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PM Trudeau says Canada will take refugees

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted to Trump’s ban of Muslims from certain countries by tweeting Saturday: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

TORONTO >> Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a message for refugees rejected by U.S. President Donald Trump: Canada will welcome you.

He says he also intends to talk to Trump about the success of Canada’s refugee policy.

Trudeau reacted to Trump’s visa ban for people from certain Muslim-majority countries by tweeting Saturday: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

Trudeau also posted a picture of him greeting a Syrian child at Toronto’s airport in late 2015. Trudeau oversaw the arrival of more than 39,000 Syrian refugees soon after he was elected.

A spokeswoman for Trudeau said he has a message for Trump.

“The Prime Minister is looking forward to discussing the successes of Canada’s immigration and refugee policy with the President when they next speak,” spokeswoman Kate Purchase told The Associated Press.

Trudeau is expected to the visit the White House soon.

The prime minister has refrained from criticizing Trump to avoid offending the new president. More than 75 percent of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.

Toronto Mayor John Tory also weighed in, noting that the city is the most diverse in the world.

“We understand that as Canadians we are almost all immigrants, and that no one should be excluded on the basis of their ethnicity or nationality,” Tory said in a statement.

Trump signed a sweeping executive order Friday that he billed as a necessary step to stop “radical Islamic terrorists” from coming to the U.S. Included is a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen and a 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program.

Trump’s order singled out Syrians for the most aggressive ban, ordering that anyone from that country, including those fleeing civil war, are indefinitely blocked from coming to the United States.

The Syrian refugee crisis became a major issue in Canada’s election in late 2015 because of the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach. The boy had relatives in Canada.

Trudeau’s tweet quickly received more than 150,000 likes. “Welcome to Canada” trended in Canada.

37 responses to “PM Trudeau says Canada will take refugees”

  1. bumbai says:

    …make that two walls.

  2. Ronin006 says:

    If Trudeau wants refugees, so badly, the US would be wise to give one-way tickets to Canada to all refugees trying to enter the US through our southern border.

  3. Donna2415 says:

    And they will sneak across the Canadian border into the US. I know several people from China and Korea who entered Canada on a tourist visa and then crossed the border. Twenty years later, they are still in the US. Pretty long vacation.

  4. Marauders_1959 says:

    Keep them in Canada !!!

  5. Ronin006 says:

    “Diversity is our strength.” That is a laugh. Quebec comprises about 25% of Canada’s land area and about 22% of Canada’s population. The majority of Quebecers are French speaking. There is a strong movement in Quebec to separate or become independent from the rest of Canada. Referendums to do that in 1985 and in 1995 failed to garner enough votes, the last by a very slim margin. Another referendum may be held in 2018. If diversity is Canada’s strength, as Trudeau claims, the Quebec separation or independent movement would not exist. The diversity represented by French-speaking Quebec could very well cause the destruction of Canada.

    • NanakuliBoss says:

      Yeah,let’s bash Canada now.

      • klastri says:

        This is what Trump is doing. He’s a hateful psychotic. Flat out vicious.

        • scuddrunner says:

          klastri you know that’s you to a T.

        • sarge22 says:

          It sure is.

        • klastri says:

          scuddrunner – But I have the Constitution and the law behind me. And my friends at the ACLU are going to be on every single move Trump makes. The teams are in place now to immediately file suits and requests for stays as soon as he signs anything. Besides protecting the Constitution, it’s going to drive him further into his psychotic dungeon.

          You never know anything about the subject matter you comment on. Never.

  6. Maipono says:

    Why would anyone want to move to Canada? Trudeau is a far left liberal who will come and go as soon as the Canadians get tired of his socialist ways. This is the solution to the global refugee problem, Canada is open folks, go there. Now we are going to need a big wall around Canada as well!

  7. wiliki says:

    Amazing tweet…. made the news.

    Also good for Canada. If the US wont take them, then Canada will.

  8. klastri says:

    Trudeau is what a brave man looks like.

    Trump is what a loathsome, sniveling, draft dodging coward looks like.

    Big difference.

  9. wn says:

    Thank you for being so benevolent on the behalf of Canadian citizens. Did he also lay down the welcome mat for the celebrities who announced their commitment to move to Canada if candidate Trump was elected as President? Perhaps this could have been an opportunity to cover both in his recent announcement. 🙂

  10. 808ikea says:

    Wow! Our northern neighbor is awesome. Way to stand up and be counted. Is it time for the Trump to build another wall?

    • sarge22 says:

      Donald will give the kid a good spanking.

      • 808ikea says:

        You mean like spank him with another wall that Canada will pay for?

        • sarge22 says:

          I’m not worried about Trump to screw up the Canadian E&P. I’m more worried about Trudeau. He may choose a confrontation with Trump on political issues. I really didn’t like his offer to accept all refugees denied by Trump. This is not his issue, this is the US issue. Trump may choose to put more restrictions on US/Canadian border if too many ME refugees are excepted by Canada. Hope things will cool down so. It was really less than 300 people affected by the Trump’s Friday order. And almost all of them were cleared in the next 24 hours. It was more the media issue. Trudeau shouldn’t have responded IMHO.

  11. sailfish1 says:

    Good for U.S. Let Canada take ALL the refugees. While they’re at it, can they also take all the immigrants trying to get into the U.S.?

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