A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
For the last three days people around the world have cast teary eyes on images of a little boy, washed up on a Turkish beach like driftwood.
The image that rocked the conscience of the world.
I first saw some of these heart-wrenching images on CNN, the U.S.-based cable news channel that gave extended coverage to the continuing exodus of hundreds-of-thousands of migrants from Syria and other regions of the Middle East and Africa smeared with the blood and torn flesh of their relatives and neighbours – an exodus described by many international aid workers as the worst humanitarian crisis involving refugees since the Second World War.
The CNN report ended with a narrator saying the three-year-old boy Alan Kurdi, his five-year-old brother Ghalib and their mother Rehan all drowned when they, along with their father Abdullah who survived trying to save them, were fleeing their native Syria and were eventually hoping to begin a new life in Canada.
Oh Canada. Once – and I do mean once –this country was (with a few very sorry exceptions like the failure to allow entry to Jewish people fleeing the Nazi-occupied Europe of the 1930s and 40s) a beacon around the world when it came to offering a haven for peoples fleeing war and other life-threatening catastrophes. That was before Canada’s current and hopefully outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the following to a gathering of conservatives in the United States; “When I get done with Canada you won’t recognize it.”
Indeed, Harper fed us a truckload of dung when he promised not to appoint any more partisan hacks to Canada’s useless Senate under his watch or when he promised to keep Canada out of the red and get the country’s economy generating enough decent-paying jobs for our young people. But he sure has followed through his promise to do a number on Canada that I’d rather not recognize.
Going into 2015, the Harper government also promised to amend its 2013 plan to welcome 1,300 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of 2014 with a new pledge to welcome an additional 10,000 refugees.
More recently, Harper government promised that if it is re-elected it will open Canada’s doors to yet another 10,000 refugees from Syria and neighbouring Iraq. If it is re-elected? How disgusting is that? I didn’t realize that the wheels of federal governance grind to a halt during an election. They sure don’t when it comes to continuing to make us pay sales taxes at the cash register or to deducting taxes from the paychecks of those of us still lucky enough to get a paycheck.
Given the horrible plight of these refugees, that ‘if-we-are-re-elected’ line is just as insane as Harper’s sorry excuse for an immigration minister, Chris Alexander, saying a few days back that a letter an aunt of the two drowned boys passed on to him earlier this year through her British Columbia MPP (who handed it to Alexander personally and urged him to help) was not accompanied by the proper paper work to grant the boys and their mother, along with her brother, an opportunity to make Canada their new home.
Week after week went by and the aunt never heard a word from anyone in Alexander’s ministry of the need for additional paper or anything else. Instead, there was Alexander, shortly after the image of the drowned boy was beamed around the world, on CBC’s ‘Power & Politics’ program blaming the media for any failure for slow action on the refugee crisis because, he told the program’s host, “you and others have not put it in the headlines where it deserves to be.”
The boy being removed from the beach and to a coffin back home.
So much for Alexander and his bull crap and now back to Harper you said this September 4th, two days after the image of the boy first drew international attention, that he plans to stay the course on an immigration effort that has so far seen less than 2,500 Syrian refugees over the past two years compared to 171,000, 29,000, 26,000, 25,000 and 20,000 in Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and Austria respectively since January of this year.
The Harper government’s response to this humanitarian catastrophe has been shameful and obscene. And for Harper to throw in that it’s just important for these people for Canada and the U.S. to go on bombing ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq when, as newly released U.S. intelligence data shows, is also killing innocent civilians on the ground makes what is going down here even more reprehensible.
Someone might want to tell Harper that as murderous as the ISIS terrorists are (and I’m all for unplugging them), Syrian’s president Bashar Al-Assad, has murdered well over 100,000 of his own people – 50 to 100 times more than ISIS reportedly has – so why doesn’t Harper direct bombing attacks on him?
As disgusting as all this is, I still believe there are many people in Canada who have the kind of compassion Canadians have so often had in the past to help these people – and we ought to show it by throwing the Harper government out of office in this October’s federal election.
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Niagara At Large 
When even the province of Ontario, along with NGOs, petitioned the HARPER regime to allow the bringing of war damaged Palestine children from the Holocaust in Gaza, Harper minister Jason Kenny spoke out against this act of mercy and HARPER, being a buddy of Israel’s Netanyou, basically rubber stamped this infamy.
So anything HARPER and his puppets do to further degrade and blacken the reputation of Canada does not surprise me.
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The letter written by the aunt was NOT asking for help for the family involved in the drowings. It was another brother that the letter was written about!
I am appalled by the situation of the refugees, but I ask this question:
What are the Islamic countries doing to help these people? Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, etc – I have seen nothing about any help from them!
These people are refugees primarily because of Moslem on Moslem violence. Where are the Moslem countries who should be helping?
Maybe if they started cleaning up their own messes, I might be a little more inclined to feel some empathy. Right now, the only ones I would consider bringing to Canada would be the non-moslem refugees.
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So, because these people have had the misfortune to be born in a country ruled by despots, they are responsible for their misfortunes? Sorry but even if I have never voted for Harper I must comply with people who did and I don’t feel responsible in any matter for their choice or endorse their values. Why would it be different for them?
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If it was Christian on Christian violence or violence against Christians (or violence against Jews or Hindus or Buddhists or atheists) that created a refugee dilemma, would it be OK to let those refugees come in? BTW, some Syrians, including some of these current refugees ARE Christian. In the early 20th century about 30% of Syrians were Christian. Now it is still about 10%. Should we let only Christian Syrians come or all of those innocents who are in danger? That sounds a bit like a brand of racism only based on religion. I certainly have no love for radical Islam but equally I have no love for any radical religion and all religions DO have radicals.
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First we must endeavour to understand why ISIS and despots like Al-Assad exist. That would be due to perpetual western interference in the Middle East going back decades primarily, but not wholly, by the US and UK.
I believe it was Churchill who said the people of these regions are incapable of governing themselves so we foreigners interfered and the result was destabilization and creation of more and more terrorists to this day. Now, by whom and how is the mess being cleaned up? Are these two nations taking the majority of the refugees they created?
They are being dumped on Hungary, Macedonia, Italy, Greece, Spain, all nations with no room and few resources to handle them. Now Canada has also stuck in our unwanted noses in a violent manner (gone are our peace keeping days) yet our intake of TRUE refugees is pathetic. (Meanwhile, how many phony refugees have we taken in from suspicious backgrounds, like criminals or former mass murderers from Rwanda or multiple wives of Somali warlords sending their government cheques back to their hubby’s war chests?)
When watching U.S. coverage and while realizing that both Canada and the U.S. are in election campaign mode, there is a comparison to be made. I may be wrong but I have yet to hear Trump, Cruz, Walker, Rubio, Christie, Huckabee (or even Clinton) or any among that collection of dullards using the refugee catastrophe as an election ploy by demanding that the US take a share of these unfortunate, desperate people. (Sarcastically, but by comparison, they sure knew how to sweep up the Nazi rocket scientists after WW2 for NASA.) They want to build fences, even along the 5500+ mile Canadian border. At least Canadian candidates have brought the topic up, even if only for “brownie” points.
As this article says, Canada is bombing these innocents too, making them take such desperate, and often deadly, measures to escape. In doing so, we are also fostering hatred and encouraging more to resort to terrorism. Again I must bring up the snarky remark in the ant-Trudeau ads….”He wants to send winter jackets to Syria! Is that how we will defeat ISIS?” No, not directly, but that will help these desperate refugees at least a little. Of course, now I heard the “Harper” government claiming they want to help these miserable people through the coming winter. The difference is???? Oh, that is what people want to hear now to get re-elected, help the refugees. How hypocritical! Yet they mocked Trudeau?
As for Alexander, sure, blame the media….the media that the “Harper” government constantly suppresses and keeps in the dark. Furthermore, why, as a person with considerable influence and power, did he not pursue or have one of his staff pursue the plea in the letter from the BC woman trying to save her family…most of them now DEAD? Does he have no initiative or only do as commanded by his fearless leader? Immigration is after all, supposed to be his job.
Also true, why …”if we are elected, we will bring in refugees”. What in hell does an election have to do with it while hundreds are drowning in the Mediterranean, suffocating in trucks and otherwise risking their lives? Where is Nicholson our local Minister od Foreign Affairs. I see his damned election signs and get junk mail from him every week but his silence is deafening.
So many nations are dropping the ball on this one but it is disgusting that Canada is among them.
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In response to Ms McKellar, I wish to reiterate the third paragraph of my earlier comment:
“What are the Islamic countries doing to help these people? Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, etc – I have seen nothing about any help from them!”
The Arab/moslem countries are doing the square root of sweet F all!
They never do a damn thing for other countries! But they sure as hell want us to buy their oil!
I am not racist! Islam is NOT a race — it is a blood-thirsty religious cult. You can call me “religionist” if you want, but not racist.
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I fully agree with you Mr MacKenzie that the surrounding Islamic nations are doing little to nothing to relieve this crisis. Some Syrians have fled to Turkey but even that nation is under threat from ISIS and under its current administration and President Sayin Abdullah Gul, who is a conservative Muslim, it has become far from a safe haven. Every wealthy Islamic nation can and should be of assistance but the Saudis, Bahrainians, Kuwaitis and others in the region are too busy buying gold plated Rolls and Bugattis for themselves. They don’t even seem too involved diplomatically in trying to broker a peace between the warring factions.
The term “religionist” does not seem appropriate as the definition is…
“An arrogant, prideful, egoistic person who believes his/her religion is the only true one” and I very much doubt this applies to you.
All the best. Have a nice Labour Day and end of summer.
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