Time to Step Up

"It was as if I never left the war."— Syrian refugee girl, describing Greek coastguards shooting at their refugee boat to Amnesty International 

The image of Alan Kurdi face down on a Turkish beach, haunts my dreams.  The deaths of this beautiful boy, his brother and mother have wounded me to my core.  How terrible must things have been for these people to pay smugglers to take them in a small boat from their war torn home in Syria to someplace else - anyplace else?  I don't want to imagine the terror, the horror, the heartbreak.  For the last few days, our media has been filled with news of refugees stuck in a train station in Hungary or worse of the bodies of refugees found crammed into abandoned trucks or washing up on distant shores.  Until Alan, we Canadians, somehow convinced ourselves it was a far away problem.

Here in the second largest country in the world, we haven't been able to find the space to take these refugees.  We haven't had the interest or the will. It is pathetic.  Our federal government committed last year to taking ten thousand Syrian refugees over the course of three years with priority given to those suffering religious persecution.  Ten thousand? Thats the best we can do?  Who cares what their religious backgrounds are?  Last I knew, bombs and guns and weapons don't discriminate.  They will kill you just as dead whether you are Muslim, Christian or Jew.  To date we've only taken 2,100 people.  Our rules are so rigid and our processes so onerous that the Alan Kurdi's of the world don't have a prayer of getting in.

We're in the middle of a too long, too vitriolic election campaign.  I noticed the Tories aren't commenting on Justin Trudeau's hair anymore. Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau are both speaking up about a plan for helping the Syrian refugees.  Mr. Harper has kept pretty quiet.  It is time for Canadian voters to demand more of our leaders.  If we make this crisis an election issue, maybe we will see action.  But we cannot leave it all up to our government.  

I implore everyone to find a way you can help.  Big or small, every gesture will make a difference.  Financial contributions will help.  So will practical help to resettle refugees in Canada.  And if you can't do either, a letter to your Member of Parliament demanding we do better and a vote for those who will would make a very good start.