With the Muslim ban by US President Donald Trump likely to be reincarnated into another executive form, we stand together with our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in welcoming refugees rejected by the US. Trudeau’s tweet following Trump’s first executive order speaks with compassion and welcome from all of us to the rest of the world: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”
The accompanying photo of Trudeau greeting a Syrian child in Toronto in late 2015 is worthy of a leader reaching out to the dispossessed and persecuted of the world.
We also stand with the words from Toronto Mayor John Tory, when he said: “We understand that as Canadians we are almost all immigrants, and that no one should be excluded on the basis of their ethnicity or nationality.”
Tory was also responding to Trump’s ban, and the singling out of Syrians, who were blocked from entering the US. More than 39,000 Syrian refugees arrived here after Trudeau was elected, in stark contrast to what is now taking place across the border.
At this time Trump’s sweeping executive order, which he described as a necessary step to stop “radical Islamic terrorists” from coming to the US, has been halted by the US courts. However, from what Trump has indicated, it is only a matter of time before it moves to the US Supreme court. It is also a matter of time before a new executive order refashions the old one, and then for it to emerge in a new, improved, and even darker form.
While at this time the US courts are allowing citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to enter the US, along with refugees who were put on a 120-day suspension, there is no telling how soon Trump’s Muslim ban would be implemented again to put a stop to arrivals.
As we wait and watch, along with the rest of the world, let it be known we will continue to welcome refugees to Canada.

Unwise were words coming from Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley, when he advised women to “choose wisely” and to “take responsibility” for the men who become partners.
What a sad lack of sensitivity this was, saying to the women of Trinidad and Tobago, “I am not in your bedrooms. I am not in your choice of men. You have the responsibility to determine who you associate with and to know when to get out.”
As it is in the world of politics, right away Rowley paid the price, lighting up a firestorm on Facebook, throughout Trinidad and Tobago, and abroad. In a summation dripping with irony, University of the West Indies Gender Department, and women's activist, Gabrielle Hosein wrote: “Men are going to be violent. Therefore women are responsible for choosing their men carefully. Therefore those women who did not make good choices with regard to men can be blamed when those are violent toward men, for men are violent, that is all.”
Hosein’s comment, along with those from many others, were accurately aimed at how little the appreciation was from Rowley for the problem of violence facing women of Trinidad and Tobago. As was reported, it was further evidence of the huge gap in his understanding of the realities women deal with in their daily lives regarding the “choices” they make.
The statistics are disheartening. In January, one-third of the murders were the result of domestic relations gone wrong. There were 39 women among the 461 homicides reported last year.
The tragedy of violence against women is older than Rowley’s 30-plus years in public life. Given such a lengthy tenure and exposure to a life in politics, he should have chosen his words with more sensitivity.