Senior Border Officer Drops Bombshell on Canada’s Refugee System

This week’s “Clown World” roundup exposes three major stories that highlight the government’s policy incoherence, misplaced priorities, and the widening gap between political talking points and real-world outcomes.

The first centres on explosive testimony from Mark Weber, head of the union representing Canada’s border officers, who says the government’s new “one-touch” automated refugee intake system is allowing people to enter Canada with virtually no pre-screening. Refugee claimants can now arrive, open an app, tap a few buttons, submit minimal biometrics, and walk into the country—before any meaningful security review is completed. The hosts mock the idea that becoming an accepted refugee is now “easier than ordering at McDonald’s,” and warn this creates enormous security gaps at a time when over 32,000 individuals flagged by Interpol or wanted abroad are already unaccounted for inside Canada.

The second story covers Ottawa’s decision to invest $528.5 million into the European Space Agency over the next three to five years, a move Industry Minister Mélanie Joly claims will diversify Canada’s economy and reduce reliance on the U.S. The hosts, however, say this is yet another example of the government funnelling taxpayer dollars into foreign institutions and multinational corporations while Canada’s own space program—the Canadian Space Agency, once renowned for innovations like the Canadarm—has been neglected for decades. They argue the investment is less about national strategy and more about propping up corporate interests and masking long-standing failures in domestic research, industry policy, and technological development.

The third story focuses on Mark Carney’s public claim that Canada is “tax competitive”—a narrative the hosts say collapses under scrutiny. They highlight analysis showing that while marginal tax rates may look favourable on paper, Canada’s non-neutral, loophole-heavy tax system encourages companies to shift profits, avoid taxes, and invest in less-productive activities. Meanwhile, Carney himself has been criticized for using offshore structures in the Bahamas and Cayman Islands, undermining his arguments. The hosts tie this to Canada’s worsening brain drain and the exodus of over one million people since 2022, arguing that if Canada were truly competitive, businesses and skilled workers wouldn’t be leaving en masse.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbsa-refugee-asylum-one-touch-9.6986851
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/article/canada-announces-massive-jump-in-funding-to-european-space-agency/
https://thehub.ca/2025/11/19/canada-is-not-as-tax-competitive-as-the-carney-government-claims/

0:01 – Border Officers Warn Automated Refugee Intake Creates Major Security Gap
2:55 – Canada Sends $528M to European Space Agency While Neglecting Its Own Program
7:22 – Carney’s “Tax Competitive” Claim Debunked Amid Offshore Loopholes & Brain Drain