so, are the border crossers in quebec illegal?

well, it depends on whether the claims get processed in their favour or not. if they succeed in getting status, they're not illegal - they're refugees. if they fail in getting status, they're illegal aliens under the law.

i think that what i'm demonstrating is that the question isn't really useful..

listen: i don't really believe in borders. i don't like deporting people. and, i do believe that nobody is illegal. but, you have to weigh these considerations very carefully with real world issues around vacancy rates and the cost and availability of low income housing.

in 2013, cheap housing was plentiful in windsor. i talked to a manager at the local slumlord monopoly today that claimed this city now has a 1% vacancy rate. that is probably not exactly right, in that it doesn't take into consideration the dilapidated housing that is currently off the market.

but the answer to "what has changed in the last five years?" is "we let in thousands of refugees.".

in 2014, we elected an openly gay premier, and nobody cared that she was gay. we recently elected a premier that makes george w. bush look intelligent, on a promise to reverse a sex ed curriculum because it acknowledges that queer people exist. what the fuck happened? we let in way too many people with regressive social policy outlooks and low levels of education.

it's not a question of legality, it's a question of sustainability. and, that is the idea we need to be getting across.

if we had infinite space, or a post-propertarian economy, i wouldn't even want a border to exist at all.

but, we live in a capitalist reality. property rights are not ideologically enforced here, but they do exist. our vacancy rates are very low. our shelters are at capacity. we have the ability to build, but we need time to do it.

we need to slow this down. and, we need time to assimilate what we've allowed in.