As part of a tour to court the ethnic vote, former Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has promised that, if elected, a Conservative government would create a special program to resettle North Koreans in Canada, reports the Globe. Kenney has tweeted numerous photos of himself meeting various ethnic communities.
Kenney made the announcement in the Toronto riding of Willowdale. This is traditionally a swing seat where more than 7.5 of the population is of Korean origin.
Conservatives successfully wooed the ethnic vote
In the past, new Canadians most often voted Liberal in federal elections, but the Conservatives made a breakthrough by capturing many of their votes in the 2011 vote. There are several ridings with significant numbers of voters of Korean origin and many of them feature tight races between the candidates.
Overall, the three main parties in the running are very close in voter popularity and every seat will count on October 19th.
North Koreans are not UN-recognized refugees
North Koreans are not recognized by the United Nations as refugees because South Korea recognizes them as citizens and they could settle there.
Canadians of Korean origin may be leery of voting Conservative since under that party’s rule, the government cracked down on a number of North Korean refugee claimants and deported them.
Kenney drew some criticism on another part of his ethnic campaign tour when he remarked on a young, new refugee’s ability to speak perfect, unaccented English.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.