Letter to Minister Bill Blair: The US – Canada Safe Third Country Agreement

Dear Minister,

In May 2017 the Governing Board of The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) decided to support the effort to challenge the US – Canada Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The CCC decided to join the court challenge because of the experiences of churches as refugee sponsors and a long history of support for including all people in the basic provisions to respect human rights in Canada.

We welcome the ruling because it could end the tragic, life-threatening experiences of refugee claimants which are familiar to many member churches and have been documented in the court case. We note that the testimony provided established gross disproportionality and is sufficient to “shock the conscience”.

In light of the documented reality faced by refugee claimants, we ask the Canadian government to carefully consider its interim actions and decision to comply with the ruling or not.