Hypocritical Canada won’t get too involved

You could cut the hypocrisy with a knife. The media has been filled with reports that the family of a Syrian child who died on a beach in Turkey were trying to come to Canada. Minister of Immigration Chris Alexander interrupted his campaign to handle the matter while Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau blamed the government for needing an election campaign to find compassion. That, of course, raises the question: what would have happened if the child’s family had not wanted to come to Canada? What about the thousands who have died trying to reach Europe? Where do Trudeau and all the other compassionate souls stand on that?

But that’s only part of the problem. When thousands of people are trying to leave a country, there’s something seriously wrong. And in this regard, Syria isn’t alone. Even if Europe and North America were ready to receive all those people with open arms, that wouldn’t solve the problem. Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn’t often right, but this time he is. At some point, the international community is going to have to take a stand and intervene in the countries involved.

But don’t hold your breath. Compassion is easy; correcting injustice on that scale is something else again. Furthermore, since correcting injustice can sometimes be ugly, Canada will definitely not get too involved, simply because our current and aspiring leaders have no stomach for anything that appears remotely ugly. Gene Sauvé, Gatineau