PM was all thumbs on tweet
Last thing Canada needs is feud with Trump
To avoid confusion, I agree entirely with Pierre Trudeau’s contention that a society that emphasizes uniformity is one which creates intolerance and hate.
Donald Trump is a man temperamentally unfit to be President of the United States of America — a bully whose “win-lose” philosophy threatens peace and stability around the globe.
Americans are far more likely to die from lightning, lawn mowers and armed toddlers than Islamic jihadists, so his pledge to get tough on terror by imposing a 90-day ban on travel by citizens of seven Muslim countries makes little sense, like breaking a butterfly on a wheel.
But while Trump is truculent, he is also transparent.
He was elected, in part, on this nonsensical policy and there is every prospect that it will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. It is blatantly racist, judging people on their race and religion, rather than their actions. Even his vice-president has called it unconstitutional. Republicans who have to face voters in midterm elections in two years will, surely to God, curb Trump’s more noxious enthusiasms in the meantime.
It was entirely appropriate for the government of Canada to highlight its own policies on immigration and point out that diversity is this country’s strength.
At a briefing in Ottawa Sunday, Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s immigration minister, said Canada would provide temporary residency to anyone denied entry into the U.S., but he reported there were no travellers stranded at Canadian airports. Hussen added that should any Canadians experience problems entering the U.S., they should seek consular assistance by calling 613-996-8885.
Much of the confusion this weekend seemed to stem from a statement put out by the U.S. State Department Saturday that the travel ban would encompass dual-citizenship Canadians from one of the seven targeted countries.
“I went to the US 6 times in 2016. 2 or 3 times were for work. I’ve been in Canada since Grade 8. But I was born in Sudan, so I’m banned,” tweeted Elamin Abdelmahmoud, an editor at BuzzFeed in Toronto.
Reza Zadeh, a professor at Stanford University in California and CEO of tech company Matroid, tweeted: “Just paid for the health insurance of my American employees. As a Canadian-Iranian with an EB-1 Green Card, now not allowed into US. Weird.”
Some outside the U.S. panicked about whether they’d be able to reconnect with loved ones in the U.S. Waldman said he received a call from an Iranian-born Canadian woman who has a green card in the U.S. She is currently travelling in Europe and was worried whether she would be able to reunite with her husband and children.
For a time, questions swirled about whether Hussen, who was born in Somalia, would even be able to enter the U.S., but a spokeswoman brushed aside any concerns.
And late Saturday, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office provided a bit of relief. It said that Daniel Jean, Canada’s national security advisor, had spoken to his American counterpart confirming that dual citizens were not affected by the ban.
Jean told reporters Sunday he didn’t think the U.S. government understood all of the consequences of the travel ban before signing it.
“It’s incredible to see how many people are rediscovering the comfort and also the power of collective anger,” Abdelmahmoud wrote in a follow-up tweet. “It’s quite a thing to see.”