Half a year ago, Justin Trudeau took to social media to invite the world’s aspiring refugees to come to Canada. In a not-so-subtle jab against our closest ally and trading partner, Trudeau’s invitation came on the same day that Donald Trump introduced his ham-fisted travel ban.

In the weeks and months that followed, Canada experienced an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossing and asylum claims.

In the wake of this chaos, more delirious Liberal virtue-signalling ensued.

The Prime Minister’s Office doubled down on spreading false information on social media and implying that Canada had an open-border immigration policy.

The Prime Minister’s official Twitter account, run by civil servants in the Privy Council Office, sent this message: "Regardless of who you are or where you come from, there’s always a place for you in Canada."

About ten thousand asylum seekers have taken the Liberals up on this offer.

Likewise, Montreal’s mayor Denis Coderre declared Montreal as a “sanctuary city.”

The former Liberal cabinet minister imported this U.S. policy, even though Canada has a fundamentally different immigration experience than our American neighbours.

Canada has one of the most successful and respected immigration programs in the world.

Our rules are tough but fair, they’re applied evenly and they focus on bringing the best people to Canada and benefiting all Canadians. Or at least they used to.

The U.S., by contrast, has a broken system with little control over its southern border; the result is millions of illegal immigrants living and working in the country without status.

These illegal migrants typically don’t pay taxes, and they don’t have the same rights and protections as lawful residents and citizens.

U.S. sanctuary city policies allow local politicians to deliberately undermine immigration law by refusing to cooperate with federal agencies, while also delivering government services regardless of a person’s immigration status.

Sanctuary city labels serve as an invitation to all illegal immigrants to take up residency without fear of consequences.

Well, lo and behold, Montreal is now experiencing a U.S.-style crisis.

Amidst record breaking numbers of illegal border crossings into Quebec, the local government is once again taking a page from the failed U.S. policy book and housing thousands of arrivals at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

As Sun columnist Anthony Furey pointed out, this is reminiscent of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the so-called solution of last resort – housing people at the New Orleans Superdome.

This was widely viewed as a catastrophic mistake.

The conditions inside the Superdome quickly deteriorated. Roving gangs and thugs imposed their own rules, which led to reports of rape, violent assaults, vandalism, open use of crack and other drugs as well as multiple deaths.

The National Guard was sent in, and hundreds of tourists were smuggled out for their safety amidst the riots and violence.

It was an eerie glimpse at social collapse, reminiscent of a dystopian novel.

Coderre claims to be a critic of the U.S. system, and yet, along with the Trudeau Liberals, he’s pointed at U.S. immigration policies and at U.S. emergency management systems and basically said, “we’ll have what they’re having, please.”

Canada needs a plan of action to stop the surge of illegal immigration and maintain the integrity of our system.

Instead, the Liberals are responding with reactionary and band aid solutions. Rather than developing a coherent strategy, they’re haphazardly importing America’s immigration woes into Canada.

The Liberals have opened Pandora’s box, and they’ve only got themselves to blame.