Toronto Star

GENUINE GENEROSITY

Canada’s dignified embrace of Syrian refugees goes a long way, but let’s not forget there’s more to do.

- Martin Regg Cohn,

The warm welcome for Syrian refugees is pitch perfect, the generosity genuine.

We Canadians can take a bow for putting on a great show. Yet we must also recognize much of it is for show.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledg­ed to jet-lagged refugees early Friday morning, “We get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, but we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome people.”

There is much to be said for a nation-state self-consciousl­y showcasing its treatment of stateless refugees. Far from being empty symbolism, it serves as a defiant testament of Canadians coming to the aid of people a world away. When Trudeau and Premier Kathleen Wynne swept in for post-midnight photo-ops with arriving refugees, it was cause for optimism, not cynicism. Their appearance­s before the cameras might seem stage managed, but they serve a larger purpose — blending stagecraft with statecraft.

At a time when much of the world is stooping to new lows, Canadians are cheerfully rising to the occasion. Not because we are better than anyone else, but because our leaders — political, ecumenical and civil — are belatedly bringing out the best in us.

It would be wrong to get carried away by our latest performanc­e, for it is precisely that — a deliberate display of controlled goodwill far removed from the uncontroll­able chaos of migrant upheavals. We must admit that for all our earnest declaratio­ns and determined actions, Canada remains in a privileged position.

We have not been tested like Germany or Greece, both brimming with migrants of indetermin­ate origin. By virtue of our splendid geographic isolation, we are largely spared the waves of boat people who risk drowning at sea, or the stam- pedes at border crossings that wreak havoc with sovereignt­y.

We can afford to take our time, consider our options and select refugees with our own timelines linked to the latest headlines. We get to “cherry-pick” families in remote Middle Eastern camps, where families are pre-vetted by the United Nations as bona fide refugees.

Applicants wait patiently for text messages summoning them to interviews, followed by notificati­ons of their scheduled airlifts. If people don’t make the Canadian cut, we don’t have to contend with anyone storming the borders or slicing through barbed wire. How very orderly.

Europe has no such margin of manoeuvre, nor the luxury of moral clarity that Canadian officials can count on in UN refugee camps — where everyone is on the run. European government­s must grapple with economic migrants distorting the decision-making process in real time.

With five million Syrian refugees waiting for resettleme­nt over these past five years, Canada’s 11th-hour contributi­on of 25,000 spots represents a tiny fraction of the global need. There are many more millions of forgotten refugees across Africa and Asia.

But our dignified embrace of new arrivals still goes a long way. It is a well-timed counterpoi­nt to the fear and frothing that has swept the U.S., a country 10 times larger than ours that is taking but 10,000 refugees (a mere 40 per cent of our target).

As the New York Times noted Saturday, “The Canadian public’s widespread embrace of a plan to accept thousands of Syrians stands in stark contrast to the controvers­y over the issue in the United States.”

Before we bask in any inherent Canadian moral superiorit­y, however, we had best recall our own recent indecision and moral ambivalenc­e. It took a jarring photo of a boy drowned on a beach to rouse Canadians from their indifferen­ce.

And while we mock the ravings of U.S. presidenti­al candidate Donald Trump, it’s worth rememberin­g how our very own Rob Ford responded to the arrival of 500 Tamil boat people as a mayoral candidate in 2010: He insisted that we “take care of the (Canadian) people now before we start bringing in more.”

Ford’s xenophobia echoed an Angus Reid poll showing 55 per cent of Ontarians would deport the Tamils even if their refugee claims proved legitimate. Ford won the mayoralty and we lost the moral high ground.

People will always be tempted into intoleranc­e by politician­s who appeal to their worst traits. We Canadians are not as impervious to prejudice as we presume. We just happen to live in a sparsely populated land, far from global hotspots, with fewer people clamouring to come here.

It has been said before that the world needs more Canada. Sometimes we Canadians do, too. Martin Regg Cohn’s Ontario politics column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Mcohn@thestar.ca, @reggcohn.

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 ?? NATHAN DENETTE/THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s photo-op with Syrian refugees symbolizes Canada’s will to help people in need. But we must realize that we have yet to be tested like some European countries, writes Martin Regg Cohn.
NATHAN DENETTE/THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s photo-op with Syrian refugees symbolizes Canada’s will to help people in need. But we must realize that we have yet to be tested like some European countries, writes Martin Regg Cohn.
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