“Tonight they step off the plane as refugees, but they enter the terminal as permanent residents of Canada.”
Speaking to a press contingent – and some freshly minted Canucks – at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau demonstrated some A1 grade humanitarianism by personally greeting Syria’s first wave of new migrants to the nation.
Before decking some new residents of the 6 out with weather-appropriate jackets, Trudeau basically set the bar for the Western world’s response to the humanitarian crisis.
“This is something we are able to do in this country because we define a Canadian not by a skin colour or a language or a religion or a background, but by a shared set of values, aspirations, hopes and dreams that not just Canadians but people around the world share.”
New migrant Kevork Jamkossian said “we feel as if we got out of hell and we came to paradise,” before saying “we felt ourselves at home and we felt ourselves highly respected.”
The response from Trudeau? Of course: “You are home… welcome home.”
Passengers aboard the Canada-bound flight number among the first of 163 Syrian refugees to be resettled in the Great White North. It’s worth noting the U.S’ take on the issue has been ambivalent at best, with several states outright refusing to lodge new migrants.
Please stop scoring goals, Mr Trudeau. Save some props for the rest of us.
