For the second week, Canada's response to the refugee crisis has dominated the headlines. Readers, print and digital, confront the issue through the lens of an election
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So this weekend the Conservatives are going to tell us of their "retooled" approach to the refugee crisis – an approach they have been pushed, pulled and shamed into "retooling" not because they have recognized a moral imperative, but because they see their chances of re-election being swept out to sea as surely as a dead three-year-old's body was swept in (Tories Move To Revive Faltering Campaign – Sept. 11).
Government is supposed to provide leadership, not act like a dead weight on a country's better instincts.
Valerie O'Neill, Halifax
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We don't yet know how the Middle East refugee crisis ultimately will affect the Conservatives' re-election prospects. Some of that party's senior officials believe that once Canadians truly appreciate the enormity of the problem, we'll begin to react more appropriately to it.
I guess that means with less urgency and compassion and with the correct degree of fear that the tiniest minority of the refugees we help might pose a threat to our security.
And, when we all begin to turn to this way of thinking, maybe we'll be ready to accept the necessity of denying health care to the few refugees we do accept.
Esther Shannon, Vancouver
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However tragic the plight of Syrian (and other) refugees is, the Canadian government's primary objective should be to serve and protect its own citizens.
Some refugees will eventually be resettled in our country, but it is our government's responsibility to ensure that applicants have no ties to terrorism and that no one has a criminal record.
This takes time. Europe, especially Germany, will have a rude awakening a few years down the road.
Claude Gannon, Markham, Ont.
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I was excited and hopeful as I drove to St. Matthias Church in Victoria this week for a meeting on how to sponsor Syrian refugees. As I neared the church, I saw cars parked for blocks around and I was early! "Yes!" I shouted out loud. People care. They are showing up and we can do this.
The refugee co-ordinator for the Anglican Diocese welcomed an overflowing crowd to explain the process of sponsorship. Most of us, eager to get involved and open Canada's arms to these suffering people, were shocked by how complicated the process is, bound up tight in red tape. We didn't pay much attention when the new immigration and refugee bill was adopted as law, making it incredibly difficult to enter Canada as a refugee. We should have. Now we are faced with so much red tape, it makes it close to impossible.
I drove home saddened and discouraged; the only hopeful thought was that a new government will restore Canada as a caring and compassionate country. Meanwhile, millions in Syria and elsewhere plead for help.
Patricia Houston, Victoria
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The Conservatives have dedicated themselves to shrinking government by squeezing budgets. The direct result: deadly bureaucratic delays, grossly inadequate visa-processing. Sanctimonious pronouncements and tinkering with policy won't change this.
The Harper Conservatives will never lead on this issue, but only reluctantly follow the better angels of the Canadian public. Stephen Harper has to wear this failure. Dropping bombs on Islamic State doesn't cut it.
Brian P.H. Green, Thunder Bay, Ont.
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I truly am gritting my teeth in stating that Stephen Harper's delayed, more measured approach to the Syrian refugee issue may be correct. (No. That doesn't mean I'll be supporting my Conservative incumbent once more. I'm dismayed by the small-minded, calculating, divisional and "transactional leadership" of the lowest-supporter denominator being exhibited far too often for this country's health. )
Of course, I was deeply touched by the boy on the beach; of course, I and all fellow Canadians should take action. To do otherwise is to deny our humanity, regardless of the vast and varied richness of this enviable country we belong to, having won that particular life lottery.
Yet, in extending a needed hand to whatever that number of true refugees may be, let's pause to really work through the extremely long journey of truly effective integration that will be necessary by many, many persons, agencies and institutions. Success is much more than having them arrive on Canadian soil to see them "settled" into a new home. Done well, it's a fiendishly difficult, complex task of many years – perhaps the most so of similar endeavours in the past century.
Regardless of the final number, whether 500, 50,000, five million or 50 million, the most challenging and important task is stabilization of the region for the 99 per cent still left behind – for their sake and ours. Will Canadians and Canada participate in that task, too, with the same meaningful conviction?
Yes, thump on the government to refine its attitude and sensibly improve its processing of refugees. But look beyond the heart-rending picture of that boy on the beach to have a meaningful and informed personal and public discussion on the issues and complexities before saying we're not doing enough … just yet.
Dave Hutchison, London, Ont.
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It's a sad state of social affairs if Canadians are actually buying into media hoopla so much they think it's an important election issue.
James White, Winnipeg
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The world cannot handle the millions of current refugees or the ones from future conflicts. This is a small taste of what is coming. The huge refugee crises and conflicts that will come from climate change, droughts and rising seas will dwarf this.
But what are we doing about this predictable future? To save more children, we all need to start giving up a lot of our selfish needs and voting better. The planet's health is the economy.
Scotty Robinson, Toronto
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Stephen Harper has it right. No undocumented refugees.
Jimmy Potter, Calmar, Alta.
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ON REFLECTION Letters to the editor
Politics, pray tell
God bless NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair for applying the Christian principle of forgiveness and resisting calls to excommunicate his communications director for past tweets inviting the Pope to have biblical knowledge of his Holy self.
H.B. Hutter, Toronto
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In the middle of an election campaign, the Finance Minister won't talk about finances, and the Foreign Affairs Minister won't talk about foreign policy.
Am I living in Canada or a Peter Sellers movie? The Prisoner of Zenda comes to mind.
Terry Fenge, Ottawa
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The Green scene
The Green platform is what the NDP would've offered 30 years ago, and the Liberals 50 (Green Platform Touches On Jobs, Climate – Sept. 10). Now, the big three are pretty much indistinguishable – business, tax cuts, free trade; all about what government "can't" do.
People once believed our goal as a nation was to build a better life for all of us, not just the rich. That meant investing in social safety nets. This platform is the first time in decades I can vote for something, instead of holding my nose and choosing the lesser of three evils.
Barry Rueger, North Vancouver
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Her long, long reign
My earliest memory of the Queen is of her wedding day, Nov. 20, 1947, when as Princess Elizabeth she married Prince Philip. My boarding school buddies and I were huddled anxiously around the radio at 4 in the morning to hear the BBC account, mesmerized by the thought of listening "live" to a Royal wedding on the other side of the Atlantic.
Who among us would have thought that 68 years later she would remain as photogenic and inspiring?
Neil Burk, Nepean, Ont.
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A medal-worthy 'No'
Re Why Toronto Should Say No To The Olympics (Sept. 9): A gold medal to Richard Florida for his winning argument against hosting the Games. His concise points echo the feelings of many of us who live outside the Greater Toronto Area.
A deficit-ridden Ontario government shouldn't saddle its taxpayers with a major portion of the $15-billion to $30-billion that it will cost to stage the Olympics – especially, given the history of previous Games, with dubious prospects of ever receiving a return on the GTA-centred investment.
Jim Hickman, Mono, Ont.
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