OPINION
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 5
Waiting for Trudeau:
Do we have a Progressive New Prime Minister, or is it just a
Honeymoon Period?
-shannon corregan
From Syrian refugees to Indigenous relations
to climate change, Canada’s new Liberal government’s policies have been a radical departure from
the Harper government’s way of doing things – and
these policies have got the international community
talking.
A new year, a new Prime Minister, a new start – but
how long will our honeymoon with Trudeau Mark II
last?
The Syrian refugee crisis played a surprisingly major
role in our last federal election. A photograph of
young Alan Kurdi – whose body washed ashore on a
Turkish beach in early September – forced Western
nations to address the crisis. In Canada, both the
Liberals and the NDP took the issue to the campaign
trail, promising that they would greatly increase the
number of refugees that Canada was going to accept.
The crisis provided a touchstone for Canadian identity, and represented a chance for Canada to make a
statement about our country on the global stage.
As Nadia Aboufariss pointed out in a November edition of the Obiter, this was a major campaign promise
for the Liberals – not only in terms of its importance
on the trail, but in terms of its cost and impact on the
country as well. Initial reactions to the bold promise
were skeptical, but the Liberals pushed ahead, with a
commitment to resettle 250,000 refugees by the end
of 2015. Almost overnight, the conversation changed
from “Should we do this? Can we do this?” to “We’re
doing this – now how?”
The Liberals quickly and quietly rearranged their
talking points to include privately- as well as publically-sponsored refugees in this number, and
extended the timeline to the end of March – ostensibly in response to increased security concerns
after the attacks in Paris, although many, including
Aboufariss, correctly identified that the 2015 deadline was patently unrealistic from the start. The message was clear, however – the refugees are coming.
As Canada waits for Trudeau’s first major misstep as
Prime Minister (Nannygate didn’t really take off the
way Rona Ambrose wanted it to), the first of our refugees are being resettled in cities across the country.
The very first refugees began arriving in November on
commercial flights, much more quickly than many of
us thought was possible, signaling the high priority
the Liberals were placing on the issue.
The first government plane arrived in Toronto in
early December; Trudeau met them at Pearson airport with coats and boots and scarves, and personally welcomed them to the country. It was a move
that was lauded on European new channels, especially when compared to individual American
states’ petulant and xenophobic refusal to accept
any refugees, despite their President’s stance.
Trudeau also took pains to address the danger of
identity politics and xenophobia when commenting
on Donald Trump’s rise in popularity, yet another
move that drew international praise. (It is crucial to
ê Sophie Grégroire-Trudeau and Justin Trudeau for Vogue magazine – but how long will the honeymoon last?
note, however, that mounting Islamaphobia is not
just an American problem – since the Paris bombings,
many Canadians have been assaulted or harassed for
wearing hijabs or appearing to be anything other
than “old-stock” Canadians. And the refugees’ arrivals are soured by the unfortunate footnote that the
government did not release the source of their newlydonated winter gear for fear of reprisals or security
implications.)
Trudeau was praised for Canada’s proactive role in
the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris –
an issue that rang true to many Canadians this holiday season, as an unprecedented majority of us had
Christmases without snow. (There was a brief expression of horror on my weatherman’s face when he
observed that Victoria, BC had a better chance of
snow on the twenty-fifth than London, ON. )
Trudeau has also signaled the government’s serious commitment to reconciling with Indigenous
Canadians, including an investigation into
Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous
women. And on 16 December, Trudeau promised to raise the issue of a formal apology from
the Pope on the issue of residential schools.
Batting three for three on some of the most important
issues of the year and looking Vogue-worthy while
doing it, it seems as though our Prime Minister can
do no wr