Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, MP Emanuel Dubourg, left, and Ahmed Hussen, right, Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, meet with Haitian community leaders in Montreal on August 23, 2017. A Montreal-area MP says he's learned that many Haitians in Miami have been misinformed about what it takes to come to Canada. Emmanuel Dubourg says he's seen social media posts falsely claiming Canada has a special residency program for Haitians and that Canadian officials are in the United States to facilitate their entry.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
August 26, 2017 - 6:00 AM
MIAMI - A Montreal-area MP says he's learned that many Haitians in Miami have been misinformed about what it takes to come to Canada.
Emmanuel Dubourg says he's seen social media posts falsely claiming Canada has a special residency program for Haitians and that Canadian officials are in the United States to facilitate their entry.
The Haitian-Canadian MP addressed the media Friday from Miami, where he spent two days speaking to local leaders about the influx of mostly Haitian asylum seekers who have crossed the border into Canada in recent weeks.
Upwards of 7,000 people have been stopped illegally crossing into Canada since June, the vast majority intent on seeking asylum.
Dubourg said he spoke on Creole-language media outlets to dissuade people from selling everything they own and leaving stable situations to come to Canada when only about half of the asylum claims from Haitian nationals were successful last year.
The Liberal MP did not give specifics on how the government would counter the misinformation, saying only he would discuss what he's learned with the other members of a newly established federal-provincial task force in order to develop solutions.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017