Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Minister, thank you for being with us. We are always very grateful for your presence at the committee.
You began your opening remarks by saying that democracies around the world are being put to the test. Since last Tuesday, I have the impression that many things will be tested in the United States, particularly the safety of people on American soil. Before being elected, Donald Trump promised to expel several million people. It would be mostly illegal immigrants or asylum seekers, which could be as many as 20 million.
We can imagine that many of them will want to come to Canada. The number of Google searches on how to immigrate to Canada has increased dramatically since Tuesday.
You will probably tell me that the safe third country agreement between Canada and the United States provides that Canada can automatically deport people who arrive at the border if they have already claimed asylum in the United States. However, there's a loophole in this agreement, namely the 14-day rule. A person who enters Canada secretly without being detected within 14 days can make a proper asylum claim by presenting themselves to the authorities or making a refugee claim through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada portal.
This rule is rather unique, because it means that, in order to comply with the law, people must first break it by travelling to Canada illegally, by hiding.
We're already seeing smugglers getting ready to hide people and getting ready to make a lot of money. We can think of young women who are hidden in apartments across Canada for 14 days. God knows what the smugglers will do with these women so that, 14 days later, they can claim asylum in Canada legally.
I know you've just been appointed vice-chair of the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations, and I'd like to congratulate you on that.
In that role, what will you do to prevent a significant number of migrants from arriving in Canada not irregularly but outright illegally, since Canada's intake capacities have almost already been reached?