Liberals right to be nervous

The sudden influx of asylum seekers entering Canada from the U.S. is a crisis for the Trudeau government. Not because Canada can’t handle a few thousand more arrivals, but because the Liberals have a halo to protect.

The halo is in grave danger. When Canadians were desperate to be seen helping Syrians escape the madness in their home country, Candidate Trudeau made clear that the Liberals would welcome them with open arms. He made a show of turning up at Pearson airport in Toronto to be photographed with grateful families. The Liberals basked in the glow of approval their magnanimity attracted around the world. “We’re Canadian, and we’re here to help.”

But opinion has shifted. Canadians are still pleased to have been of use in the Syrian crisis, but they’re not feeling as warm-hearted about the latest arrivals, which are mainly Haitians entering Quebec. Haiti is not a war zone; it’s easy to see why Haitians would prefer the prosperity and opportunities of Canada to the hopelessness of their own country, but Haiti’s government isn’t shelter for refugees, or at the tent city near the official border crossing at St. Bernardde-Lacolle, or the new one being established in Ontario. Instead, Trudeau addressed a press scrum at a Montreal hotel, and apparently found it necessary to assure Canadians that Canada is not a safe haven and there will be no favours for those who cross the border “irregularly.”

“We are not shortcutting any of the natural steps on immigration,” he promised. “Full security checks are being made.”

He delivered a similar message a few days ago during a visit of the Irish prime minister.

“Canada is an opening and welcoming society,” he said. “But let me be clear. We are also a country of laws. Entering Canada irregularly is not an advantage. There are rigorous immigration and customs rules that will be followed. Make no mistake.”

Trudeau was in Montreal on Wednesday to attend a meeting of the federal-provincial task force that’s been assembled to deal with the influx.

Liberals maintain the situation is not a crisis, and that they can handle it. That may be so, although the images of Canadian troops assembling tent cities isn’t the sort of message that says “business as usual.”

For the Liberals, the real crisis is electoral: it’s critical to their re-election hopes that they get the situation in hand before the next campaign begins. The last thing they want is to provide the Conservatives with opportunities to point out their hypocrisy, the degree to which they fed the problem, or the shift in approach they’ve taken as the number of arrivals rises.

This is especially the case given the fact that the migrants are heading to Quebec, where the Liberals won 40 of their 184 seats. Premier Philippe Couillard has been careful to show a compassionate face, urging Quebecers to treat the new arrivals with respect and pointing out that they are “asylum seekers,” and not “migrants” or “illegal immigrants.”

But Quebec is the province that tried to push through a “Charter of Values” under the previous government, and where only the efforts of Quebec City’s mayor overcame resistance to Muslims being allowed a cemetery to bury their dead. Reuters News reported this week that Liberal insiders are fearful the flow of migrants could balloon next year when people from El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras also lose their protected status in the U.S.

One of the great talents of the Liberal party is its historic ability to align its “principles” with whatever shifts the public mood might take.

It may not have upset everyone in Liberal backrooms when newscasts this week reported that Trudeau “is cracking down on illegal immigrants,” much as that might contrast with the image his handlers have worked so hard to project.

The trick is to pull it off without offending those voters who fell for the original imagery, while attracting those willing to applaud the new “tough” Trudeau. They’ve done it before. That halo needs a lot of protecting.