As the possibility of mass deportations looms following Donald Trump's re-election on Tuesday, border towns like the City of Cornwall are preparing for a potential influx of asylum seekers. "The initial response is panic," says Steve Densley, a local resident. "This is a good thing and immigration is what Canada is known for.
We'll have more people that are coming and they will work. They will get jobs, and they'll commit to society like it's always been." The RCMP are on 'high alert' as many fear an increase in migrants seeking refuge in Canada, particularly in Quebec, and other border towns.
"We're probably going to have more officers on the ground, more roving patrols," says Sgt. Charles Poirier of the RCMP. "And depending on the scale of it all we might have to rent a space, buy some buildings like we did in the past, buy some more police cruisers, charge some buses like we've done in the past.
" Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale anticipates an increase in asylum seekers in the coming months before Trump takes office in January and is urging the federal government for more funding to handle the expected surge. Earlier this year, the federal government ended funding for temporary refugee housing at the Dev Centre in the city, where 500 migrants, including children, were forced to find new accommodation. "We're happy to do it again, we're ready to do it again and we have enough experience to do it again, but I would once again reiterate my calls to the federal government to hel.