On Friday, Jan. 27, U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily banned more than 134 million people from entering the U.S. through barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, suspending the U.S. refugee program, and banning Syrian refugees. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to social media to reinforce Canada’s open-door policy.
Trudeau reacted to Trump’s ban by tweeting Saturday: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada”.
To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017
Trudeau also tweeted a photo of himself greeting a young Syrian girl at Toronto’s airport in 2015, with the caption “#WelcomeToCanada”. Both of these tweets resulted in “Welcome to Canada” trending in Canada.
#WelcomeToCanada pic.twitter.com/47edRsHLJ5
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017
After Trudeau took office in 2015, he oversaw the arrival of over 39,000 Syrian refugees, and prioritized the acceleration of refugees from Syria.
As well, over 20,000 refugees from Iraq have been resettled in Canada over the past decade under the previous government.
“The prime minister is looking forward to discussing the success of Canada’s immigration and refugee policies with the president when they next speak,” said Cameron Ahmed, Trudeau’s press secretary.
Trudeau has been careful not to directly criticize Trump or his administration, as to avoid conflict and harmful consequences. This could be due to the fact that more than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the US. The Canadian PM hopes to keep a constructive relationship with the American administration.
There were some affects from Trump’s executive order within Canada: major Canadian airlines were not allowing people holding citizenship from one of the seven countries to board flights to the U.S., even if they had visas or green cards, but WestJet said by Saturday that they had only turned away one passenger.
It has been confirmed that citizens with Canadian or dual citizenship with one of the seven countries will not be affected in the ban from the U.S. According to Statistics Canada data from 2011, there were 35,000 Canadians who shared citizenship with Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. Another 75,000 were born in those countries but lived in Canada.
Toronto Mayor John Tory also commented, noting that the Canadian city is one of 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.
Trump’s executive orders are at a disagreement with Canada’s welcoming immigration and refugee policies, and do not reflect Canada’s general support for the Syrian refugee crisis.
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