FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Sep 16

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis – Treating People Like Garbage

by bcurry

It’s an old phenomenon, municipalities with full landfills end up transporting their garbage — although always under contract — to other jurisdictions.  Such was the case years ago when Toronto decided to truck its garbage all the way to Michigan state.  After all, locally no one wanted a landfill in their backyard.  In very recent years, there have been examples of provinces or states doing the same thing, but this time with human beings.

In Canada, this happened when former Alberta premier Ralph Klein cut welfare rates in the 1990s and offered one-way bus tickets to welfare recipients to travel to sunny British Columbia (B.C.).  A similar incident occurred in 2016 in Saskatchewan when two young homeless First Nations men were each given one-way bus tickets by Social Services from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, to Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.  Needless-to-say, the B.C. provincial and municipal governments were not too happy about any other jurisdictions’ policies to simply dump people when their own support services were already under severe stress.

Now we have Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, whose administration flew, on Florida taxpayers dime, two planes of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.  Apparently, they were not flown out of Florida but the flights actually originated in Texas.  Massachusetts of course is currently a Democratic-run state.  DeSantis said that Florida — not a sanctuary state — was sending migrants to Democrat-led states in response to their previous “virtue signaling” by declaring themselves sanctuary jurisdictions during former President Donald Trump’s years in office.  Around the same time, roughly 100 migrants aboard two buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, were dropped off in Washington, D.C. 

However, what about the impact on those migrants?  No one expected to land in Martha’s Vineyard, having reportedly been told they were going to Boston.  There is even some suggestion that, if the migrants were lured on to the plane under false pretences then it could have been illegal to do so.  Imagine, landing on a small offshore island with a population of about 20,000 people, an island accessible only by air and sea.  Obviously, the local authorities had few resources to care for these migrants.  As a result, Massachusetts authorities had to move the migrants voluntarily from Martha’s Vineyard to a military base in Cape Cod so they could find shelter and chart their next steps.  President Joe Biden responded, and rightly so, that the administration has a process in place to accommodate migrants at the border and Republicans shouldn’t interfere with such obvious “political stunts.”  The President further stated that “Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props. What they’re doing is simply wrong.”

As in Canada, any influx of migrants is covered under federal laws and the federal jurisdiction should be responsible for enforcing those laws.  Canadian federal authorities are expected to coordinate settlement programs with the provinces, often funded by the federal government, that are designed to accommodate the arrival of and application by migrants or refugees as part of the process used to facilitate their landed status.  This process was used to deal with a significant number of migrants who entered Canada from the U.S. during the Trump administration, fearing their deportation in the U.S. back to their countries of origin at the time.

But what of the extreme confusion, disorientation and trepidation that such migrants must feel when they are suddenly transported to other jurisdictions without due process under the law or a clear awareness of the circumstances.  In the case of those Venezuelan migrants who had endured harsh and dangerous conditions to arrive in the U.S., one can only imagine how the Congressional Hispanic Caucus reacted.  Just as past inappropriate interjurisdictional policies were condemned in Canada, so must Americans condemn these inhumane policies which leave localities scrambling to secure resources in support of the normal needs of human beings.  I must say that I’m not surprised that Governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott stooped so low as to implement such inhumane policies in order to gain some sort of political brownie points.  After all, we’re not dealing with garbage here!

Canada Immigration Immigration Policies Refugee Policies Republican Party U.S. Canada Border US

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Jan 11

Relations Between Canada and U.S. Are at Their Worst in Many Years

by bcurry

Well, there is little doubt that we start off the New Year with relations between our two countries at their worst in many years. Let’s just summarize some of the issues at hand:

  •  With respect to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), President Trump wants to void the agreement in accordance with his America first policies. Canadian, American and Mexican negotiations are not going well and could break down entirely. In addition, increases in S. duties pertaining to Canadian soft wood imports and Canada’s recent complaint on American trade tariffs to the World Trade Organization, have not helped with the NAFTA talks.  Canada was left no choice in the matter.
  • With respect to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on which Canada sits as a member, the U.S. is pressuring NATO partners to increase their defence spending as a proportion of the Gross Domestic Product. The U.S. is not happy with Canada’s current defence expenditures, despite Canada’s continuing contribution to the European defence scheme and its past military contributions to Desert Storm and to the war in Afghanistan.
  • On immigration, Canada has seen an increase in refugees crossing its borders from the U.S. because of fears that the Trump administration will end temporary programs — now over ten years old — that accommodated thousands of refugees who had fled natural disasters and violence in their countries. The programs’ termination will affect thousands of refugees from Central America and Haiti. For example, in January 2018, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security will decide whether to extend the Temporary Protected Status designation for El Salvador.
  • Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his intention to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is in direct contradiction to Canada’s stance which aligns itself with the United Nation’s position. Canada was forced to abstain from a recent UN vote on the American proposition to recognize the above policy. The Trump administration is also threatening to reduce its financial support for the UN and its activities.
  • The Trump administration’s position on ‘climate change’ is in direct opposition to Canada’s position, which along with the rest of the world supports the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.

These are just a few of the conflicting positions taken by the Trump administration which cause major concerns for the current Canadian government. Ordinary people on both sides of the border remain friends and benefit extensively from the good political and trade relations that have existed for decades.  Canada fought alongside the U.S. in two World Wars, Korea and Afghanistan. Under the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), you have a U.S. and Canadian bi-national organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands. Canada has cooperated with the U.S. in dealing with major cross-border environmental concerns, including mutual actions to clean up pollution in the Great Lakes and the building and maintenance of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

It’s sad that our neighbour’s government appears to no longer trust us! I firmly believe that the average American, like the average Canadian, still wants to strengthen this important relationship.  Until now, there is little doubt that our close relations have benefited both peoples.  Hopefully, Americans will come to see the potential damage to our relations should the Trump administration’s policies continue down its very rocky road.

Canada Cimate Change Donald Trump Foreign Policy Israel Protectionist Trade Policies Refugee Policies U.S. Canada Border US

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Feb 20

Just How Open Is Canada to Accepting Refugees?

by bcurry

In recent months — especially since the start of President Trump’s administration, his travel ban involving seven predominantly-Muslim countries and indications of plans to increase the deportation of illegal immigrants — a substantial number of people have crossed into Canada via the Manitoba and Quebec borders with the U.S. They are doing so in order to claim refugee status, despite having entered the U.S. as refugees or illegal immigrants. A number come from predominantly-Muslim countries such as Somalia. They are crossing at open border points to avoid being turned around at Custom’s land crossings due to the ‘Safe Third Country Agreement’ with the U.S. This agreement has been in effect for more than 12 years.  The agreement’s premise is that the U.S. is a perfectly good place to claim asylum, and people have to apply in which country they arrive in first.  So far, we are not talking about thousands such as is the case in Europe, but hundreds.

Already, there are some Canadian politicians, such as Michelle Rempel and Tony Clement of the federal Conservative Party, who are demanding that the federal government act to stop the flow of people illegally crossing the United States border into Canada. Just how you do this is not easy given the length of the open border!  Unlike President Trump, Canada has no intention of building a wall along the border. The resources necessary to police the entire border are simply not there.  These refugees, including women and children, are not seen as a security threat and normally present themselves to Canadian authorities in order to apply for refugee status.  The easiest way to stop the illegal border crossings is to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement and allow people to request refugee status at official border crossings without endangering the lives of these people.

Public opinion in the past has been favourable as to the number of refugees coming to Canada. A recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute suggests that close to half of Canadians polled say the government has hit the mark with 40,000 total refugees (Syrian and other nationalities) expected to be entering the country this year. However, 41 percent say that the total is too high in what has become a notable split of opinion.  The reports of an increasing number of refugees crossing into Canada could influence future public opinion on the matter. The above poll also found that one-in-four Canadians believe that this country should have responded to President Trump’s executive order by adopting the same policy – including a temporary ban on Syrian refugees.

While legal immigration is important to Canada, the acceptance of refugees and their numbers is contentious, especially those that come from predominantly-Muslim countries where terrorism is a concern. There is a segment of the Canadian population that wants to restrict their entry and increase security vetting.  Whether or not you agree, there is no question that the refugee issue has become a touchy one.  Hopefully, Canada will not fall into the same illogical and ideological trap that occurred in the U.S.  However, there is little doubt that the question of how open Canada is to accepting more refugees will be severely tested in the coming months.

Canada Immigration Refugee Policies Terrorism U.S. Canada Border US

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Nov 16

Will the Paris Attacks Create a Backlash in Canada?

by bcurry

Already a fire was deliberately set at a mosque in Peterborough, Ontario.  Police believe that this may represent a hate crime.  Some prominent Canadians are increasingly questioning the Canadian Government’s stated intention to try to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year.  Critics are concerned that radicals may be allowed to enter under the program, despite the Government’s assurance that all potential refugees will be adequately screened. For the most part, they will be selected from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.  Many will be families with women and children.  Remember that the horrible war in Syria has left more than 250,000 people dead and has displaced half of that country’s population.  Despite the hard work of numerous agencies, many refugees have been living in difficult conditions for several years.

Given the recent tragic events in France and elsewhere, including ISIS-related attacks in Lebanon and Turkey, this is not the time for “fear mongering” when it comes to providing humanitarian aid to these refugees.  It is also not the time for attacking Muslim communities in Canada, even if they are isolated events.  If this occurs, we are giving the radicals exactly what they want.  Such actions by Western countries will be used in ISIS propaganda as examples of why their so-called causes should be supported.  This in turn could very likely lead to a further radicalization of certain individuals who are already susceptible to such propaganda.

We need to work within our communities to ensure that inclusive policies and programs are in place to combat radicalization.  We need to be better informed about the complexity of the issues creating the Syrian situation and the general unrest in the Middle East.  We need to combat ignorance, extreme forms of backlash and xenophobic policies.  The best way that Canadians can combat extremism at home and abroad is by continuing to promote our finest traits as a caring, inclusive and diverse populace.

Canada Foreign Policy Iraq and ISIS Refugee Policies

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