Trudeau's Committment to Syrian Refugees - 25,000 by Year End

[Smallc]

This wasn't what JT was saying 2 weeks ago. IT WAS POSSIBLE!!! And any who said it wasn't hates the refugees.

It probably is possible. Several sources said as much, in fact.

[Boges]

It probably is possible. Several sources said as much, in fact.

If that's the case then JT is submitting to "xenophobic" Canadians.

[poochy]

Three things: the same people who were railing against the original target will be all over Trudeau for going back on his promise. Book it.

O look, a preemptive strike.

The same people who were lauding him for standing by the 25,000 number will now claim this new plan was a good decision, so what's your point? Right...never had one.

Anyway, here in the real world, not rushing this is and always was the right choice, so the liberals were wrong to hang onto this pledge, and now they have made a better choice, that's assuming they actually had real intentions of bringing in 25,000 before the end of the year to begin with, but we will never know.

[ReeferMadness]

This is a political calculation, not a security calculation. What happened in Paris didn't change the facts on the ground and some of our former highest ranking military officers said it could be done without compromising safety.

[Boges]

I'd say the more troubling compromise was to ban single hetrosexual males. Who the Hell asked for that?

[Smallc]

I'd say the more troubling compromise was to ban single hetrosexual males. Who the Hell asked for that?

I'm sure you were really troubled by that.

[Smallc]

The same people who were lauding him for standing by the 25,000 number will now claim this new plan was a good decision, so what's your point? Right...never had one.

He was right to stand by his promise. Sometimes though, in politics, compromise is necessary. Compromise is what allowed Harper and Chretien to hold on to power for so long.

[Boges]

I'm sure you were really troubled by that.

As a hetrosexual male, yeah kind of.

Talk about painting with a broad brush.

[poochy]

If that's the case then JT is submitting to "xenophobic" Canadians.

But they already did that when they chose not to take single unattached men, which is also a good choice imo, but it's only really ok if a liberal suggests it, otherwise, bigotry! However, now i read that private citizens will be able to sponsor anyone, including single men, maybe that will be later after there has been more time to screen them.

[Smallc]

As a hetrosexual male, yeah kind of.

Talk about painting with a broad brush.

The idea didn't come from the Liberals. it was an idea floated by several commentators. The Liberals reacted. The Liberals reacted again by lengthening the timeline. The Liberals have reacted to the Paris attacks by so far leaving the fighter jets in place. They seem to be pragmatic as hell.

[Derek 2.0]

I'd say the more troubling compromise was to ban single hetrosexual males. Who the Hell asked for that?

Right, but thankfully they didn't ban single gay males (a group at risk in any Muslim country)......my question, if a member of ISIS was trying to sidestep this "security measure", couldn't they just say they were gay?

[On Guard for Thee]

No one has said they are banned, just not included in the first round. Not hard to understand that families with, especially young children, would be more vulnerable.

[poochy]

This is a political calculation, not a security calculation. What happened in Paris didn't change the facts on the ground and some of our former highest ranking military officers said it could be done without compromising safety.

Wow, hey look, it's kreskin.

[scribblet]

Broken election promise #1.

So will JT be called xenophobic for not getting them all here by New Years?

#2 - he promised not to spend on partisan advertising, he is for 500K worth.

I agree he's doing the right thing and that it's a political calculation because of the blowback.

Edited November 24, 2015 by scribblet

[Boges]

The idea didn't come from the Liberals. it was an idea floated by several commentators. The Liberals reacted. The Liberals reacted again by lengthening the timeline. The Liberals have reacted to the Paris attacks by so far leaving the fighter jets in place. They seem to be pragmatic as hell.

I'd like to see the people who were critical of people who proposed these pragmatic solutions, eat crow now.

Good on JT and the Liberals for seeing the light. But initially they pledged to hold the line dogmatically. JT didn't have to say anything about it in Turkey, he could have said considering the new world landscape we have to re-acess our options.

[Argus]

It will just get added to the deficit and we will pay interest on it forever.

I don't believe these people themselves will be a long term financial drain. I went to school with some Hungarian refugees after the 1956 uprising. They were far from a drain on our society.

These are not Hungarians, and this is not the Canada of fifty years back. This is high tech Canada. These people have no education or job skills to support their families.

[poochy]

He was right to stand by his promise. Sometimes though, in politics, compromise is necessary. Compromise is what allowed Harper and Chretien to hold on to power for so long.

I dont disagree, but moving the goal posts happens on both sides.

[Hal 9000]

This is a political calculation, not a security calculation. What happened in Paris didn't change the facts on the ground and some of our former highest ranking military officers said it could be done without compromising safety.

Nobody who wasn't under Justin's thumb thought it was a good idea.

[Hal 9000]

I'm glad he's slowing the process a little, the fact that he was seeming stubborn and inflexible was concerning.

[overthere]

#2 - he promised not to spend on partisan advertising, he is for 500K worth.

I agree he's doing the right thing and that it's a political calculation because of the blowback.

You missed #3, which was actually his very first act- announcing he was pulling our meagre contribution to fighting ISIS in Syria.

I count that as a flipflop because he promised he was going to improve our global reputation as manifiested in Harper- which by the way was pretty much excellent, far better than his domestic reputation. By stating he was pulling our jets out, he left the heavy lifting to our allies(not A Canadian tradition, but certainly a Liberal one). Post - Paris- no change. There isn't a single leader in the G20 who doesn't look at Trudeau now and think 'is this man reliable?'. When the shit gets deep, you grab a shovel. Trudeau had our country cut and run, when given an easy out he turned that retreat into a full scale flight. Nobody in the real world gives a single shit about us training anybody. It's worse than a worthless gesture, here and now. #3.

Oh, and I agree that extending the timeline is the only thing to do. Like everybody told him.

Edited November 24, 2015 by overthere

[ReeferMadness]

Nobody who wasn't under Justin's thumb thought it was a good idea.

So, your contention is that Rick Hillier is under Justin's thumb?

[Hudson Jones]

I'm tired of the statement, "This country was built by immigrants!" Those immigrants were not sponsored, they used their own resources, sweat and hard work to get ahead. These new immigrants totally

Are you talking about the 37K+ Hungarian refugees in the 50's that came to Canada? The 10,000 Czechoslovakian refugees in the 60's? The 7000 Chilean refugees, called "Marxist Gangsters" by rightwingers, in the early 70's? Or are you talking about the 50K+ vietnamese refugees who were let into Canada in the 70's-80's? Or hundreds of thousands of other refugees who have come into Canada?

[Hal 9000]

So, your contention is that Rick Hillier is under Justin's thumb?

My point is that we all knew it was an overly ambitious goal that only the strongest Trudeau supports sided with - publicly anyway. I would suggest that the change of heart was more likely CSIS, RCMP and refugee Lawyers etc talking sense into Trudeau rather than listening to us.

However we came to this place doesn't much matter, the hope is that the screening process is better and more complete.

As for Hillier, I don't know what he thinks. I do know that people with his influence can say different things in different settings. Maybe he believes that the process was sufficient, maybe he is responsible enough to not embarrass the Prime Minister in public - we'll never know.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Hal 9000

[overthere]

As for Hillier, I don't know what he thinks.

Rick has been looking for s steady gig with good pay for a few years. In recessionary times, that means he wants to be in the civil service, nobody is going to be paying much for inspirational seminars now.. Nothing fattens a bank account like a double dip.

[Smallc]

So it turns out that 25,000 by December 31st was never a platform promise:

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/669263110293856256