It was plain spoken, it was classy, it was the right thing to do. On a beautiful Saturday morning, on a long weekend when most of us would rather not be working, New Democrat MP Paul Dewar put on his suit and along with colleague Helene Laverdiere held a news conference to lay out the NDP position on dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis.
“We have reached out to the government now because we don’t need to wait until October to start this work,” Dewar said.
“Let’s agree on a Syrian refugee co-ordinator right now and put them in charge of a multi-departmental effort to make this happen.”
The NDP plan calls for Canada to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015 and 9,000 a year for the next four years.
Part of the NDP plan also calls for helping Canadians privately sponsor refugees to come here and places no cap on how many private sponsorships will be accepted.
Dewar reached back to his own personal past, his mother Marion was mayor of Ottawa in 1979 when like so many communities across Canada, the Boat People from Vietnam spurred people to action. Mayor Dewar helped spearhead 'Operation 4000" to bring 4,000 refugees to Canada from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Churches, community groups, even bowling leagues stepped up to the plate.
Dewar would like to see that happen again.
“Everyone has a role play here,” Dewar told me.
It is good to see the NDP putting forward a plan that is about more than just government action.
“Maybe we need to remind people of this opportunity,” Dewar said about the possibility for private sponsorships.
The Conservatives might be wise to work with Dewar on this and find some common ground. His plan is to applauded.
Yet for all the kudos I can give Dewar on his ideas for dealing with refugees, his party is on the wrong side of a key part of any plan to deal with this crisis, fighting ISIS and like-minded groups that are creating the refugees in the first place.
The NDP, like the Liberals, don’t believe Canada has a role to play in the military coalition led by US President Barack Obama to push back against the Islamic extremists that are rampaging through the region.
Yes, the Kurdi family whose plight sparked so much outrage this past week were from Syria and Canada is not directly involved in fighting that conflict – there are no good guys to back in that fight – but ISIS is part of the problem in Syria and in Iraq where we are fighting.
The refugees filling camps in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan. The ones attempting to get to Europe are not random refugees, they are refugees created by the fighting.
Dealing with this crisis in full requires not only dealing with refugees but also providing humanitarian aid on the group and fighting groups like ISIS.
On Friday Prime Minister Stephen Harper made that point during a campaign stop.
“Obviously, we are bringing in more refugees, but there are tens of millions of refugees. You can’t solve the problem through refugee policy alone,” Harper said.
A day earlier Harper, reacting to the news and photo of three year-old Aylan Kurdi washed up that Turkish beach, had made the case for continuing the military mission.
“I do not know for the life of me how you can look at that picture and say ‘Yeah, I want to help that family’ and say walk away from the military coalition,” Harper said. “It’s incomprehensible to me to see an image like that and conclude you do more of one thing and less of another.”
I agree: I don’t know how you look at an image like that and think we should help the refugees but not do what we can to stop the situation creating the refugees.
The Conservatives should reach across the aisle to work with people inside the NDP like Paul Dewar on crafting a refugee action plan that all Canadians can support and be proud of, but the NDP, and the Liberals, need to change course and get on board with the idea that military action is needed.
We cannot move Syria’s 17 million or Iraq’s 36 million to other parts of the world. That is what looking at this as solely a refugee issue would have us do.
What we can do is everything in our power to make that part of the world a little safer and stop the Islamist thugs trying to establish a caliphate in the Middle East.
To do any less would be un-Canadian.
READ Brian Lilley's book CBC Exposed -- it's been called "the political book of the year.”
SIGN UP FREE for exclusive Election 2015 coverage from The Rebel team!
A paralyzed man was denied a subsidized apartment -- because he's not Muslim!
SIGN OUR PETITION to stop taxpayer funded discrimination at NoInfidelsAllowed.com
The Saudis are bombing ISIS in Syria . . . do you know how many Refugees they are taking? ZERO ! As are Bharian, Qatar, Kuwait and numerous other wealthy Arab States.
“Whose streets? Our streets!” UK Muslims riot in Rotherham, where rape gangs ran wild, thanks to Jihad Watch, September 6, 2016 – See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2015/09/video-whose-streets-our-streets-british-muslims-riot-in-city-where-rape-gangs-ran-wild.html/#sthash.tuu9mNlP.dpuf
Interesting video . . . http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=51fe948515b4
To those who think that these people will benefit Canada because “they will work hard and pay taxes” here is an example of what will happen if we open our doors to these “refugees”
Sweden’s 16.5% foreign born muslim population use 66.4% of the nation’s government financial assistance. The cost of housing these foreign born is escalating out of control.
Netherlands: 50-70% of former Muslim ‘asylum seekers’ live permanently on welfare. Of the former asylum seekers with a Syrian, Iraqi or Eritrean nationality more than half collect government assistance.
Australia: Muslim jobless rates twice the national average.
80 % of the 50 million Muslims in the west are on welfare.They contribute nothing, they high crime rates, they have the highest rate of welfare fraud and financial crimes.
Muslims arrive as refugees or illegals and deplete the wealth from the west to such an extent that it’s a threat to the security and financial stability in the west. The welfare paid in EU is adopted to the income levels of workers and the cost of living in the EU. Welfare was never intended as foreign aid to enable mass immigration to Europe, but welfare is the magnet which pulls in millions of muslim immigrants to Europe.
To continue on this path would be suicidal. We are like sheep to the slaughter. The blind refusal to see and respond accordingly is going to be the last big mistake.
Harper says the security of Canada will be maintained, but how, how are these people to be properly vetted. He says, those most in need first, women and children. It has been said before, but all the pics and vids show mostly young male crowds. It just seems so elementary to NOT fling wide open our doors.
Someone mentioned temporary refuge. Unless you have an Ellis Island, how do you contain them, for return to their own country. Then possibly a proper vetting and invitation for citizenship to a ‘reasonable’ number.
Other Muslim countries won’t take other Muslims, because they all hate each other. That is what we will be importing into our country, if we don’t stick with Christian and Yazidis.
If ever we had a politician in Canada with the GUTS to slam shut the door to Muslim immigration – that politician would be wildly popular just as Donald Trump is wildly popular for pledging to end illegal immigration. Unfortunately in Canada our “conservatives” are nothing but weak useless cuckservatives – not much better than the NDP or Liberals.
And speaking of weakness. All those pontificating here about the Syrian civil war, what caused it and what led to the rise of ISIS aren’t looking back far enough. And no, you needn’t go back to Mohammud’s birth and/or to the Crusades. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 is far enough. That led to his anti-American apology tour in early 2009 during which he strongly signaled to the Muslim world that whatever happened in the ME and elsewhere, trouble makers could count on not having Obama’s America do anything to stop them. Actually it’s worse than that – he signaled he’d help them! And he has. Shortly afterward came the “Arab Spring”, the fall of Mubarak (replaced by Obama’s favorite people, the Muslim Brotherhood), the debacle in Libya, etc. – we all know how that went. Then it was Syria’s turn and Obama’s complete withdrawal from Iraq, and the rise of the weakly contested barbarians known as ISIS. And here we are. The next shoe to drop is Obama’s insane deal with Iran on nukes, the withdrawal of sanctions against Iran (world leader in state-sponsored terrorism) giving them access to100’s of $billions to pursue local and global terrorism, to advance their nuke program including the missile technology to deliver them.
So, it’s all thanks to Obama’s weak, passive and just plain bonkers foreign policy. And, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
Polls out today “September 8” show Mr. Harper and his Government in “Free Fall Collapse” with the NDP taking top spot and Liberals on thier tails…
Here is my contribution for a minority Government – 900 Reasons not to Re-Elect NDP MP Linda Duncan of Edmonton Strathcona – http://www.ciactivist.org/Truth.html
Have you built your panic room and bomb shelters yet?
Yep.
@ Jimmy – personally I’m glad you’re here. It would be boring without you – in fact I am glad that both sides of the statist spectrum – neocon and “liberal” are present. It makes good theater does it not? Moreover I am continually impressed with your relentless pursuit of your ideological stance – it is admirable in the “stick to-it-ness” sense. A little messed up mind you but fun to read non the less. I hope you stick around for a very long time.
Thanks for being you.
Francis
“Liberals” (as they call themselves) do not believe in free-speech. Funny that you’re here asserting your right to campaign for the leftism, whereas censorship is rife and justified at “liberal” websites such as CBC, Toronto Star under the guise of being “politically correct”. You do have a right to free speech, you will not be banned from this website, but I’m not gonna read your Muslim-loving anymore. If I see your name, I’m gonna scroll up or down, away from the Toronto “trendy” leftist trash that’s taken over all other Canadian news sites.
Good luck with your Sharia shwarmas and government subsidized arts industry, Dhimmi Da Silva.
No, hard core conservatives are unelectable, because the vast majority of Canadians and Americans are not hard core conservatives. Even if they are fiscally conservative, they are socially liberal – so someone that Rick Santorum is way too hard core right for them.
I thought The Rebel was all about free speech. You should be welcoming me here to provide my view, even if you disagree with it. A place where everyone just agrees with each other is boring as hell and don’t you think The Rebel needs to be called out on bullshit?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl16QDk2sig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpZuEmKwNjM
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-08/war-drums-beating-bulgaria-blocks-russian-access-its-airspace-syria-flights
Todd – you are correct about the outcome, AB etc. I am reminded of an old saying – just can’t remember who said it:
Every nation gets the government it deserves.
Canada is no exception. It will go down the toilet with the rest of western civilization. The Jimmys and Brians of the world will ensure its destruction – of this I am positive.
I remember a while back shortly after the shooting on Parliament Hill when we were treated to the passing of C-51 on the news. There was much backslapping, hand shaking and applauding amongst the parties over its passage. It was a true political love fest. I told my son to take note as we were watching it all unfold on the news. I told him – “See my son – democracy and freedom don’t always die to the sound of bullets and bombs – sometimes it goes to the sound of thunderous applause.”
We get what we get people. Sometimes I believe its God’s way of sending us a wake up call. Ask the average Albertan in a year or two (maybe sooner). We’ll know for sure then.
Francis
Andy couldn’t be more right, this is no time to be whining about the state of politics. We have to elect a responsible leader who will guide us out of these times, and make some considered ,tough decisions. Americans have the same task, and their election outcome will have repercussions over here. We can’t afford for the left to get in.
Stop whining and make some tough decisions, our country depends on it. R.V., “Arm up while you can people, these “progressives” are about to fly us into the ground.”
You do know that a hard core conservative would be unelectable in Canada or America for that matter. The best you will ever get is center right.
I wonder if there will be a mass suicide of conservatives.
As far as what is going on in the middle east. We need do something, or all of the lost lives will have been in vain. Not to mention the billions spent trying to stabilize the region. It’s already looking like Russia is going to end up with control of Syria. We are loosing or have already lost because the coalition did not have the resolve to see it through. Maybe we should have never went in in the first place, but that is not the point. They pulled out before the region had enough stability to stand on its own. Now it has become more complicated that ever. This is not a partisan poke, but Obama did not do us any favors. When Assad crossed the red line he should of acted. Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda. Now we have a huge complicated mess on our hands. We cannot stand by and allow ISIS to commit atrocities on a grand scale and say that is Okay. That would be equal to not taking in any migrants. Just sayin.
Your comparison of the three political parties to meth, heroine and cocaine made me giggle. It would have been even funnier if it wasn’t so bloody accurate.
I’ve been voting Conservative my entire adult life – never missed an election that I can recall (The only thing I dislike more than a neocon is a liberal) – even had a membership to the party many years ago.
I think I will spoil my ballet this year and mark “None of the above”. It is more in line with the resignation I feel regarding the destruction of our sovereignty and “democracy”.
I’m afraid that if the Rebel and Mr Lilley’s article are all we can hope for from the conservative party then I am finished.
Respectfully,
Francis
KILL THE CBC! KILL THE CBC!!
Fin Donnelly was on Power and Politics today. So was the story on the two Conservative candidates who were kicked out. I have been calling the CBC a left wing propaganda machine for a long time now. Let me point out some facts that occurred today that justifies my wanting of our, yes OUR, 1.1 BILLION dollars to stop going to the CBC.
- Fin Donnelley was interviewed alone with nobody to argue against what he said. I am so upset that from now on I will be referring to Fin Donnelly as “Lying Prick”. With no counter comments, the lying prick had it easy.
- The first question asked to him by the lady was “OK tell us your story”. How convenient for the lying prick.
- To the CBC’s lady’s credit. She played a video from a few days ago which completely contradict what the lying prick was saying today, Only the lying prick commented. Even a two cent lawyer like Mulcair would have been able to expose the lying prick’s lies.
- The lying pricks interview was the shortest of the day. The report on the two Conservatives was much longer.
- Later on that show, they have the Power Panel. it is where experts comment on the days events ( the one with helium head Rob Silver and flaming Ian Dipstick). Not one mention of the lying prick. IS THE CBC LEFT WING. God no
- Guess which topic was discussed the most. Yes, the two conservative candidates who did something three years ago. WHEN THEY WERE NOT CANDIDATES.
Why is a French citizen running to be Canada’s Prime Minister. Not newsworthy.
-
In Disgust
Alex Armutlu
Someone who is going to try very hard to KILL THE CBC!! KILL THE CBC!!
jack.nagler@cbc.ca
fiona.conway@cbc.ca
arlene.pyle@cbc.ca
esther.enkin@cbc.ca