Poilievre mum on Tory MP’s ‘illegal refugees’ comment, calls for Roxham Road closureOTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for the closure of the Roxham Road irregular border crossing on Tuesday, but sidestepped questions about one of his MPs denying help to a family who used it to enter the country. The Tory leader argued Tuesday that fixing the problem could lead to fewer people crossing through unofficial entry points such as Roxham Road. Radio-Canada reported last month that Quebec Conservative MP Richard Martel recently refused to help a family that was facing deportation after having entered Canada through Roxham Road in 2018, calling them "illegal refugees." Poilievre did not directly answer when asked about Martel's comments Tuesday, but said the Liberal government should renegotiate the Canada-U.S. agreement "in order to close Roxham Road." In December, in a French interview with The Canadian Press,José Nicola Lopez said that his sister-in-law Leticia Cruz and her son had crossed into Canada via Roxham Road to join their relatives in 2018.

Source: CBC News January 10, 2023 21:18 UTC