.S. Border Patrol alerted the RCMP that a group of six migrants was heading their way, allowing Canadian authorities and a police dog named Mack to intercept them, Goldau said. Lyndi Needham owns the Red Roost Motel in Pembina, N.D., on the opposite side of the border. She said the town of 500 is ill-equipped to help the migrants who gather there before or after their crossings. “We don’t have a food pantry,” Need- ham said. “We have no transportation services of any kind. … These needy people show up here and we have almost nothing to offer them.” Still, she added, “what we have here is not the mess that happens on the southern border.” — The Washington Post AMANDA COLETTA TOM GRUBER / THE WASHINGTON POST Cars line up to enter the U.S. at the Emerson-Pembina border crossing this month. ;