Premier Dalton McGuinty says that some of the refuges on board MV Sun Sea might be “dangerous,” but Canadians owe them decent life in Canada.
“There’re 500 people in that boat, not 5 million,” he said who are looking for “a genuine Canadian response.”
“They despair for their future in their native land, and they are hopeful for their future in this land,” he said.
Some of these Tamil migrants are accused of being Tamil Tigers, however Premier McGuinty says “that might be so. If there are, we will find them out and we will deal with them accordingly.” But as Canadians, he goes on “we owe them [Tamil asylum seekers] an open heart and an open mind.”
A boat full of Tamil migrants has landed on the shores of British Columbia. 492 Tamil migrants have hailed MV Sun Sea to flee Sri Lanka. Before coming to Canada, the boat was refused landing on the shores of Australia.
Acknowledging Canada as “the land of refuge,” Prime Minister Harper expressed security concerns “when a boat full of people..simply lands” outside of due process.
“We will security screen everybody with regard to this,” he said, vowing to strengthen the borders if there is a need.
“It’s a fundamental exercise of sovereignty. We are responsible for the security of our borders and the ability to welcome people or not welcome people when they come,” Mr. Harper added on his recent trip to Mississauga.
“This is definitely not a humanitarian exercise, it is a human smuggling operation linked to the Tamil Tigers,” Chitranganee Wagiswara, Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada, said in an interview.
“The Canadian government should not accept their claims for refugee status. It’s up to the Canadian government to decide, but that (potential links to the Tigers) is an issue that Canada is aware of and should be cautious.”
Taking a jab at the federal government Premier McGuinty said – according to long census form – 100,000 newcomers come to Ontario every year. Another 20,000 come to Ontario as refugees. He emphasized that in next five years, newcomers would be an important part of Ontario’s labour force and Ontario’s economy is benefited by new arrivals to Ontario.
“Stats Canada tells us – because they use a long form census, by the way – Stats Canada tells us that second generation Canadians, that’s children of parents born outside the country, do better in school and stay in school longer and get better jobs and earn more than children of parents who were born here. This tells us that new Canadians are a powerful, positive contributors to the strength of our economy and our society” he said recognizing the contributions of immigrants to Ontario and Canada.
Premier McGuinty was attending iftar dinner at International Muslim Organization, at Etobicoke.
