# The "Longest Election Campaign in Modern Canada" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 2, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807 "2015-08-02T15:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/181 "2015-09-04T21:41:23Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I don’t think Canadians would want 200,000 refugees per year. That’s kind of crazy. Crazy? This country is a country of immigrants. What do we expect? Let Germany and Sweden pick up the slack that is Canada’s meager commitment? ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/182 "2015-09-04T21:54:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, to be honest, that doesn’t make any sense. > > Bear in mind the Harper government already promised to bring in more Syrian refugees. Politically speaking what you’re saying is therefore the complete reverse of what he should have done if he was appealing to a racist base. If it was his intent to play to a “Mulsim” hating base, the promise would not have been made in the first place, since that political battle would have been instantly lost the moment the promise was made. Whether Canada took in 10,000, 1,000 or 3 Syrian refugees after that point wouldn’t make any difference to the “base.” Once he made the promise, the memory of every genuine Islamophobe in Canada would have been that _that absolutely did happen_. That’s how bigots’ memories work. > > For that matter, if Harper is engineering who-gets-into-Canada policy according to racism, I’m honestly quite curious as to why it is most immigrants to Canada, of all classifications, are visible minorities. > > What I think is that > > 1. The crisis has obviously caught the developed world totally flatfooted, and > 2. Harper’s administration is incompetent. > > This is the simplest and most logical explanation. Harper’s government has gone to great lengths to curry favour with immigrants and immigrant communities, and with no small amount of success. The entire basis of Harper’s electoral success has been expanding, not contracting, his available votes. > > Never ascribe to malice what can be explained by incompetence. The Harper government’s immigration strategy has been poorly executed in almost every respect; it’s not just refugee settlement. It takes a lot to fail to meet your own immigration targets when there’s more than ample supply. > > Incidentally, I’ll believe the promises of Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau when I see them fulfilled. What the Canadian government did for the “boat people” was remarkable but I don’t think either of those men are terribly remarkable, and I certainly don’t think either has the moral courage of Pierre Trudeau or Joe Clark. Harper is playing to his base while trying to appease everyone else. What this argument misses is Cons have no appetite to bring in Syrians. The Government ABSOLUTELY has the funding to accept more refugees, but they have willfully decided that they will discriminate entry on the basis of religion, which is why the numbers of refugees from Syria is laughable. Oh those scary Muslims are going to blow us up, when in fact we should be looking at those who were born here and in the US to find the radicalism everyone is so afraid of. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/183 "2015-09-04T23:53:50Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > Crazy? This country is a country of immigrants. What do we expect? Let Germany and Sweden pick up the slack that is Canada’s meager commitment? Who gives a crap what Sweden is doing? I don’t think we assimilate .6% of our population in refugees every year, especially when that would be in conjunction with regular immigration which is already at over 200 000. Maybe our contribution is “meager” but it sure shouldn’t be that high. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/184 "2015-09-05T00:19:54Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > \*\*This is Racist bullshit. WTF, these people are fleeing ISIS for shits sake they will be the most ardent supporters of getting rid of that terror group. In 1975 Joe Clark brought in 69,000 random refugees from Vietnam. You think they are all communists?Those able bodied “gooks” who settled in this country, raised children to be productive citizens, doctors lawyers, the type of people who GROW the Economy. This is a crisis of epic porportions. Canada hasn’t even lived up to it’s lowest promise of bringing in 10,000 LAST YEAR. \*\* > > Adiran Arsennault has a fantastic report. Watch it and stop with the racism. > [Canada's refugee policy questioned after Syrian boy's drowning | CBC News](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/syria-refugees-canada-immigration-alan-kurdi-1.3214850) Whoa there andie. Sit down, smoke a joint, as Justin would have you do, and calm down. Then go look up the definition for racism. You are playing the racism card at the wrong game. If these refugees were ardent supporters of getting rid of ISIS, then why are they running to Europe? Why have so many able bodied men hopped on the refugee bandwagon and fled, rather than stand and fight? You’ve got 10,000 to 30,000 able bodied men. What do you think they should do? Run or fight? Oh, and try to get opinions other than CBC. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/185 "2015-09-05T00:25:58Z")
> [@bb49](#): > > You’ve got 10,000 to 30,000 able bodied men. What do you think they should do? Run or fight? Let’s see… Option A: Run. Take their children away from a war zone and try to give them a little security and stability so that they have opportunities and don’t grow into the next generation of poverty-stricken young men, ripe for radicalization. Give us a generation of grateful people who are well-versed in the languages and cultures of the region to help us understand what the most productive options are when we decide to intervene. Option B: Fight. Increase the violence in the Middle East. Take their energy and pit it against organized, trained, internationally-funded militants in a four-way (at least) war. Be wounded or die senselessly and leave still more widows and orphans. Gee, I don’t know. I think “run” is better. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/186 "2015-09-05T01:42:27Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Let’s see… > > Option A: Run. Take their children away from a war zone and try to give them a little security and stability so that they have opportunities and don’t grow into the next generation of poverty-stricken young men, ripe for radicalization. Give us a generation of grateful people who are well-versed in the languages and cultures of the region to help us understand what the most productive options are when we decide to intervene. > > Option B: Fight. Increase the violence in the Middle East. Take their energy and pit it against organized, trained, internationally-funded militants in a four-way (at least) war. Be wounded or die senselessly and leave still more widows and orphans. > > Gee, I don’t know. I think “run” is better. Option A.\* …when we decide to intervene.\* Really? You have got to be kidding! When ISIS has either killed or driven all the civilized people out and no one is left? These refugees won’t want to leave their warm, comfortable, socialist funded homes and go back to that place. And you blew it on option B. The good guys are also doing some funding too. And have been for a couple of years. Get with the program. Educate yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/187 "2015-09-05T01:50:59Z")
> [@bb49](#): > > Option A.\* …when we decide to intervene.\* Really? You have got to be kidding! When ISIS has either killed or driven all the civilized people out and no one is left? These refugees won’t want to leave their warm, comfortable, socialist funded homes and go back to that place. > > And you blew it on option B. The good guys are also doing some funding too. And have been for a couple of years. Get with the program. Educate yourself. Wait, who are the good guys? It’s not ISIS. Is it Mr. gas-his-own-people-with-impunity, the Syrian State? Is it the Free Syrian Army, who are allied with all sorts of unsavoury Islamic fundamentalist groups and who have been accused of [war crimes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Syrian_Army#War_Crimes_Allegations)? Or perhaps the Kurds, whose historic presence in a large swath of Turkey and a portion of Iran makes them a non-starter as a stable nation-state in the region? Which one should our brave Syrian potential refugee join? ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/188 "2015-09-05T02:34:55Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Wait, who are the good guys? It’s not ISIS. Is it Mr. gas-his-own-people-with-impunity, the Syrian State? Is it the Free Syrian Army, who are allied with all sorts of unsavoury Islamic fundamentalist groups and who have been accused of [war crimes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Syrian_Army#War_Crimes_Allegations)? Or perhaps the Kurds, whose historic presence in a large swath of Turkey and a portion of Iran makes them a non-starter as a stable nation-state in the region? Which one should our brave Syrian potential refugee join? I think there’s a good chance he would join the sect that has his closest beliefs and wants to kill ISIS. Don’t you? And if he and his friends don’t jump into the fight, that leaves just us. If not, who is going to stop ISIS? ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/189 "2015-09-05T03:48:15Z")
> [@bb49](#): > > Whoa there andie. Sit down, smoke a joint, as Justin would have you do, and calm down. > Then go look up the definition for racism. You are playing the racism card at the wrong game. > > If these refugees were ardent supporters of getting rid of ISIS, then why are they running to Europe? Why have so many able bodied men hopped on the refugee bandwagon and fled, rather than stand and fight? > > You’ve got 10,000 to 30,000 able bodied men. What do you think they should do? Run or fight? > > Oh, and try to get opinions other than CBC. Only a loon would think that these able bodied men… of course there’s children, women, the elderly and vulnerable in amongst them would stay in a country that has been ravaged by civil war with no food or water or means of survival available. Fight with what? Stones ? Only a loon would think that a country now ripe for extremist groups would think it safe to stay there with their families. Fleeing to Europe is an option, it is closer than the Americas, and there are countries that have done a lot better on the refugee intake than Canada. It’s too bad that someone who doesn’t like the CBC didn’t note that the links are not only the CBC, but the Ottawa Citizen, Macleans and this one from the Calgary Herald [Nenshi calls Ottawa's response to Syrian refugee crisis 'disgraceful' | Calgary Herald](http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/nenshi-calls-ottawas-response-to-syrian-refugee-crisis-disgraceful) But please find any link that applauds Steven Harper for this horrendous mess. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/190 "2015-09-05T03:55:49Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Who gives a crap what Sweden is doing? I don’t think we assimilate .6% of our population in refugees every year, especially when that would be in conjunction with regular immigration which is already at over 200 000. Maybe our contribution is “meager” but it sure shouldn’t be that high. No. I give a crap about what Canada can do when there’s political will to do it. If Joe Clark’s Tories can do it after Vietnam, surely Harpo’s clowns could at least try to reach their meager goal. All in the Clark govt brought in 200,000 over a few years. Harpo can’t get over the word Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/191 "2015-09-05T04:05:25Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > No. I give a crap about what Canada can do when there’s political will to do it. If Joe Clark’s Tories can do it after Vietnam, surely Harpo’s clowns could at least try to reach their meager goal. All in the Clark govt brought in 200,000 over a few years. Harpo can’t get over the word Muslim. The article you quoted wants our refugee intake increased to 200,000 EVERY year. Joe Clark didnt do that after Vietnam and there isn’t political will to do that now. No way. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/192 "2015-09-05T04:15:24Z")
> [@Andiethewestie](#): > > No. I give a crap about what Canada can do when there’s political will to do it. If Joe Clark’s Tories can do it after Vietnam, surely Harpo’s clowns could at least try to reach their meager goal. All in the Clark govt brought in 200,000 over a few years. Harpo can’t get over the word Muslim. Stop with the fucking denigration of our prime minister right now. You’re displaying a level of ignorance that really doesn’t do you any favours. Just stop with the ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/193 "2015-09-05T04:34:29Z")
I have no love for Harper – that should be obvious from many posts here. But in defense of **Leaffan** and others against what seems to be some kind of tirade in favour of throwing open our borders to all comers, I don’t see any basis for blaming Harper on this particular issue. Canada has managed to maintain a sensible and productive immigrant intake policy with a high proportion of educated and job-ready applicants who contribute to economic prosperity and the national well-being. I don’t see a persuasive reason to drastically increase the number of unqualified (and unvetted) among those numbers. It’s unfortunate and really rather shallow that one tragic picture of a little boy has somehow turned into a major election issue. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/194 "2015-09-05T04:43:27Z")
Oh, hey I’m just staring at Harpo’s head. You know how he relentlessly tells us that Trudeau has “nice hair” I kept thinking how Harpo’s is stuck on that noggin like a helmet. It is too bad that helmet couldn’t take the advice of Joe Clark regarding refugees and do a similar screen in the camps and then airlift them like Joe did after Vietnam. But then, we can’t expect too much from a hairy pumpkin head. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/195 "2015-09-05T04:52:51Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s unfortunate and really rather shallow that one tragic picture of a little boy has somehow turned into a major election issue. And then there’s Tory Joe Clark, who thinks the image of the little boy will help Canadians get over the fear of bringing in refugees who desperately need a home. Because prior to this the government was dragging its feet. There was a time when this was the right thing to do, it wasn’t partisan, it was Canadian. [http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/04/canada-can-use-lessons-of-vietnam-airlifts-in-syrian-refugee-crisis-joe-clark\_n\_8089198.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/04/canada-can-use-lessons-of-vietnam-airlifts-in-syrian-refugee-crisis-joe-clark_n_8089198.html) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/196 "2015-09-05T05:18:44Z")
We have 0.5% of the world’s population. We started 0% of its conflicts. What percentage of its problems are we supposed to be responsible for when health care budgets for our own citizens are already stressed and social assistance budgets for our own citizens are stretched to the breaking point? How do you prioritize that idealism about Syrian and Somalian refugees when Canadians who have worked their whole lives contributing to this country can’t even get a decent retirement allowance? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/197 "2015-09-05T05:52:38Z")
We’re ridiculously rich by global standards. We can afford to help a few tens of thousands of the victims of a war we’re participating in, stretched health care budgets or not. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/198 "2015-09-05T05:57:38Z")
Do we have tens of thousands of empty social housing establishments or apartments just laying in wait for people to move into? No. No we don’t. Where in the hell are tens of thousands of people supposed to live? Where do we put them? In your house? In 99,999 other peoples houses? Where are they to go exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/199 "2015-09-05T06:02:36Z")
So you’re saying that we didn’t accept tens of thousands of refugees from Vietnam and surrounding territories? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/200 "2015-09-05T06:09:08Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > So you’re saying that we didn’t accept tens of thousands of refugees from Vietnam and surrounding territories? Yes, and it wasn’t the federal government who housed them, it was communities like Ottawa who got together and came up with local plans. This is what needs to be done now. The federal government can’t handle this; it requires community-level action. ETA: What is your community prepared to do to help? (If anything) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=11)