Leaders react to Syrian refugee crisis

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As people around the world call for action to help more Syrian refugees, some are accusing Harper’s Conservative government of turning its back on desperate people.  The issue has overtaken the federal election campaign and the political leaders have reacted.

“This morning we see a little boy being picked up on a beach and as a dad and a grandfather it’s unbearable that we’re doing nothing.” said NDP leader Thomas Mulcair.

Immigration minister Chris Alexander abruptly halted his election campaign to return to Ottawa to deal with the refugee crisis, while 3 party leaders gave emotional speeches.

“You don’t get to suddenly discover compassion during the middle of an election campaign. You either have it or you don’t.” said Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.

Jason Kenney, who has been Stephen Harper’s Minister of Defense,  had a news conference scheduled at a candidate’s campaign office.  He was going to announce the Conservative plan for immigration and the security of the country.  But a couple hours before the event, it was cancelled.

Stephen Harper postponed another campaign announcement and photo op but did speak about the heartbreaking image from the turkish beach.

“The first thing that came to mind was seeing our own son Ben at that age, running around like that.  I don’t need to tell you that the image we saw yesterday was a tragedy.  What I need to tell you, is that it is far far worse than that.”

Harper went on to say Canada has the most generous immigration and refugee system, admitting more people per capita than any other country.

But he says refugee policy alone is not a solution to this problem.  He says Canada is doing what it can to fight the root cause, which he says is violence by ISIS.