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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A pr il 4, 20 19 | 8 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised family of newspapers is comprised f of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. 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OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM EDITORIAL At last, the federal government is taking the neces- sary steps to shore up this country's border security while strengthening public confidence in its immigra- tion system. Not only have the Liberals pledged $1.2 billion in new funding over five years to agencies that manage the border, they're working to close a loophole that let tens of thousands of asylum seekers enter Canada through unauthorized areas along our border with the United States. Both moves deserve applause. Critics might accuse Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of dragging his feet on a matter of national importance but, in all fairness, the Liberals have been struggling with a complex situation they did not create. Not only must they hammer out a solution with American allies who, in the paranoid era of Donald Trump, might prefer to see those asylum seekers remain in Canada, the Liberals must also uphold Canadian laws, including the charter rights of all who set foot in this country. Yet despite such challenges, the necessity for action became undeniable when a huge flaw emerged in a Can- ada-U. S. border agreement. According to the terms of the Safe Third Country Agreement, both Canada and the U.S. are considered safe havens for refugees. Therefore, they can both deny entry to asylum seek- ers who come to authorized entry points along their shared border. But strangely, asylum seekers who arrive at unautho- rized points along that border cannot immediately be turned away. If they're entering Canada, Canadian au- thorities must handle their claims to be accepted as refugees. How gaping a loophole this truly is suddenly became apparent in 2017 when growing numbers of asy- lum seekers began simply walking through it into Cana- da, especially at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle in Quebec. In just over two years since then, more than 40,000 irregular crossers have entered Canada this way, over- whelming the federal government's ability to deal fairly with all the claims. During the same time, provincial and municipal governments have scrambled to provide shelter, health care, education and other social services to the migrants. Despite the federal government's decision to hire more adjudicators to reduce the backlog of refugee claimants, wait times for hearings and decisions soared. Meanwhile, when the claims are finally heard, the per- centage of claimants being rejected is larger than nor- mal, fuelling concerns that many asylum seekers are actually economic migrants trying to enter Canada any way they can. Such are the compelling reasons for plugging the holes in our porous border. As Ottawa moves to address the border problem, it is defending the national interest and, as part of that, the integrity of an immigration system that is vital to our future but depends on continuing, nationwide support. That ongoing support is crucial: As nations around the world increasingly slam their doors to newcomers of all kinds, Canada should, for everybody's sake, keep its welcome mat out CLOSING THE GAPS IN OUR BORDER SYSTEM When our PC govern- ment stood for office last year, one of the promises we made to the people of Ontario was to end the practice of "hallway health care." Every day, 1,200 patients receive care in hospital hallways or storage closets. This is not acceptable. It creates stress for pa- tients and their families. Ending hallway health care requires more than one solution. We are building 15,000 new long-term care beds over five years to get these patients into the right care and out of hospital beds they shouldn't be in. Last week, I was pleased to join the health minister in announcing 1,157 long- term care beds. When add- ed to the more than 6,000 al- ready announced, we are almost halfway to meeting our commitment. We need to modernize our publicly funded health-care system and get rid of waiting lists. That's why your government in- troduced Bill 74, the Peo- ple's Health Care Act. This bill places patients at the centre of our public health- care system. We must do more to en- sure that our publicly funded health-care system is sustainable into the fu- ture. Too much time is spent on maintaining a frag- mented system in silos and patients and their families are left to navigate a com- plicated system. The bill would foster Ontario health teams made up of doctors, nurses and other health-care provid- ers working as a co-ordi- nated group. These teams would guide patients be- tween providers and shep- herd patients and their families through transi- tion points. Our many pro- vincial health agencies will be integrated into one agency - bringing the best of the system together. Your PC government is committed to publicly- funded health care. People in our community of Oak- ville North-Burlington want and deserve the high- est-quality health care. We are well-served by both Jo- seph Brant and Oakville- Trafalgar hospitals in our area. These changes to our health-care system are long overdue. Ontario is currently spending $61.7 billion on health care. This is 38 per cent of all provin- cial government spending this year. We need to manage ev- ery dollar we spend wisely so we can invest and focus on patients, frontline doc- tors and nurses and other health-care providers. Effie Triantafilopoulos is the MPP for Oakville North-Burlington. MODERNIZING OUR HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM 'HALLWAY HEALTH CARE' IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, WRITES EFFIE TRIANTAFILOPOULOS EFFIE TRIANTAFIL- OPOULOS Column