MICHELLE Rempel, Conservative Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, on Tuesday expressed her disgust at Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s response to the 2018 illegal border crosser numbers accusing the Conservative Party of wanting to “militarize the border.”

Rempel said: “I am extremely disgusted by the desperate attack against our responsible plan to secure the border from Justin Trudeau’s Immigration Minister today. Rather than solve the problem they have created, the Liberals are determined to direct attention on anything but their failures to solve this crisis. While they choose to fear monger, Canada’s Conservatives will continue to put forward pragmatic solutions to the issues that the Trudeau government has created in our immigration system.

“For two years in a row, Trudeau has allowed thousands of individuals to enter Canada illegally from safe places like upstate New York while those fleeing persecution overseas languish in refugee camps. During those two years, we have called for the loophole in the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement to be closed, suggested repealing Section 159.4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and called for the asylum claim backlog to be cleared.

“Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has offered precisely zero solutions to reduce the flow of illegal border crossers into Canada and has instead chosen to make permanent the abuse of Canada’s generous asylum system at a total cost to the taxpayer of $1.6 billion and counting.

“This new completely ridiculous and over the top claim is reminiscent of past failed Liberal attack ads like the 2006 ‘soldiers with guns’ ad. Conservatives know doing nothing at the border and allowing people to enter Canada illegally like Justin Trudeau isn’t an option. Renegotiating the Safe Third Country Agreement is a reasonable, practical measure to solve this problem. The Minister should focus on doing his job instead of inventing wild attacks against Conservatives.

“Canada’s Conservatives will continue to advocate for an immigration system that is planned, orderly and compassionate. We expect a higher level of discourse from this government and return to a discussion about policy, rather than desperate partisan attacks. The Trudeau government immediately close the loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement, regain control of our borders, and prioritize the world’s most vulnerable.”