MP Unimpressed With Refugee Plan

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has arrived in Malta for the second leg of his three-stop, European conference tour.

Tuesday’s announcement could raise alarm in the USA, where many Republican governors have said they don’t want Syrian refugees.

Justin Trudeau, sworn in this month, made the initial pledge as part of his election campaign, but his critics said the goal was unrealistic.

Immigration and Refugee Minister John McCallum said they wanted to do it fast but also want to do it right so they are taking a little bit more time to resettle them. And to Mulcair’s credit, the NDP has drawn attention to the injustice of the effective exclusion of most “unaccompanied” young Sunni men from the refugee-selection priority schematics Trudeau’s government unveiled Tuesday.

The government will fly in 10,000 refugees by the end of the year and the remainder by the end of February. He spoke of a “wonderful humanist gesture of all Canadians”. The officials are also set to interview and check the identity of each refugee on Canadian and US databases.

Questions about Muslim integration and Islamist infiltration into the country surrounded the heated 11-week election campaign – an intense affair by Canadian standards. This helped Trudeau’s Liberals come to power last month. The resettling of vulnerable refugees is a clear demonstration of this. Trudeau has persisted, saying he does not put much stock in the polls.

Canada will spend up to $510 million over six years flying in the refugees from Turkey, Syria and Jordan and then helping resettle them.

Even after the November 13 Paris terror attacks, the French government renewed its commitment to bring in 30,000 Syrian refugees over the course of the next two years.

But McCallum said that had no effect on delaying the arrival of all the refugees by December 31.

Trudeau meets this evening with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat before the full Commonwealth heads-of-government summit begins Friday. “They are fleeing war”, Sajjan said. Outgoing United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, while praising Canada for its efforts, has also cautioned that Western publics need to be cautious in rushing to easy judgements. One might just as well say “Jason Kenney is back”.

Canada’s new plan to deny asylum to straight male refugees travelling alone has been criticised by a gay Syrian refugee. He said this was in keeping with the country’s traditions.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel said it’s important the government prioritize “those who are facing immediate threats of genocide”, including LGBT Syrians. It was very emotional not seeing them and know that they are in danger’.

“I think the best way to help is stand up and say you’re going to do it, and go do it”, he said.

“Because of the short time frame, we may not be able to do all the process the usual way it’s done”, UNHCR spokeswoman in Canada Gisèle Nyembwe said. Canada’s focus will be on identifying vulnerable refugees who are a lower security risk.