Acting in haste and repenting at leisure is one of those all-too-human foibles most of us have succumbed to at some time or another.
But usually its less than welcome effects just come home to an eventual roost for the lax individual responsible. It’s a different matter entirely when the leader of a country acts in such a cavalier manner.
So come on down, Justin Trudeau. No, this isn’t a swipe at his current war of words with the old drama queen currently presiding our closest neighbour – when it comes to Donald Trump you might as well go in swinging because that’s the only language bullies understand and, anyway, things are going to reach that stage regardless of any polite initial ‘let’s play nice’ intentions.
Nope, Trudeau’s loose lips – or in this case twitchy thumbs – were aimed at a worldwide audience, although the people most affected were among the most frightened and desperate on the continent.
Still grumpy Trump did have a role to play when Trudeau took to Twitter back in January of last year to declare under the #WelcometoCanada hashtag "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength."
Given The Donald’s initial bust of anti-immigrant rhetoric when he became U.S. president Trudeau’s intent was purely self-serving -- to make himself look good to the rest of the world in comparison. Sadly, however, a lot of real, scared folk took our prime minister at his word.
That was then, this is now. Last week Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault was down in South Florida pleading with would-be refugees in that state not to make the long journey northward because they shouldn’t believe all they hear when it comes to Canada being such a warm and welcoming place for those fleeing any future U.S. immigrant crackdown.
"People seem to think that if they cross the border there's this land of milk and honey on the other side," is how Boissonnault described it. How could they have thought such a thing, you might wonder.
Of course, as the song once said, people hear when they want to hear and disregard the rest, which is why so many thousands of people did take Trudeau at his word back in January 2017 and have since flooded across our southern border.
At first it was Haitians who made up the bulk of those hoping to be granted refugee status. These days it is those of Nigerian descent arriving and soon it’s expected to be the turn of El Salvadorans. In all close to 30,000 people have tried this speedy route to what they thought would be a hearty welcome.
Instead they are now caught up in the bureaucracy of the refugee approval process and, as pressure mounts on Ottawa, the likelihood of these folk eventually being denied increases daily.
But with more and more people streaming across the border the backlog is growing.
Here in Alberta, thanks to the relatively sparse population across the other side of the 49th parallel, we’ve been spared the worst of this influx, though our tax dollars are among the millions now being doled out to try and deal with this needless situation.
And how costly will this prove? Last week the feds announced they would provide $50 million in initial funding to offset some of the costs for asylum seekers -- Quebec will receive $36 million, Ontario $11 million and Manitoba $3 million.
But that’s just the start. Quebec wants $146 million while the City of Toronto alone says temporary housing these would-be refugees has already cost $65 million.
Yes, the price of this leisurely repentance will be a high one.
- Nelson is a syndicated columnist
