Border: Mark Holland and Summer Surge

border: That is good planning, but it is not indicative of clairvoyance, according to The Chronicle Herald. So far in 2018, about 1,500 people have been stopped by the RCMP between official border points nearly five times the number stopped in January 2017, the slowest month for new arrivals in all of last year. The reality is, on a forward-looking basis, that we want to be as prepared as possible for whatever eventuality, said Mark Holland, the parliamentary secretary for public safety. By year's end, 20,000 would-be refugees arrived along the Canada-U.S. border, the height of it during a summer surge that saw hundreds showing up a day. How much the government spent on all those efforts has yet to revealed. The situation prompted a diplomatic and technical response that included tents at the border, dozens of government officials reassigned to manage claims, the fast-tracking of work permits and several trips to the U.S. by members of Parliament to explain the nuances of Canada's immigration system and discourage people from making the trek. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.