Madam Speaker, a new Prime Minister's directive on the land border between Canada and the United States is creating chaos, grief, disorder and disbelief. Workers who were formerly declared essential are now being denied re-entry to Canada, their home, at the Windsor-Detroit border, and face having to remain in the United States, away from their families, with little direction, support or respect from this Prime Minister.
This week my office has received numerous calls from members of the cross-border community in Windsor-Essex County who are denied re-entry to Canada. Nurses, engineers, teachers, business owners and workers in social services, for example, are now penalized. It is rumoured that there is a grid to determine eligibility, but little has been shared or is accountable from the minister's office. How can people plan or be expected to comply when they do not have a directive from the minister?
This situation needs to be altered. These former essential workers have saved lives of Americans and Canadians, and they, as well as people with cancer treatments and other medical appointments in the United States, need to have the support of the Prime Minister and the cabinet and not be denied these life-saving and life-important measures.
This is unacceptable. It has to be resolved—