The Gargoyle: Tory shift on refugees undermines security, says Christian Heritage leader

[guest]

Let’s agree that the Christian Heritage Party of Canada is something less than an electoral juggernaut. In 2011, its 46 candidates won just 0.13 per cent of all votes cast – about 19,000 nationwide.

But the CHP did trounce every other fringe party that fielded candidates, leaving the Marxist-Leninists, the Libertarians and the Rhinoceros, Pirate and Marijuana parties in the dust.

Moreover, Rod Taylor, the party’s national leader, is running this time in Ottawa West-Nepean, adding local salience to his pronouncements.

On Wednesday, Taylor had something to say about the Conservative government’s decision to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada without first requiring them to be certified as refugees by the United Nations.

He doesn’t much like it.

The decision, Taylor said in a media release, “undermines Canada’s national security and ignores the plight of Christian refugees in the Middle East. The vetting process for prospective refugees is being compromised on the campaign trail.

“Media pressure shouldn’t dictate Canada’s immigration policy,” he said. “Our hearts go out to those in need but our first responsibility is still to keep Canadian citizens safe.”

Why is it that only Western nations “can be shamed into urgent compassionate responses to tragedy?” Taylor asked, suggesting: “Perhaps this crisis is more about politics than about humanitarian aid.”

Meanwhile, the number of Christians in the Middle East “has been decimated through years of persecution,” he said. Yet their plight attracts scant media attention.

“These Christian refugees often have no safe haven anywhere in the Middle East. When we offer refuge to them, we are giving them a chance to live and we know they will adapt to Canadian culture because they have already embraced the worldview that has allowed freedom and democracy to flourish here in Canada.”

Taylor’s comments align well with the Christian Heritage platform, which states that immigration is being used as a “subtle and hidden form of jihad designed to undermine Canada’s Judeo-Christian culture.”

In the unlikely event that it is swept to power, the party has pledged to impose a moratorium on immigration from any Muslim nation and work with the Canadian Muslim community “until the threat is removed.”

dbutler@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/ButlerDon



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