Stand firm after attacks
Well, that didn’t take long.
Barely four weeks have gone by since Canadians showed Stephen Harper’s Conservatives the door. But already the Tories and their disgruntled acolytes are trying to stage a rematch by shamelessly exploiting Islamic State’s assault on Paris and the outrage and fear it has spawned.
Within hours of the attacks, interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government “immediately” reverse its decision to pull Canadian warplanes from bombing runs in Iraq and Syria. “It’s important that we remain resolute and support our allies,” she said. The implication is the Liberals are about cutting and running.
Meanwhile online petitions — Stop the Immigration of Refugees to Canada and Non à l’immigration des 25,000 réfugiés — had garnered 85,000 signatures and nods of support by Monday. And Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall urged Ottawa to suspend plans to grant speedy asylum to Syrians fleeing the civil war.
Undeniably, the fallout from Paris puts pressure on Trudeau to respond quickly to public concern. He needs to spell out clearly the “robust” military role he intends Canada to play after bringing home the warplanes, and also how he intends to identify, carefully screen and resettle refugees. So far, the Liberals have been long on good intentions and short on specifics.
After Paris, Trudeau does not have the luxury of temporizing, or retreating behind bland ministerial statements that all is unfolding as it should. Some people at least are rattled. They want leadership and a sharper sense of the government agenda. That’s only to be expected.
But on principle, Trudeau has reason to stand fast. He has no lessons to take from a Conservative party that saw a token six-pack of warplanes as a big deal, and cold-shouldered refugees. Nor should jihadist crimes dictate our policy.
The Conservatives need reminding that Canadians, by a margin of two to one, supported parties that ran on pledges to reverse Tory policy by ending the bombing and providing more generous asylum. Trudeau isn’t making this up on the fly. Canada isn’t cutting and running. And we’re not at risk of being flooded with terrorists disguised as refugees.
Militarily, Trudeau intends to “refocus . . . Canada’s efforts . . . on the training of local forces and humanitarian support.” That balance is what the public voted for. Canada is one of the few allies in the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State that has been daring enough to put troops in harm’s way by training Kurdish fighters and targeting jihadists. That’s riskier than bombing. Trudeau plans to step up the training role. Canada has also supplied reconnaissance and refuelling aircraft to assist our allies.
Nor is Ottawa shirking on the humanitarian side. We have supplied $1billion in aid to the region, resettled 20,000 Iraqis here and promised to take in 25,000 Syrians.
As French Ambassador Nicolas Chapuis put it over the weekend, Canada is “a land of asylum” much like his own. Syria’s refugees “are not the barbarians . . . they are fleeing the barbarians,” he said. Despite the clamour in Europe and here at home to bar the gates, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that “slamming doors in their faces would be a betrayal of our values.”
If Trudeau’s critics have a valid point, it is that people expect more leadership and clarity of purpose than we have seen so far.
On the military side, Ottawa seems intent on beefing up the small contingent of special forces trainers. If so, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan should spell out by how many, what their role will be, how close to the front lines they will serve and how long they will be there. He must also decide whether our other aircraft will remain and whether Ottawa will deploy further resources.
As for Syrian refugees, we need to hear more from Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale than airy assurances that “appropriate security checks” can be done in time to bring many refugees here by year’s end. That strains belief. Do we have the diplomatic, security and immigration staff to screen so many refugees with confidence within a few weeks? It would be a shame if the outpouring of public sympathy after the drowning of little Alan Kurdi were to sour amid concern about hasty, inept screening. And what’s the plan for resettling and integrating them? Let’s hear more.
As the Star has argued from the outset, Ottawa must take the time it needs to get this right, rather than cling to an artificial deadline.
All that said, on the issues of principle — maintaining a credible military role, helping refugees — Trudeau should stand firm, however much the critics may carp. He has the mandate.
Fallout from Paris puts pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond quickly