Stakeholder Analysis: Addressing The Issue Of Illegal Border Crossing Into Canada

Main Issue: the irregular/illegal border crossing into Canada.

Alternatives to Solving the Issue:

1. Accepting all illegal crossing immigrants
2. Accepting no illegal crossing immigrants
3. Creative Option:

What would you recommend to stakeholders attempting to navigate this issue?

Stakeholder Analysis Model: Position/Importance Matrix

Background of Stakeholder Analysis

The issue identified to conduct to the stakeholder analysis is issue of large number of illegal border crossing into Canada which would have profound impact on the economy. A popular news channel in Canada throws light on the severity of the issue of border crossing which the government of Canada interprets as a ‘challenge’. The channel reports that the problem is already causing political disturbances with one political group accusing the other. The issue is already a threat to the international relationship of the country as illegal border crossing is potent enough to sour the relationship between Canada and its immediate economic giant, the United States (CBC.ca. 2018). The Huffington Post reports that more than 7000 immigrants have entered Canada across the US-Canada border in 2018. The newspaper further reports that this immigration is also triggered by political disturbances in even far off nations like Nigeria, Africa (Huffingtonpost.ca, 2018). It is evident that the increasing population of immigrants would put intense pressure on the resources like food and public facilities. The immigrants are seeking shelter in asylums which have limited capacity. Moreover, the large number of immigrants would also compete for jobs and housing. Thus, the resident population of Canada would be deprived of its legitimate entitlements as it has to share the limited resources of the country with intruders. Hainmueller and Hopkins (2015) point out that cultural differences between the resident Canadians and immigrants may be the root of social disturbances. Thus, it can be inferred that the issue of large number of illegal immigration into Canada would have devastating impacts on the economy. This calls for an identification of key stakeholders which would require to take actions to mitigate or at least reduce the issue to minimize the risks illegal immigration poses to the economy. The stakeholder identification would emphasize on the key stakeholders namely the three ministers of the Federal Government of Canada. They are Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security, Government of Canada, Ralph Goodale, Minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, Government of Canada and Ahmed Hussen, Immigration minister, Government of Canada.

The Federal Government of Canada is one of the key stakeholders having strong influence on the asylum seeker issue which Canada is facing. This is because the federal government makes policies which affect both the residents of Canada as well as asylum seekers.

The Ministry of Border Security is the first identified stakeholder or audience in the research on the issue of asylum seekers into Canada. The ministry is a Minister of the Crown created by the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau in 2018 and currently holds a secondary position Public Safety Canada. The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada or Public Safety Canada is the department within the federal government of Canada created to ensure safety of the Canadian. The current minister of Border Security is Bill Blair (Publicsafety.gc.ca, 2018). Thus, it is evident from the discussion that the body is a key stakeholders to the issue of illegal immigration into Canada in order to ensure safety of the residents of the country. The department has strong influence on the security of Canada and as a result is responsible of offering the asylum seekers refuge as well as ensuring internal security of Canada. An analysis of immigration issue shows that the immigrants arriving from politically disturbed countries like Nigeria are capable of threatening the security of the residents (Nationalpost.com, 2018). They might enter into competition with the residents which would pave ways for violence and crimes due to conflicts between the two groups.

Main Stakeholders

The Ministry of public safety and emergency preparedness, Government of Canada is the Minister of the Crown entitled to oversee the activities of Public Safety, Government of Canada. The ministry is entitled to ensure domestic security within the Canadian territories and functions under Ralph Goodale (Publicsafety.gc.ca, 2018). It can be pointed out that the ministry is responsible for ensuring internal security of the country which makes in an important key stakeholder to the issue. Bove and Böhmelt (2016) mentions about the alleged connection between terrorism and immigration. Choi (2018) though does not direct opine on the much debated connection between the two international problems, mentions that restrictive immigration policies help in reducing terrorism. Thus, in this light it can be mentioned that the current minister of Ministry of public safety and emergency preparedness, Mr. Goodale is an important stakeholder to the issue of illegal cross border intrusion in Canada. It can also be pointed out that his decisions would have strong influences on the security of Canada. However, it can be also be pointed that the ministry is also responsible of offering refuge and basic facilities to the asylum seekers. It can be pointed out that unrestricted intrusion might give way to future terrorist activities, thus threatening the safety of the residents.

The minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Government of Canada presently working under Ahmed Hussen is an important stakeholder to the issue of asylum seekers’ intrusion into Canada. This is because the ministry is responsible for management of asylum seekers and immigration into the Canadian territories. This responsible of the minister makes it one of the key stakeholders to the issue. Thus, it can be pointed out that the federal government ministry would have strong influence on the asylum seekers. The body is liable for providing shelter to asylum seekers and making arrangements for the latter if the existing asylum get filled. Thus, in this respect it can be inferred that the Ministry of Immigration would be play important role in management of asylum issue in Canada by making appropriate regarding rehabilitation of the asylum seekers.

Figure 1. Stakeholders identified for the issue of illegal immigration into Canada

(Source: Author)

The asylum seekers are the one of most influenced stakeholder groups due to immigration issue in Canada. This is because asylum seekers, both with documents and without documents have significant influence on Canadian economy. For example, the asylum seekers compete the lower level resident employees which creates employment problem in the economy. The asylum seekers are in turn come under the several negative influences of entering into a foreign country. For example, they have to live in shelters and are often denied the rights to which citizens are entitled. Similarly, even though get employment, they are denied social security facilities like retirement benefits which are given to their citizens. Similarly, they are denied medical benefits and other rights the government gives to the citizens. They often suffer from diseases and face violenc (Thebalance.com, 2018). Thus, it can be interpreted that the asylum seekers are one of the key stakeholders to the issue of influx of asylum seekers into Canada.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is responsible for enforcement of laws within the Canadian territories. The department is a part of the Federal Government and ensures enforcement of federal laws at the provincial level as well (Rcmp-grc.gc.ca, 2018). The RCMP is one of the main stakeholders to the asylum issue since the department is responsible for checking the entering asylum seekers at the Canadian borders. The Canadian police have known to check the asylum seekers very strictly and even insulting their background identities like religion (Thestar.com, 2018). These actions of RCMP have been questioned by advocates fighting on behalf of the asylum seekers. Moreover, the RCMP personnel often allow sick asylum seekers to cross Canadian borders which presents health risks for other asylum seekers (Torontosun.com, 2018). Thus, it can inferred that the RCMP have strong influence on the issue of asylum seekers in large numbers entering Canada.

The Canadians are important stakeholders to the asylum seeker issue because they would be negatively influenced to a large extent. This is because the resident Canadians would have to compete with the asylum seekers for job opportunities and facilities like housing. This means they would have to share the benefits they are entitled owing to paying taxes. Similarly, the diseases brought by the asylum would pose threat to the wellbeing of the former. Thus, it can be construed that the asylum issue would have harmful impact on the Canadian residents.

Media, Canadian as well as international would play a key role in spreading awareness about the issue of infiltrating immigrants. It is evident from the above discussion that the media has plays a very role in outlining the severity of the immigrant issues in the country. It can also be pointed out that media is a playing a very important in not only creating awareness but also creating social pressure on the government for the latter to take prompt action (Huffingtonpost.ca, 2018). It has also be pointed out that the media is also play a significant role in highlighting the future social and political problems large scale uncontrolled immigration can bring about over the residents. Thus, it can be inferred that the media is a very important stakeholders in the immigration issue.

References:

Bove, V., & Böhmelt, T. (2016). Does immigration induce terrorism?. The Journal of Politics, 78(2), 572-588.

CBC.ca. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/immigration-committee-asylum-seekers-border-1.4757762

Choi, S. W. (2018). Does Restrictive Immigration Policy Reduce Terrorism in Western Democracies?. Perspectives on Terrorism, 12(4), 14-25.

Hainmueller, J., & Hopkins, D. J. (2015). The hidden American immigration consensus: A conjoint analysis of attitudes toward immigrants. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 529-548.

Huffingtonpost.ca. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/05/15/illegal-border-crossings-quebec_a_23435059/

Nationalpost.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/irregular-or-illegal-the-fight-over-what-to-call-the-thousands-of-migrants-streaming-into-canada

Publicsafety.gc.ca. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/index-en.aspx

Rcmp-grc.gc.ca. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en

Thebalance.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/how-immigration-impacts-the-economy-4125413

Thestar.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/10/11/rcmp-officers-screened-quebec-border-crossers-on-religion-and-values-questionnaire-shows.html

Torontosun.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/malcolm-immigration-program-getting-worse-under-trudeau