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OTTAWA — The Liberal government has made it clear that simply entering Canada is not a “free ticket” for newcomers to stay in the country, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told MPs studying the ongoing influx of asylum seekers from the United States.

But no matter how a person arrives in Canada, the individual must be given a fair hearing to determine whether they require protection, Goodale said during a House of Commons immigration committee meeting Tuesday.

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From the moment asylum seekers started crossing into Canada from the U.S. in significant numbers, the federal government has made sure that laws are followed and international obligations are met, he added.

The committee is holding an emergency meeting in the dead of summer at the urging of opposition members to study the issue of asylum seekers at the border.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canada’s Safe Third Country agreement with the U.S. stipulates that asylum seekers are required to make their claims in the first “safe” country where they arrive — meaning those who come into Canada at an official land crossing are sent back to make their claim in the U.S.