By Vancouver Sun |
A new poll released Friday suggests two-thirds of Canadians think irregular border crossings are at a “crisis” level.
But Bill Blair, the newly named Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, said those concerns show many don’t understand the issue.
“I read the results of that poll,” Blair said when asked by reporters about the results during a press conference in Toronto.
“Canadians have a misperception of the number of people coming and the circumstances under which they are coming.”\\
According to the poll, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, 67 per cent of Canadian respondents surveyed called the current situation a “crisis.”
Another 65 per cent also said Canada has received “too many” irregular border crossers for the country to handle.
Fifty-eight per cent said Canada is being “too generous” with the crossers.
As well, 40 per cent said they think the migrants are economic opportunists rather than genuine refugees.