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Refugees, Harper and Canada
Sun, 2015-09-06 11:42
#1
Refugees, Harper and Canada
Sun, 2015-09-06 11:56
#2
The Cons, despite their promise of bringing in 20,000 immigrants, have actually passed legislation making it much more difficult to be accepted as a refugee and, if accepted, slow down the process of reaching Canada.
The Conservative government imposed a new rule for potential refugees in 2012 — a change refugee groups say is the reason so few Syrians have made it to Canadian soil.
The rule also appears to have played a key role in the government’s refusal to allow a B.C. woman, Tima Kurdi, to privately sponsor her brother, Mohammed Kurdi and his family.
After Mohammed’s application was returned to Tima, their other brother, Abdullah, tried to flee with his family from Turkey to Greece. Their boat capsized and Abdullah’s two young sons and wife all drowned. Pictures of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body washed ashore in Turkey shocked the world this week.
The refugee groups say they have repeatedly called on Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and the government to exempt Syrians from the rule — which says the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or another country must first designate a person as a refugee before immigration officials will consider letting them be privately sponsored to come to Canada.
But they say their requests have been ignored.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/conservative-...
Sun, 2015-09-06 12:39
#3
ETA: The following article discusses how the refugee issue is already dominating the campaign.
The charged debate over Canada's acceptance of Syrian refugees — the subject of tear-choked addresses this week by all three major party leaders — began settling on to more familiar partisan turf Friday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair sparred over Canada's military role in the conflict.
Harper, Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau each in their own way have acknowledged that a more focused humanitarian effort is needed to speed the movement of displaced Syrian families into Canada. Their emotional pledges to do better followed revelations Thursday that the family of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy, photographed lying in the surf of a Turkish beach, had aspired to come to Canada, where they had relatives in Vancouver.
But the common spirit of compassion, unusual in the midst of a federal election, began fraying before Thursday was over and by Friday the bitter ideological divisions were back out in plain view.
Mulcair dismissed military action, specifically Canada's current bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq, as a solution to the refugee flood that is overwhelming Europe and captivating worldwide public attention.
Speaking at a seniors' residence in Brossard, Que., Mulcair said the gut-wrenching plight of Alan Kurdi, his brother Ghalib and their mother, Rehanna — all drowned while trying to flee Turkey for Greece — is not the kind of tragedy that can be solved by military force.
"When I hear the answers from the prime minister, saying, 'Well, more war is the solution,' well, no amount of military action would have saved that child on that beach," said Mulcair. "Let's start acting to save lives immediately. Canada's done it in the past and we can do it again." Asked if there was any role at all for Canada's military in stopping the refugee crisis, Mulcair was emphatic: "The NDP disagrees with the use of Canada's armed forces in that conflict. We've been clear on that since the beginning."
At a Conservative rally in Whitehorse, Harper pounced, calling the NDP's approach a "cop out" that is "deeply ideological." "It is deeply wrong and it is out of step with what Canadians believe," Harper said. There's nothing contradictory about helping refugees and also launching an aerial bombardment of fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, he said.
He then moved to pivot the issue away from whether Canada is doing enough fast enough to assist refugees and toward safer Conservative territory of national security.
http://www.northbaynipissing.com/news-story/5829035-harper-mulcair-reviv...
Sun, 2015-09-06 12:48
#4
Assad started this civil war by shooting peaceful demonstrators for six months.
Not true.
"According to former French foreign minister Roland Dumas, Britain 'had planned covert actioin in Syria as early as 2009...Notes from a meeting with Pentagon officials, that confirmed US-UK training of Syrian opposition forces since 2011 aimed at eliciting 'collapse' of Assad's regime 'from within.'
According to retired NATO Secretary General Wesley Clark, a memo from the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, just a few weeks after 9/11 revealed plans to 'attack and destroy the governments in seven countries in five years,' starting with Iraq and moving on to, 'Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.'
Clark argues that this strategy is fundamentally about control of the region's vast oil and gas resources.
In 2009, Syrian President Assad refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline from the latter's North field through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to supply European markets in direct competition with Russia.
Being a Russian ally, Assad refused to sign and instead pursued negotiations for an alternative $10 billion pipeline plan with Iran, crossing Iraq and into Syria that would also potentially allow Iran to supply gas to Europe.
Thus Assad had to go..."
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/04/europes-refugee-crisis-and-the-de...
Sun, 2015-09-06 13:20
#5
The NDP has expanded on its plan to bring in 10,000 refugees immediately.
In a week that saw the Syrian refugee crisis suddenly become a hot-button election issue, derailing the campaigns of the major political parties, the Liberals and NDP are urging the government to accept thousands of more refugees by the end of this year.
Candidates from those parties addressed the media on Saturday to promise more action on refugee claims. The New Democrats are calling for the resettlement of 10,000 government-sponsored refugees by 2015's end, while the Liberals say they are aiming to accept 25,000 by Jan. 1, 2016.
"We have reached out to the government now because we do not need to wait until October to start this work," NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said in Ottawa on Saturday morning. Dewar was joined by international development critic Hélène Laverdière in calling for a plan of action. ...
"Let's agree on a Syrian refugee coordinator right now, and put them in charge of a multi-departmental effort to make this happen. This is a good place to start. But it is not enough," he said.
An NDP government would also, according to Dewar and Laverdière, fast-track private sponsorships and respond to the United Nations' appeal to resettle more refugees from the Syrian civil war with a plan to resettle 9,000 government-sponsored refugees each year for the next four years.
These are part of a five-point action plan Dewar said the NDP announced earlier this week.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-liberal-refugees-1.3217055
Sun, 2015-09-06 13:38
#6
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger is also promising to bring in more refugees.
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger added his voice to those of provincial and municipal leaders calling for immediate action from the federal government on the Syrian refugee crisis.
"We think we can double the number of people we can take in the refugee category," Selinger said in an interview on Sunday on CBC News Network's Power & Politics."We've been capped for several years at about 500 on the public side. If the federal government would lift the cap on public sponsorship, we'd be willing to do even more. It's always been our objective to have more people come into Manitoba."
Immigration is a federal issue. Provinces have lobbied the government for more say over immigration and refugee issues, but currently only Quebec has control over its own immigration policies.
Selinger called the federal position on immigration "a barrier" and said the country's premiers, through the Council of Federation, have asked for the cap to be lifted all categories of immigrants, including refugees.
"If the public cap was lifted, we could do more and have more support for people," he said.
Selinger said he is confident Manitoba could handle an increased influx of refugees.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/selinger-refugee-sponsorship-1.3217438
Sun, 2015-09-06 13:47
#7
This is a shocking quote that should be widely disseminated.
"We could drive ourselves crazy with grief if we look at the, as I say, the millions of people literally who are in danger, the tens of thousands who are dying. We could drive ourselves crazy with grief. Obviously, we do what we can do to help."
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/9/4/headlines/canada_pm_harper_refugee_...
Canadians are far from crazy with grief. We are showing some limited measured compassion not calling for hundreds of thousands of refugees to be admitted to Canada.
The picture of Aylan reminded us of our shared humanity. We are not doing what we can to help. We could do a great deal more.
Sun, 2015-09-06 14:21
#8
ETA: Mayor Nenshi of Calgary has also blasted the Cons for their paltry response to the Syrian refugee situation, for blaming the media on this issue, and for bill C-24, which allows immigrants and those born in Canada who have dual citizenship to be stripped of their citizenship, including Nenshi himself, who was born in Toronto. He also asked Calgarians to do more for the refugees.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi didn't pull any punches when asked about the Syrian refugee crisis and the Canadian government's response. ...
He slammed the "talking points" about attacking ISIS as a solution to the crisis and said Canadians are asking whether the airstrikes are working."No one is saying you bring in the refugees and that solves the whole problem," he said. "But regardless of all the rest of it, we have tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of desperate people, and we have a country that's known as being a safe haven and we have to be able to do that." ...
He saved his strongest condemnation for Chris Alexander, the federal immigration minister who was once a Canadian diplomat stationed in Afghanistan. He lashed out at Alexander's blaming of the media for not bringing more attention to the Syrian crisis, a comment that resulted in a strong backlash against the minister. "As if federal government policy should be based on what's on the cover of the Calgary Sun or on Power & Politics every morning is ridiculous," Nenshi said.
"Minister Alexander should have been a star. He was an incredible diplomat. By all accounts he's a brilliant man, but he's also the minister behind Bill C-24, which I remind you means that me — born at St. Mike's hospital in downtown Toronto — could have my Canadian citizenship stripped," he said.
Nenshi went on to lambaste the minister for preferring to "insult other parties rather than answer questions," and said he wants an answer to just how many Syrian refugees have come to Canada since the number "changes every day." "If the minister can't answer those basic questions, well let's be blunt here. We used to have a principle called ministerial responsibility, ministerial accountability, that if the bureaucrats in your department are not doing a great job, you take responsibility," said Nenshi. "It's been a long time since we've had that in Canada and maybe we need it back."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/nenshi-immigration-refugee-crisis-...
Mayor Naheed Nenshi called on Calgarians to do more to bring refugees to the city while also blasting the Harper government’s stance on the Syrian refugee crisis Friday. ...
“Let’s bring more people to this city,” Nenshi told reporters at City Hall. “This has always been a city of welcome, it’s always been a city of sanctuary, and I’d like to see even more of that happening. We’ll do what we can at the City of Calgary to help with that.”
The mayor encouraged Calgarians to reach out to organizations like Lifeline Syria and the Mennonite Central Committee who are working to sponsor refugees.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2205099/nenshi-blasts-immigration-minister-ove...
Sun, 2015-09-06 14:46
#9
bagkitty
I am coming to think of the refugee situation as part of Harper's boast that we wouldn't recognize this country after he was done with it.
Sun, 2015-09-06 14:59
#10
Harper is facing rapidly increasing pressure from across the political spectrum to increase the number of refugees to Canada. Even the National Citizens Coalition, which Harper once headed and which opposed the admission of Vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s, is calling on Harper to allow more refugees to enter Canada. However, Harper can take comfort in the fact that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation still echos his concerns on the impact on the budget of a large wave of refugees.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces a rising tide of political pressure to admit more Syrian refugees into the country immediately, with even a prominent critic of the massive 1979 airlift of Vietnamese boat people suggesting Canada needs to do more.
Calls for greater action came from all levels of government and all over Canada Friday, from Ontario’s Liberals challenging Ottawa to admit 5,000 more Syrian refugees by year end to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi saying it is a “disgrace” Canada has not already admitted the refugees it has promised to take.
“Without the will of the government, no amount of civilian support will actually help us get Syrian refugees to this country,” said Ratna Omidvar, who heads up Lifeline Syria, an organization that is trying to resettle 1,000 refugees in the Greater Toronto Area.
On Friday — the day after the image of Alan Kurdi lying dead, face down on a Turkish beach, appeared on front pages across the country — Ontario pledged an additional $300,000 to Lifeline Syria so they can hire case workers to help refugees get settled in Canada. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia both donated $50,000 to relief efforts. Manitoba pledged an additional $40,000 to aid Syrian refugee settlement in the province. ...
Toronto Mayor John Tory also pledged his support to Lifeline Syria by sponsoring a family to settle in the city from the war-ravaged country. Tory said Friday he is sponsoring the family as part of a group of friends, one of whom asked him to help just days before the photo of the drowned boy horrified the world. Since that image was published, Tory said, he has spoken with several Canadian mayors who want to help with the humanitarian crisis.
On Thursday, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said he wants to bring hundreds of thousands of refugees into his province (643 Syrian refugees have come since the beginning of the year, and 1,900 are to arrive by year-end).
Protesters gathered in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary Friday to pressure the government to bring more refugees into the country now.
Even the loudest critic of Canada’s decision to airlift Vietnamese boat people into the country en masse, said Canada needs to do more to ease a refugee crisis widely regarded as the worst since the Second World War. While taxpayers watchdog group the National Citizens Coalition (which Harper headed up from 1998-2002) opposed then-prime minister Joe Clark’s move to help these refugees, today’s organization supports ramped-up efforts.
“That view was short-sighted, that view was strictly financial,” said NCC president Peter Coleman. “I think, in a changing world, we have to do our fair share. This is going to be bad for a long time, this is a generational fight.” He believes Ottawa has already done a great deal to help Syrian refugees and Harper is likely sticking with his prior commitment to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees into Canada over the next three years because there is a process to be followed. ...
Federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Aaron Wudrick echoed the concern about making big commitments to aid more refugees in the midst of a campaign, before the cost is properly sketched out.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/stephen-harper-facing-countrywi...
Sun, 2015-09-06 15:10
#11
The Syrian refugee question has dominated the election campaign for the last few days in a way that has only been matched by the Duffy trial. However, unlike the latter, this question seems to have the potential to have an ongoing impact on the election.
Nik Nanos said today on CTV's Question Period that his polling in the last day is showing the issue is breaking in a significant manner against the Cons. Although other issues may overtake the issue of refugees, I feel that it is highly likely to continue to affect the election outcome in a significant manner.
Harper's statement that ISIS is at the core of solving the refugee problem is ludricous. Assad started this civil war by shooting peaceful demonstrators for six months. There are also other extremist Islamist groups, such as Al Nusra, and even so-called moderate rebel groups that have been cited for major human rights violations. Even if Canada's small contribution to air strikes was significant in eventually bringing about the defeat of ISIS, which it won't be, this civil war will not be solved by outside military intervention and more and more Canadians are coming to understand this.
In the meantime, while Harper continues to twiddle his thumbs with respect to refugees, their numbers continue to grow both in number and desperation.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, who has committed during the campaign to allow 10,000 more Middle East refugees into the country over the next four years, said Wednesday that simply granting asylum to the desperate won't fix the crisis. "We have plans to do more, but I would say repeatedly that as we are doing more, we can't lose sight of the fact that refugee resettlement alone cannot, in any part of the world, solve this problem," Harper said.
The extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is at the root of the problem, he said.
The Conservative government promised in January to accept 10,000 refugees from Syria over the next three years. But it came under criticism after refusing for weeks to release information on how many had arrived.
Days after the campaign began last month, the Citizenship and Immigration Department said that as of late July 1,002 people had resettled in Canada as part of the January commitment.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/refugee-migrant-harper-election-1.3213128
Sun, 2015-09-06 15:43
#12
The Cons' pledge to bring in 10,000 refugees plus 10,000 more over another four year term of course doesn't match their because they are cons.
How many Syrian refugees have come to Canada?
Total: According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2,374 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Canada between Jan. 2014 and Aug. 24, 2015.
What’s the government’s track record on Syrian refugee commitments?
The 1,300 pledge
Goal: Canada promised in 2013 to accept 1,300 refugees by the end of 2014.
Reality: 1,300 Syrian refugees had arrived in Canada and been granted permanent resident status by March 2015 (434 were government-assisted refugees and 866 were privately sponsored)
The 10,000 refugee pledge
Goal: Canada promised in January to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next three years.
Reality: 1,074 refugees have arrived in Canada by Aug. 24 - 188 were government-assisted refugees, 857 were privately sponsored refugees and 29 were blended visa office-referred (the program matches refugees identified for resettlement by the United Nations Refugee Agency with private sponsors in Canada).
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/09/03/by-the-numbers-canadas-syrian-refug...
Sun, 2015-09-06 16:38
#13
i was looking for Bill C24 back in June 2014 Hansard (which is a wow tool) and found an enlightening engage of Chris Alexanders on Syrian refugees
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode...
Sun, 2015-09-06 16:52
#14
The response to the Syrian refugee crisis in the last few days has been remarkable, including in BC.
The refugee crisis in Syria has prompted an overwhelming response from people wanting to know what they can do to help, an immigrant and refugee activist said Friday.
Chris Friesen, director of settlement services for Immigrant Services Society of B.C., said dramatic photographs of refugees fleeing Syria has “generated significant public interest. “People want to take action,” he said. “They want to feel they’re contributing to helping the situation.” He said ISS in Vancouver is getting emails and phone calls from people interested in finding out how they can sponsor refugees and asking if they can volunteer to help with ISS. ...
He said the public is also frustrated and angry that Canada hasn’t “done enough” to help Syrians fleeing civil strife in the country. ...
MOSAIC, another immigrant settlement agency, pledged settlement support for up to 1,000 refugees in Metro Vancouver. The agency said it could provide up to that many refugees with interpretation and translation services, assistance with housing arrangements and connections to community resources.
Across Canada, muncipalities came forward to offer help as well.
In B.C., the mayor of Whistler wants the resort municipality 120 km north of Vancouver to sponsor a refugee family from Syria. ...
If that turns out to be the case, Mayor Wilhem-Mordem said she would call on other municipal governments across the country to do the same.
http://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-vancouver-sun/20150905/28153510975...
Sun, 2015-09-06 16:57
#15
In case anybody is interested in a private sponsorship, here is some information on that:
The private sponsorship of refugees
• The Groups of Five program allows individual Canadian citizens or permanent residents 18 years of age and older to sponsor one or more refugees. The sponsors have to live in the same community where the refugee is expected to settle. Community, religious and humanitarian groups can also sponsor refugees. Each person in Groups of Five has to complete a personal financial profile. Collectively, the group has to complete a settlement plan and financial assessment.
• What do private sponsors usually do? They help in various ways.
They cover the cost of food, rent, household utilities and day-to-day living expenses. They provide clothing, furniture, and other household goods. They locate interpreters, help in selecting a physician and dentist, and orient people so they can open a bank account. They help with applying for provincial health care coverage. They help to enrol children in school and adults in language training.
• The sponsorship period is usually 12 months from the refugee’s arrival in Canada or until the refugee becomes self-sufficient — whichever comes first.
In exceptional circumstances, a visa officer may ask the sponsoring group to extend its involvement to 36 months.
Even if the rest of the immediate and dependent family are not accompanying the principal applicant to Canada, they all have to be included in the application for permanent residence. The sponsoring group has to support the rest of the family under the same terms — unless the main refugee applicant has become self-sufficient and can do so.
• What’s the cost? Sponsors are expected to provide a level of support at least equal to the rates for social assistance in their community — about $25,000 per refugee.
• Are there any other expenses? Sponsors may have to cover the cost of loans given by the federal government to refugee applicants to pay for medical examinations overseas and the cost of travelling to Canada.
• How does a sponsoring group connect with a refugee?
The sponsoring group may put forward a refugee’s name which has been obtained by a referral from an overseas contact, a friend or a relative. The Matching Centre at Citizenship and Immigration Canada can also match a sponsor with a refugee.
Once a sponsoring group has formed, it has to obtain the correct Citizenship and Immigration Canada application kit, which can be downloaded from the C.I.C. website:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/index.asp
or can be ordered by email:
• The undertaking completed by the sponsor group, the application for permanent residence and any other relevant documents have to be sent to:
Centralized Processing Office — Winnipeg
400 — 25 Forks Market Road
Winnipeg, MB
R3C 4S9
• Once a privately-sponsored refugee applicant is received by a visa office, processing times vary. It can range from 11 months in Beirut, Lebanon to 67 months in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca and Immigrant Services Society of B.C.
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/refugee+crisis+spurs+public+response/11...
Sun, 2015-09-06 17:35
#16
alan smithee
Hmmm. There's an election ongoing,polls are not good and my only effective talking point has conveniently appeared in all places but Québec.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist but something about this stinks. Sorry.
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/dozens-of-cars-in-repentigny-vandalized-with-...
It wouldn't surprise me if a shooter reappears in Ottawa soon, too.
Sun, 2015-09-06 17:44
#17
If the fleeing populations are not integrated somewhere than they are likely to end up in permant rugee camps. This is what happend to the Palestinians.
I cannot imagine permanent refugee camps in Europe. People will only stay in these camps because of military forces that make them to stay.
Sun, 2015-09-06 17:59
#18
The NDP, with support from the Liberals, is putting pressure on Harper to immediately respond to the crisis, leaving Harper with the choice of changing his policy during an election or facing the growing consensus that Canada must do more.
The New Democrats said Canadians of all political stripes need to immediately band together to help refugees, a plea that was lauded by the Liberals.
"This is not a time for partisanship, this is a time for all Canadians to work together," said Ontario Liberal candidate Dr. Jane Philpott. "We don't think this should wait until a new government is elected, that's still six weeks away. During that time there are of course people in great need, we need to move immediately." ...
The NDP, meanwhile, plans to reach out to the Conservative government to ask it to adopt an "accelerated plan" to bring more than 46,000 government-sponsored refugees to Canada by 2019, including 10,000 by the end of 2015.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said the plan would involve appointing a Syrian refugee co-ordinator as soon as possible to organize government and departmental resources to facilitate entry and settlement of refugees.
It would also include increasing the number of immigration agencies on the ground, expediting private sponsorships with no cap, providing health care and issuing temporary residence permits for Syrians staying with family.
Dewar estimated that the New Democrat plan would cost $74 million to bring 10,000 refugees to Canada by the end of this year, and another $63.8 million to bring in 9,000 each year until 2019. ...
He said he doesn't know how Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government will respond, but that Canada can't afford to wait until the federal election is over to start bringing in its share of refugees as outlined by the United Nations. Dewar said Canada must do more after François Crepeau, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, asked for the resettlement of one million Syrian refugees over the next five years.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/09/05/ndp-and-liberals-call-for-...
Sun, 2015-09-06 20:50
#19
not going to happen. not after the scene Chris Alexander made in the HoC June of 2014
Sun, 2015-09-06 22:13
#20
not going to happen. not after the scene Chris Alexander made in the HoC June of 2014
The goal was not to make it happen but to put the Cons in an awkward position by forcing them to change their policy, indicating they were wrong in the first place (something they Cons almost never relent to do) or highlight their obviously unpopular position beyond their hardcore base.
Mon, 2015-09-07 09:45
#21
The Syrian refugee question has dominated the election campaign for the last few days in a way that has only been matched by the Duffy trial. However, unlike the latter, this question seems to have the potential to have an ongoing impact on the election.
Wanna bet?
Mon, 2015-09-07 09:48
#22
This is a shocking quote that should be widely disseminated.
"We could drive ourselves crazy with grief if we look at the, as I say, the millions of people literally who are in danger, the tens of thousands who are dying. We could drive ourselves crazy with grief. Obviously, we do what we can do to help."
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/9/4/headlines/canada_pm_harper_refugee_...
Canadians are far from crazy with grief. We are showing some limited measured compassion not calling for hundreds of thousands of refugees to be admitted to Canada.
The picture of Aylan reminded us of our shared humanity. We are not doing what we can to help. We could do a great deal more.
When John Ivison (on Question Period on Sunday) and John Ibbotson (on CBC News Network on Sunday), two hard core right wing columnists, John Tory, whose name and career reek of Establishment Tory, and even the National Citizens Coalition, which Harper headed from 1998 to 2002 and which opposed Canada's acceptance of the Vietnamese refugees in 1979 under Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark, all say the Cons are on the wrong side of the issue, you know Harper has a major problem on his hands.
As former Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams said in helping to wipe out the Cons in his province, "Harper is a mean and nasty man".
John Ivison's column identifies Harper's response to the refugee crisis as a possible turning point in the election and even says it could lead to a catastrophic defeat of the Cons.
Talking to a Liberal friend Wednesday evening, we mused on whether the progressive vote would eventually coalesce around one or other of the opposition parties.
“There is another scenario,” he said. “The complete collapse of the Conservative vote.”
I said I thought this was unlikely, given the party’s apparently rock-solid voting base. But each passing day brings more bad news for the Conservatives. Every media availability has Stephen Harper on the defensive. ...
The impact on public opinion of the Mike Duffy trial is only now showing up in polls. No sooner had it taken a break than the country fell into recession. And with the tragic picture of the drowned Syrian-Kurdish child, Alan Kurdi, the Conservatives are once again on the back foot.
Their cause was not helped by the immigration minister, Chris Alexander, going on CBC’s Power and Politics and blaming the media for Canada’s slow response to the refugee crisis. ...
The migrant crisis has the potential to be a turning point in this campaign, and required the Conservative leader to display qualities of empathy and compassion that do not come easily to him. ...
But he added humanitarian aid alone will not solve the situation – it also requires the military will to confront the Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant. “I don’t know for the life of me how you can look at that picture (of Alan Kurdi) and say we want to walk away from the military mission trying to prevent (ISIL) from trying to kill thousands of people. We will do more of everything,” he said. ...
But it has put the public spotlight on refugee policy and particularly on the acceptance of applicants from Syria.
Maybe Harper thought voters didn’t care about events in a far-away place of which they know little. Maybe they didn’t. But they do now.
Many in the Conservative Party earned their political spurs during the Clark and Mulroney years, when the citizenship gates were opened to floods of Vietnamese boat people, and later refugees from Somalia.
Broad swathes of Canadians of all political stripes will now urge the next government to show similar generosity of spirit.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/john-ivison-migrant-crisis-sudd...
Toronto Mayor John Tory also pledged his support to Lifeline Syria by sponsoring a family to settle in the city from the war-ravaged country. Tory said Friday he is sponsoring the family as part of a group of friends, one of whom asked him to help just days before the photo of the drowned boy horrified the world. Since that image was published, Tory said, he has spoken with several Canadian mayors who want to help with the humanitarian crisis. ...
Even the loudest critic of Canada’s decision to airlift Vietnamese boat people into the country en masse, said Canada needs to do more to ease a refugee crisis widely regarded as the worst since the Second World War. While taxpayers watchdog group the National Citizens Coalition (which Harper headed up from 1998-2002) opposed then-prime minister Joe Clark’s move to help these refugees, today’s organization supports ramped-up efforts.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/stephen-harper-facing-countrywi...
Mon, 2015-09-07 11:56
#23
The Syrian refugee question has dominated the election campaign for the last few days in a way that has only been matched by the Duffy trial. However, unlike the latter, this question seems to have the potential to have an ongoing impact on the election.
Wanna bet?
I'll bet that it has a significant impact on the election. For part of my answer read post #20, if you haven't already done so.
In addition to that, protests over the Cons' response to this crisis are happening across the country and are likely to keep it in the public's mind.
Protesters gathered in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary Friday to pressure the government to bring more refugees into the country now.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/stephen-harper-facing-countrywi...
Tragically, there is almost certainly going to be more catastrophic refugee drownings in the Mediterranean creating more media attention to the issue again and again during the election.
The Pope's call for every Catholic parish in Europe (there are more than 75,000 Catholic parishes in Europe in to take in one family with him seting the example of promising to take in two families in tiny Vatican City with its two parishes, sets up a sharp contrast with Harper. This could stimulate other religious groups to do the same, thereby keeping the topic in the news.
Pope Francis called on Sunday on every European church parish and religious community to take in one refugee family in a gesture of solidarity, which he said would start in the tiny Vatican state where he lives.
"I appeal to the parishes, the religious communities, the monasteries and sanctuaries of all Europe to ... take in one family of refugees," he said after his Sunday address in the papal enclave.
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-calls-every-european-parish-host-one-migrant-...
The Pope will also be visiting the USA during the election this month and will be speaking to the US Congress, at the invitation of John Boehner, Republican Catholic Speaker, who probably deeply regrets making the invitation, as I suspect he will bring up the refugee issue and possibly climate change. While in the United States, I would not be surprised if the Pope asked North American parishes to take in a family as well, especially since his stated reason for coming is to attend the 2015 World Meeting of Families, thereby putting the refugee issue on the media hot burner again.
Pope Francis made his intention to travel to the United States for the 2015 World Meeting of Families. . . public on November 17, 2014, in an address to the Colloquium on the Complementarity of Man and Woman at the Vatican.
http://www.usccb.org/about/leadership/holy-see/francis/papal-visit-2015/
The link between climate change, the Arab Spring and the Syrian refugee crisis has been described in quite a few articles. Here's one of them:
Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia, co-founders of the Washington-based Center for Climate and Security, argue that if you want to see the connection between climate and conflict in action today, look no further than Syria. The pair contributed to a series of essaysreleased last week by the Center for American Progress, all arguing that the Arab Spring is a textbook example of the link between climate change and social instability. Climate Desk called them up to discuss how lack of rainfall leads into violent uprising, and how the international community can prepare for the future of extreme weather.
Climate Desk: How does climate change play into civil unrest? Where does it rank compared to other violence-causing factors?
Caitlin Werrell: We use the term “threat multiplier” or “accelerant of instability,” in the sense that climate change can exacerbate other threats to national or international security. The way it does that is often through water: You have an increased prevalence of drought or floods or changing rainfall patterns, and what this does is it changes your ability to grow food, it has impacts on food security, it influences your ability to produce energy, it influences your infrastructure.
Francesco Femia: We wouldn’t actually rank climate change amongst other factors; we would say that climate change is one of those almost special factors that exacerbates other drivers of unrest and/or conflict. It just makes other drivers of unrest worse.
CD: What has happened in the case of Syria, specifically?
FF: In Syria, prior to the unrest that eventually exploded into revolution and armed conflict, Syria had experienced an unprecedented drought, lasting about five years. In 2011, NOAA produced a report showing that the Mediterranean littoral and the Middle East had significant drought conditions that were directly related to climate change. And then we found some reporting that had been done over the course of the drought which were showing that in Syria the drought, connected with natural resource mismanagement by the Assad regime, had led to a mass exodus, rural-to-urban migration, as farmers lost their livelihood. The UN estimated that about 800,000 people in Syria during the course of the drought had their livelihoods entirely destroyed. In the run-up to the unrest in Syria, a lot of international security analysts, even on the eve of the exploding unrest, had determined that Syria was generally a stable country, and that it was immune to social unrest and immune to the Arab Spring. It was clear that there were some stresses underneath the surface, and those migrations that we’re talking about, internal migrations, also put pressure on urban areas that were already economically stressed, and that was added on top of refugees that had been coming in from Iraq since the US invasion.
CD: Generally speaking, how well is the connection between climate change and civil unrest understood, by international aid organizations, by governments? Where is there opportunity or need for understanding it better?
FF: In the past water scarcity has not necessarily led to conflict. Historically, it has sometimes led to cooperation, as conflicting parties come together to deal with their water resources. But we’re looking at an unprecedented picture in the future that we haven’t seen before. The historical record really doesn’t tell us too much about what to expect for the next 20 or 30 years, just given that we’re talking about an unprecedented climate situation and an unprecedented water situation. The international community is still piecing together how climate change is linked to these particular weather events, whether it’s drought or floods, and then how is that related to conflict.
http://climatedesk.org/2013/03/how-climate-change-worsened-violence-in-s...
ETA: The Pope, espeically because he comes from the Global South where climate change is likely to have its greatest impact due to a lack of financial resources to mitigate global warming problems, has also made dealing with climate change a major focus of his Papacy as reflected in his Environmental Encyclical (http://www.catholic.com/blog/jimmy-akin/pope-francis’s-environmental-encyclical-13-things-to-know-and-share). So don't be surprised if he ties the issues of refugees and climate change together.
By the way I am atheist, so don't go blaming me for Catholic doctrine, but when the Pope shows more leadership on an issue than most of our global leaders, and especially Harper, I am willing to acknowledge it.
Of course, if everyone takes your attitude and says the situation is hopeless and there is nothing I can do or us as a group, that prophecy is self-fulfilling.
Mon, 2015-09-07 12:32
#24
When asked by journalists in Toronto today on the CBC News Network to reply to the NDP and Liberals to address the bringing in Syrian refugees on an urgent, nonpartisan cooperative manner, Harper replied that he is not going to respond to partisan games. What a man!
Mon, 2015-09-07 13:06
#25
So, in case anyone thinks that it's all about "Syrian refugees" just because our Glorious Leaders tell us so, here's some of what Amnesty International has been saying about the horrifying war and abuses within Liberated Libya (you know, we liberated it when we facilitated the assassination of Gaddafi, you know, the guy that was killing his own people, that's the current trope which permits foreign bombing, invasion, occupation).
Mon, 2015-09-07 13:06
#26
Of course, if everyone takes your attitude and says the situation is hopeless and there is nothing I can do or us as a group, that prophecy is self-fulfilling.
You're talking to me? I said the situation is "hopeless"? It's very disrespectful to invent opinions and attribute them to others.
I've been reading your posts, and my opinion is that they're driven by the latest headlines in the mainstream media.
That's why you're talking about "Syrian refugees".
You haven't said one solitary word about half a million Libyan refugees. Neither have the compassionate Liberals and NDP, who care about nothing except MSM headlines and electioneering.
Of course, the reason the MSM and the humanitarian champions of the Liberal Party and NDP have said nothing about Libyan refugees does not require superhuman intelligence to divine. It's because we (you know, compassionate caring Canadians) joined a NATO mission to bomb Libyans (including civilians) in order to effect regime change, leading to utter political chaos and... yup... refugees.
That's why I believe our priorities should be as follows:
1. An immediate end to Canadian support for any military interference abroad (start with Syria and Iraq).
2. Offer a generous hand of support and welcome to all refugees from arenas where Canada has played a role in creating the crisis.
3. Support for and welcome to refugees from all countries.
To my utter non-shock and non-surprise, neither the MSM nor the Liberals nor the NDP have said one single word about #1 or #2.
I invite you to comment on, and to take up the cause reflected in, #1 and #2.
And as for my only previous comment in this thread ("Wanna bet?"), my reason was simple. MSM headlines started the crocodile tears and opportunistic murmurs on the part of Liberals and NDP. Within a few days, attention will turn elsewhere. That's what will happen if we just keep quoting the John Ivisons and Pope what's-his-name and others of that ilk.
We need our own movement and our own demands. Otherwise, nothing will change - not even if the government does.
Mon, 2015-09-07 13:09
#27
Your link didn't work for me Unionist.
Mon, 2015-09-07 13:17
#28
You haven't said a single word about climate change refugees despite numerous comments I have made on that. But let's not engage in slanging games but address the issues. Your "Wanna bet" comment suggests you have little faith in this having any impact on what happens to the refugees as you didn't eleaborate in any way on what you meant, so in order to respond I had to infer something. You never even responded to any of my points.
Because people engage in political manouvering during an election, does not make their approach invalid.
From here on I plan to focus on the issue currently at hand, as engaging in point-counterpoint is not going to accomplish anything.
The Conservatives have once again been embarassed by their approach to this issue.
As election campaigns shift toward addressing the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, people have been tweeting Conservative Party mailouts that are said to have "loaded" language against refugees.
Several of these surveys, which ask about health-care cuts to refugees, were supposedly mailed to various ridings held by Conservative MPs over the past few years.
The ones that have been posted online include questions like, "Should refugees get gold-plated dental, vision and drug benefits" and "What level of health-care benefits do you believe the government should provide to failed and fraudulent refugee claimants?"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservatives-flyers-survey-refugees-1.3...
Mon, 2015-09-07 13:25
#29
jerry if you would've read the Hansard link Chris Alexander said all of it right in the HoC.
Mon, 2015-09-07 13:31
#30
moving comment to general thread on refugees
Mon, 2015-09-07 14:03
#31
You haven't said a single word about climate change refugees despite numerous comments I have made on that.
Correct, I haven't.
Your "Wanna bet" comment suggests you have little faith in this having any impact on what happens to the refugees as you didn't eleaborate in any way on what you meant, so in order to respond I had to infer something. You never even responded to any of my points.[my emphasis]
I made one post of two words and you still haven't read it. Let me spell it out for you. You said:
The Syrian refugee question has dominated the election campaign for the last few days in a way that has only been matched by the Duffy trial. However, unlike the latter, this question seems to have the potential to have an ongoing impact on the election.[my emphasis]
To which I replied: "Wanna bet?"
I expressed skepticism that this question would have "ongoing impact on the election". Just as I've been saying for months that the Duffy trial would fizzle.
So no - I never thought, suggested, or wrote that the movement of compassion and activism on behalf of refugees would have no impact on what happens to the refugees. I thought, suggested, and wrote that it would have little "impact on the election". And unfortunately, I still believe that.
Now, back to the substantive issues.
What's your take on why no party is saying, right now: "Oh by the way, let's stop the bombing!" And do you think "stop the bombing, get Canada out of other people's countries and conflicts" is a component part of helping refugees (and helping to avoid creating refugees)?
What's your take on why the focus is on Syrian refugees - I've given my view, which is that the MSM and political parties just decided to start bombarding us with this in the past few days. What's yours?
Mon, 2015-09-07 18:31
#32
Mon, 2015-09-07 20:50
#33
The assumption that refugees only occur in the Third World has been made false because of global warming. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, where sea level rise combined with the hurricane devastated New Orleans. Today more than 100,000 people, mostly poor, have not returned to the city.
With 1 million Gulf residents displaced during the storm, the city ultimately lost some 100,000 people, going from a prestorm population of 484,674 to a rebounded 384,320 by July of last year. Subsequent storms Rita, Ike, Gustav and Isaac, which also caused extensive water and wind damage, did not help. ...
But bitterness remains. John Swenson, a New Orleans music historian, still blames city authorities for the destruction of New Orleans and now bemoans the changed nature of the city that has emerged a decade later.
The city went from being 67 percent African-American to about 60 percent. Despite the influx of college-educated newcomers, a consistent27 percent of the city’s population remains below the poverty line. However, a considerably higher percentage of renters now pay more than 35 percent of their pretax income on housing.
“Everyone had to leave at the point of a gun … to all different points in the country where they had no chance of returning, because they had no money. That changed the demographic,” Swenson said.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/22/katrina-scars-run-deep-n...
136 large cities have been identified as at significant risk of flooding due to climate change.
Coastal cities face a high risk from increasingly costly flooding as sea levels rise amid climate change. Their current defenses will not be enough as the water level rises. A new study pinpoints cities around the world that will be most at risk and finds the costs of flood damage to large coastal cities globally could rise to $1 trillion a year if cities don’t take steps to adapt. ... The new study, part of an ongoing OECD project, examined maps and databases of population and world assets, flood-prone regions, storm frequency data, and cost of damage models for 136 large coastal cities.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/08/19/coastal-cities-at-hi...
With this kind of costs even wealthy nations will find it difficult to mitigate sea level rise in order to prevent flooding. Poor nations simply will not have the financial resources to deal with the problem.
Even the BC Liberal government that is so hot to create a trillion dollar LNG economy admits in a study done for it that it faces $9.5 billion costs to protect Metro Vancouver by 2100 because of sea level rise.
In other words, climate change could even create internal refugees in Canada due to sea level rise, hurricanes, desertification (primarily in the prairies but also to some extent in BC - remember the Dust Bowl) if we do not start addressing this issue, instead of allowing Haper and others to get away with denials that the problem exists or is minor.
Combating rising sea levels due to global warming could cost $9.5 billion in flood-protection improvements in Metro Vancouver — including sea gates at False Creek and Steveston — by 2100, according to a report released Tuesday by the B.C. government.
The report, Cost of Adaptation - Sea Dikes and Alternative Strategies, covers the Metro Vancouver coastal shoreline and the Fraser River downstream of Port Mann Bridge — an area with more than 250 kilometres of shoreline...
http://www.realestatetalks.com/viewtopic.php?t=128408
While Canada does admit refugees for a variety of reasons, climate change is not one of them and almost certainly never will be under a Con government because it would have to admit climate change is a problem before doing that. This is the case in spite of the evidence that this will be the world's number one source of refugees in the not-too-distant future.
None of the various streams in Canada’s humanitarian immigration program - the refugee stream, a stream for humanitarian and compassionate cases, and cases where people are admitted temporarily when it is “justified in the circumstances” - recognizes climate migrants.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-04-e.htm
Mon, 2015-09-07 20:56
#34
jerrym wrote:
You haven't said a single word about climate change refugees despite numerous comments I have made on that.
Correct, I haven't.
What's your take on why no party is saying, right now: "Oh by the way, let's stop the bombing!" And do you think "stop the bombing, get Canada out of other people's countries and conflicts" is a component part of helping refugees (and helping to avoid creating refugees)?
What's your take on why the focus is on Syrian refugees - I've given my view, which is that the MSM and political parties just decided to start bombarding us with this in the past few days. What's yours?
In post #1 I said
Harper's statement that ISIS is at the core of solving the refugee problem is ludricous. Assad started this civil war by shooting peaceful demonstrators for six months. There are also other extremist Islamist groups, such as Al Nusra, and even so-called moderate rebel groups that have been cited for major human rights violations. Even if Canada's small contribution to air strikes was significant in eventually bringing about the defeat of ISIS, which it won't be, this civil war will not be solved by outside military intervention and more and more Canadians are coming to understand this.
In the meantime, while Harper continues to twiddle his thumbs with respect to refugees, their numbers continue to grow both in number and desperation.
Of course the MSM and political parties are taking advantage of the situation. Libya is a disaster that is not being addressed. Politicians playing politics during an election is hardly new. However, this does not preclude pushing an issue when the opportunity arises.
With regard to climate change and refugees here are some comments I have made previously.
If politicians are to be believed, migration caused by climate change will cause the world huge problems. One of the latest to repeat the warning is UK shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant, who, like many others before him, said 200 million people may be forced to flee their country. But how reliable is this figure?
In a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Chris Bryant warned that millions of people around the world could be forced to leave their homes over the next few decades and move to countries less affected by environmental problems.
"If we get climate change wrong there is a very real danger we shall see levels of mass migration as yet unparalleled," he said.
"The United Nations (UN) estimates that in 2008 20 million people were displaced by climate change."
In the longer term, he said, "you can imagine that the UN estimates of 200 million such refugees, more than the total number of worldwide migrants today, may be about right".
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23899195
It is not surprising that island nations are at the forefront of the battle against global warming. Island nations are well aware that global warming is already hitting them hard. They had alredy formed the 44 member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in 1990 which includes low-lying coastal nations, such as Bangladesh, as well as small island nations, such as Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati, Seychelles and the Maldives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Small_Island_States).
At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), experts warned that, "In 2020, the UN has projected that we will have 50 million environmental refugees," the AFP reports. ...
The Marshall Islands are currently trying to figure out if they will remain a country when their island nation disappears underwater. They may be forced to flee even before their land is lost, due to predictions of dangerous tropical storms and rising salt levels in their drinking water.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/environmental-refugees-50_n_826...
Bangladesh has a population of more than 140 million with 20 million the facing becoming flood refugees due to global warming if sea levels rise one metre -http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/14/us-bangladesh-climate-islands-... .
Already half a million people on Bhola island in Bangladesh have been flooded out of there homes and more than one million face bleak future as climate refugees as level of water wipes out villages. The Al Jazeera website below describes their plight.
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia/2014/03/rising-waters-swamp-banglade...
An Aljazeera news broadcast in 2014 reported last fall that more than 1,000 schools in Bangladesh have been closed due to rising sea levels and their students forced to go school on boats because of sea level rise from global warming.
Egypt is also facing major flooding and flood refugees due to global warming.
The densely populated Nile Delta is the breadbasket of Egypt, accounting for two-thirds of the country's agricultural production, and home to 40 million people. Its northern flank, running 240 kilometres from Alexandria to Port Said, is one of the most vulnerable coastlines in the world, facing the triple threat of coastal erosion, saltwater infiltration, and rising sea levels. ...
In a report released in September 2013, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a sea level rise of 28 to 98 centimetres by 2100, more than twice its 2007 projections. Even by the most conservative estimate, this would destroy 12.5 percent of Egypt's cultivated areas and displace about eight million people, or nearly 10 percent of the population.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/nile-delta-disappearin...
Kiribati has already seen three of its uninhabited atolls disappear under the waves by 1999 and is negotiating the purchase of 5,000 acres in Fiji to resettle its entire population of 102,000 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17295862).
Climate change may continue to seem like a semi-ambiguous, far-off phenomenon to many Americans, even despite the extreme weather than wracked the nation last year. But to millions of people around the world, those on the front lines of global warming, I assure you: it is a real and imminent threat.
Take the Maldives, for example. The small island nation may be the first country in the world to be entirely swallowed up by rising sea levels caused by climate change. Those rising sea levels are already endangering the nation's cherished beaches, and will before too long render many parts of the country inhospitable.
The country has established a sovereign wealth fund, drawn from its tourist revenue, to be used to buy land overseas and finance the relocation of the country's population of 350,000.
http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/sea-levels-rise-maldives-presid...
Mon, 2015-09-07 21:55
#35
Here's more information on climate change refugees including tha fact that, in addition to the the political mess, conflict and refugees created by the West's bombing and overthrow of Gaddafi and then abandonment of Libya, some of refugees coming from North Africa, including some getting on boats in Libya, are climate change refugees.
Climate refugees belong to a larger group of immigrants known as environmental refugees. Environmental refugees include immigrants forced to flee because ofnatural disasters, such as volcanoes and tsunamis.
The International Red Cross estimates that there are more environmental refugees than political refugees fleeing from wars and other conflicts. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says 36 million people were displaced by natural disasters in 2009, the last year such a report was taken. Scientistspredict this number will rise to at least 50 million by 2050. Some say it could be as high as 200 million. ...
Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya each lose more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of productive land every year to desertification. These residents on the edge of the Sahara Desert may move to cities in theMaghreb, a region of northwest Africa. They may also choose to move to the more developed countries of Europe.
Residents near the Horn of Africa are especially vulnerable to drought and desertification. Most ruralresidents in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea engage insubsistence agriculture. ...
Refugee Status
Environmental refugees are not protected by international laws. They face greater political risks than refugees who flee their homes due to conflict or political oppression. Unlike traditional refugees, climate refugees may be sent back to their devastated homeland or forced into a refugee camp.
Most climate refugees are internal migrants. Internal migration is the process of people moving elsewhere in their own country. Often, climate refugees are rural and coastal residents who are forced to migrate to urban areas. These climate refugees face numerous problems. Skills such as herding and farming are not relevant in urban areas. Rural farmers are often more self-sufficientthan many urban dwellers; they may not be familiar with depending on a corporation or other people foremployment.
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/climate-refugee/
Mon, 2015-09-07 21:56
#36
One of the factors leading to the increased unpopularity of the Assad government in Syria, demonstrations and ultimately civil war that has created so many refugees was climate change.
In 2014, a United Nations report concluded that
Climate change will complicate and worsen existing global security problems, such as civil wars, strife between nations and refugees, the world's top scientists say.
A United Nations climate panel for the first time is connecting hotter global temperatures to global conflicts, in an authoritative report to be released on Monday.
The panel is not saying it will cause violence, but will be an added factor making things even more dangerous.
Fights over resources, like water and energy, hunger and extreme weather will all go into the mix to further destabilise the world, says the report by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2014/03/climate-change-compli...
With regards to Syria
From 2006 to 2011, large swaths of Syria suffered an extreme drought that, according to climatologists, was exacerbated by climate change. The drought lead to increased poverty and relocation to urban areas, according to a recent report by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesand cited by Scientific American. “That drought, in addition to its mismanagement by the Assad regime, contributed to the displacement of two million in Syria,” says Francesco Femia, of the Washington, D.C.-basedCenter for Climate and Security. “That internal displacement may have contributed to the social unrest that precipitated the civil war. Which generated the refugee flows into Europe.” And what happened in Syria, he says, is likely to play out elsewhere going forward. ...
Security analysts say they are already seeing the impact, particularly in migration patterns from northern Africa and the Sahel region, which is the band of farmland just below the Sahara desert. “All the indicators seem to fairly solidly convey that climate change — desertification and lack of water, or floods, are massively contributing to human mobility,” says Michael Werz, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress policy group in Washington, D.C. Syrians and Afghans may make up the largest number of refugees flooding into Europe right now, but Africans from the Sahel are not far behind.
http://time.com/4024210/climate-change-migrants/
Mon, 2015-09-07 22:13
#37
A new Nanos poll today on CTV News has
NDP 33%
Liberals 31%
Cons 26%
The poll ascribes the 5% drop in Con support in part to Harper's response to the refugee situation as well as the Duffy trial and a lack of Con civility.
Tue, 2015-09-08 00:40
#38
The Nanos poll released today concludes that Conservative
support has slid over the past month as revelations emerged out of the Duffy trial, the economy slipped into a recession and the Tory leader was faced with tough questions over his government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis.
"They’ve had a problem or an issue managing the Syrian refugee affair, and I think that was the emotional trigger for a lot of Canadians," Nik Nanos, chair of Nanos Research, told CTV News. "It looks like it was the tipping point."
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/election/conservatives-slip-to-third-as-n...
Tue, 2015-09-08 01:59
#39
Left Turn
That's why I believe our priorities should be as follows:1. An immediate end to Canadian support for any military interference abroad (start with Syria and Iraq).
2. Offer a generous hand of support and welcome to all refugees from arenas where Canada has played a role in creating the crisis.
3. Support for and welcome to refugees from all countries.
To the above I would add the fast tracking of family reunification applications. Only such a fast track would have prevented the deaths of Aylan Kurdi and his mother and brother.
Tue, 2015-09-08 09:58
#40
Another sign that the Syrian refugee situation is having an impact, this time in Vancouver.
Eyob Naizghi, an Eritrean refugee who came to Canada 35 years ago, hopes to help Syrian refugees adjust to their new land as he himself was helped after landing on Canada’s shores. ...
“But, I went through the same nightmare coming to Canada,” added Naizghi, the executive director of immigrant and refugees service organization MOSAIC and the key speaker at a forum planned for Tuesday at Vancouver city hall on the Syrian refugee crisis. “I didn’t know the culture well. I did not even have family members here. It did get very lonely when I first arrived.”
The forum, which will be hosted by Mayor Gregor Robertson and start at 7 p.m., will feature discussions from speakers including Naizghi and Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance Chair Chris Friesen, as well as officials from Immigrant Settlement Services and MOSAIC.
The goal of the event is “to share background information with the public, many of whom wish to help but are still unclear as to what are the various actions they can take to help address the crisis and assist those in need,” according to a news release. ...
The forum announcement was accompanied by a notice of Robertson’s plan to bring a motion before city council to call on Ottawa to take “immediate action” to assist refugees.
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/public+forum+vancouver+will+address+syr...
Wed, 2015-09-09 19:16
#41
While Haper claims Canada is "thee largest per capita receiver of new immigrants in the entire world" he avoids discussing refugees where Canada "ranks 41st per capita" As a result of the Syrian refugee crisis the "Conservatives feel baclash in latest polls ... When gross domestic product and geographic size are ranked, Canada places 55th and 93rd, respectively " (Vancouver Sun, September 9, p.1).
With the Syrian refugee crisis highlighting the now-Byzantine process by which refugees are allowed across Canada's borders, critics are saying there has been a hefty price to pay for the Tories' immigration revolution. And according to recent poll numbers, it's the Syrian refugee crisis that has dropped the Conservatives to third place with a 26 per cent share of intended votes.
"It's our impression that refugees aren't the government's priority," said Janet Dench, executive director with the Canadian Council for Refugees. As Conservatives boast, Canada is indeed one of the most immigrant friendly countries in the world, accepting an annual immigrant intake equivalent to nearly one per cent of the population.
For the first six years of Conservative governance, Canada averaged 254,000 immigrants per year, the "highest sustained level of immigration in Canadian history," said then-immigration minister Kenney in 2012. And sure enough, the next two years would see another 519,427 newcomers - more than the population of Quebec City.
But while the immigration system has been massively streamlined for economic newcomers, Canada has simultaneously made it increasingly difficult for certain refugees. In fact, the massive system overhaul in 2012 is being blamed for the country's inaction in addressing the Syrian crisis. A centralized processing facility was established in Winnipeg to expedite applications for privately sponsored refugee claims. However, an internal report made public by an access to information request revealed that staffing shortages caused backlogs to reach "an unprecedented high."
Authorities also listed 37 countries as being a "designated country of origin," and enacted a different system for processing refugee claimants from those countries. Enacted as part of an attempt to cut down on bogus claims, the 37 countries are considered to be free from persecution, and refugees from these "safe" countries are expedited and have no right of appeal.
However, the system also means a refugee from Syria applying to Canada from a temporary home in a "safe" country may see the chance of acceptance plummet.
"They've just added enormously to the paperwork and the hurdles people have to go through," said Dench.
And the evidence, say critics, is in the numbers. Canada received 35,775 refugees in 2005, just before the Conservative election victory. By 2014, the number was 23,286 - a drop of nearly one third.
Most critical to Syrian refugees was the 2012 provision that G5s - refugees who have been sponsored by five or more Canadians - would need to be officially certified as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
And with tens of thousands of Syrians streaming into Turkey and Jordan, only a lucky few have been able to undergo the interview and screening process needed to obtain such a certification. It was this provision that caused the refugee application to be denied for the family of Mohammed Kurdi, the uncle of drowned toddler Alan Kurdi. Although Kurdi could prove that he would be taken care of by family in Canada, he could not obtain UNHCR certification.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/canada+vaunted+refugee+acceptance+fal...
Wed, 2015-09-09 19:27
#42
At a forum on the refugee situation, Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver said he wants Vancouver to become a sanctuary city for refugees trying to escape civil war.
As the world continues to see troubling images of the Syrian crisis, Robertson wants to submit a motion calling on the federal government to accept 20,000 refugees each year by 2020.
“I think it’s important that we all understand where Canada sits on the global stage here and that we as a city understand what we can do…to make sure that we are supporting refugees globally.”
But are we ready for more refugees? According to a recent Angus Reid poll, 46 per cent of British Columbians said we should take a welcoming approach to people who arrive this way.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2208051/forum-on-refugee-crisis-to-be-held-in-...
Wed, 2015-09-09 19:36
#43
No Mr Harper - You Can't Fix A Refugee Crisis by Blowing Things Up
http://ipolitics.ca/2015/09/08/no-mr-harper-you-cant-fix-a-refugee-crisi...
"Canadians, I suspect aren't buying Harper's argument that bombs will deal with the refugee crisis at its roots. His analysis of the situation is shallow and shows no understanding of the blood-soaked history of the region.
Harper can't acknowledge the true root causes of the crisis. And so, whenever anyone asks him how he's handling the refugee crisis, his answer is always pretty much the same: Bombs away!"
Wed, 2015-09-09 19:37
#44
Many mayors and four Premiers of provinces have indicated that they are interested in helping Syrian refugees putting further pressure on Harper.
Many Canadian mayors and provincial officials are ready to help with the Syrian refugee crisis, and they’re asking the federal government to step in and take charge.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said he is personally helping to sponsor a family from Syria and is urging all Torontonians to help. ...
Jim Watson of Ottawa, sent a letter to Citizenship and Immigration minister Chris Alexander on Thursday, asking for guidance on the role that the municipal sector can play. The letter stated,
“The City of Ottawa stands ready to be a collaborative partner in helping the Government of Canada rise to this challenge.”
Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi lashed out at the federal government’s refugee policies on Thursday, calling them “a disgrace,” according to a CBC news report. ...
Ontario is also pitching in to help Syrian refugees. Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Eric Hoskins said Friday that the provincial government will give $300,000 to Lifeline Syria, an organization trying to bring 1,000 Syrian refugees to Toronto.
He is asking the federal government to pledge to bring 5,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of the year.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2204018/canadian-mayors-provinces-asking-to-pa...
Wed, 2015-09-09 22:50
#45
I've voted Liberal conservative and NDP so I feel unbiased when I say politicans love pictures like the drowned Syrian boy. Why? Because it's a loaded gun to point and fire at opposing parties. Right away an MP (NDP int his case) accused Harper of being at fault for this boys family not being let in Canada. If the NDP were in power then it would have been a liberal or Conservative MP accusing the NDP of being at fault.
It's sickening.
As expected people took to the internet to protest and rage. I still don't think all the people screaming to open the gates and let hundreds of thousands of refugees into Canada have thought about the ecoomical impact, among others.
Thu, 2015-09-10 00:20
#46
I've voted Liberal conservative and NDP so I feel unbiased when I say politicans love pictures like the drowned Syrian boy. Why? Because it's a loaded gun to point and fire at opposing parties. Right away an MP (NDP int his case) accused Harper of being at fault for this boys family not being let in Canada. If the NDP were in power then it would have been a liberal or Conservative MP accusing the NDP of being at fault.
Harper himself politicized the issue by refusing to meet with the leaders of the Opposition Parties to discuss the crisis and find common ground, and it was needless. If he had agreed to meet with them, this whole thing would not have become so politicized. By taking the position Harper has, he has reinforced people's fears about him and reminded them just how petty and mean-spirited his government is, and how unprecedented that is in our political history. When the National Citizen's Coalition is saying Harper is taking the wrong approach, it means Harper is taking the wrong approach.
I remember just how intensely people hated the last elected PC Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, but the level of mean-spiritedness back then was not what it is today. If this was Mulroney, he would have accepted the invitations of the leaders of the Opposition parties and they would have found a solution. That much is evident based on Mulroney's leadership in responding to the Ethiopian famine.
Thu, 2015-09-10 00:29
#47
Now, back to the substantive issues.
What's your take on why no party is saying, right now: "Oh by the way, let's stop the bombing!" And do you think "stop the bombing, get Canada out of other people's countries and conflicts" is a component part of helping refugees (and helping to avoid creating refugees)?
Tom Mulcair as PM would end Canada's fight with ISIS: 'We will immediately stop the bombing mission and bring those troops home,' NDP leader says.
Thu, 2015-09-10 03:53
#48
WHAT CANADA DID - AND THE NDP APPROVED!
America's Imperial Footprint in Africa
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/09/americas-imperial-footprint-in-af...
WBAI: "I'd like to get back to the US-NATO war on Libya in 2011 which was a major force of destabilization. You've concluded that this was a turning point for Africa. Could you elaborate?
Eric Draitser: Absolutely, In fact calling it a turning point might be underestimating it. It was a watershed moment of world historical importance because the destruction of Libya - I would call it an imperial war on Libya - really set off a chain of events the effects of which we're still seeing today.
When the US and its NATO allies destroyed Libya, this destabilized the entire North African region. So in Libya, the flow of weapons, the flow of fighters out of that country destabilized the entire region.
And I should reiterate that this is not exclusive to Africa because many of those fighters who were veterans of the war in Libya, not coincidentally found their way into Syria, and have acted as mercenaries in the four and a half year war in Syria.
Clearly there are deep shockwaves that emanated from the war on Libya, and are still being felt today all throughout North Africa, West Africa, as well as the Middle East.
And if you think that the strategic planners in Washington had no concept of that, I'd say that's deeply naive and misguided..."
May I remind us that it was an RCAF General, Charles Bouchard that targeted and led the NATO bombing campaign that demolished Libya? May I remind us that this was unanimously approved by the Canadian parliament? And that congratulations were offered up afterwards to our troops on their 'fine work'?
May I remind you of the support the Libyan campaign enjoyed nationally and on this board? Even though the truth of what was happening was made abundantly clear and posted here daily? May I remind you of the contempt and villification directed towards anyone that suggested our participation in this imperial slaughter was wrong?
And finally, before this very temporary and wholly artificial mainstream media fostered concern for refugees or the innocent victims of imperialist war completely evaporates as it soon will...
What about Palestinian refugees? How many of those will the parties commit to bring to Canada?
And why does Tom Mulcair suddenly think that our troops have no place in Syria or Iraq but that our troops training soldiers for the US-installed Nazi oligarchy of Ukraine is just fine?
UKRAINE CRISIS HAS CREATED MORE THAN 2 MILLION REFUGEES - UN REPORTS
http://www.euronews.com/2015/04/22/ukraine-crisis-has-created-more-than-...
What will you do about this? Need dead baby pics?
That people here will give their vote to parties that can then take that 'authorization' and use it to support such evil endeavours as the NATO bombing of Libya, or the Ukrainian bombing of the civilians of Donbass or the Israeli bombing of the Palestinians of Gaza, is quite beyond me and fills me with disgust.
Thu, 2015-09-10 07:18
#49
That people here will give their vote to parties that can then take that 'authorization' and use it to support such evil endeavours as the NATO bombing of Libya, or the Ukrainian bombing of the civilians of Donbass or the Israeli bombing of the Palestinians of Gaza, is quite beyond me and fills me with disgust.
And you know what else? Most will head out to vote with a spring in their step, and joy in their hearts, without giving it a second's thought.
Thu, 2015-09-10 10:13
#50
On CBC News Network Harper announced this morning in Charlottetown PEI that the Cons will speed up the rate of refugee acceptance, showing he recognizes that his earlier response that Canada willl not change its refugee program despite criticism is hurting him in the election. He promises that the Cons will soon be releasing a plan with regard to the problem. This shows that the Cons are making up new refugee policy on the fly, something all parties are doing, but in the case of the Cons it had to be dragged out of them after kicking and screaming that no change was needed. Of course, considering his past record with regard to honesty, whether he actually does anything in this regard is another matter, especially when the polls suggest he may be headed to defeat and he may not have time to implement any proposed change if one actually assumes he intends to do this.
The problem with Canada’s response to the international refugee crisis isn’t that we are bombing ISIS too much or that we are taking in too few displaced people. It’s both, and it’s becoming a political double-whammy for the Conservative re-election bid.
Multiple polls suggest that a majority of Canadians want a robust plan to help refugees streaming into Europe, including bringing more to Canada. The same polls suggest that Conservative voters don’t agree.
That puts Stephen Harper’s campaign in a tough spot. Its base wants to go slow, keep numbers down, accept only fully vetted refugees and watch for potential terrorists in their midst. The base also wants to keep up the bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria. ...
Harper calls the mission vital and successful. But fewer than one in five Canadians agree. The military mission isn’t helping the Conservatives’ electoral chances.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/federal-election-2015/1310195-leger-half-he...
Thu, 2015-09-10 14:21
#51
Is there truth to the claim that 90%-95% of the Syrian refugee's escaping the country are males aged 18-35?