Paris attacks and Canada’s plan to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees

With countries in Europe accepting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and other migrants, Canada has been slow to get involved.

Under the previous government, some 10,000 refugees were to be taken in, but only after careful screening.

Elected only in October, the new federal Liberal government under Justin Trudeau had campaigned on a promise to increase humanitarian efforts and bring in 25 000 Syrians by the end of the year.

Many have said this is overly ambitious and difficult to achieve, stretching a number of resources beyond limits.

In light of the deadly Paris attacks in which at least one and possibly more of the attackers had apparently made their way into France in the ongoing wave of migrants many Canadians want to slow the process down to ensure adequate security checks before admitting people to Canada.

Saskatchewan Premier to PM- Suspend the plan!

The Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to suspend the plan.

In the letter dated Monday November 16, he wrote that “I understand that the overwhelming majority of refugees are fleeing violence and bloodshed and pose no threat to anyone,” wrote Wall. “However, if even a small number of individuals who wish to do harm to our country are able to enter Canada as a result of a rushed refugee resettlement process, the results could be devastating.Surely, we do not want to be date-driven or numbers-driven in an endeavour that may affect the safety of our citizens and the security of our country”

This is a change from a month ago when he  wrote in a post on his Facebook page,
“We’ve told the federal government that Saskatchewan can and will support more refugees in our province to assist with the ongoing crisis. We’re going to work closely with all levels of government on how our province can help these families in their time of need.”

In today’s letter however, he wrote that the Paris attacks showed how even a small number of people can inflict major death and destruction, and insists on the government taking the necessary time to perform security checks on the refugees.

In a similar situation, the US states of Texas, Michigan, Arkansas,  Indiana, Alabama. Louisiana, Mississippi and Massachusetts have said they will not accept Syrian refugees. The Governors of Ohio and Maine also say they are against admitting Syrians but have not yet banned the process.

New Brunswick Minister -refugees are not terrorists

Meanwhile, taking a different tack, Francine Landry said the attacks should not weaken resolve to bring in refugees. The New Brunswick provincial minister of the population growth secretariat said the “people will be carefully vetted by the federal government, and all of the security screening and the health screening is done by the federal government.”

She said the refugees were not terrorist but fleeing from terror. New Brunswick has indicated it will take 1,500 of the 25,000 to be brought in.

However with the deadline looming,  the plan on how to achieve the 25,000 goal, has not been released.

Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum has said the strategy will be released in the coming days.

with files from CBC