Canada’s Russia-hating former immigration minister reflects on his election loss

Then-Minister of Immigration Chris Alexander (yellow scarf) shares center stage with Ukrainian ultra-rightist Andriy Parubiy (on his right) and officials of Ukrainian Canadian Congress, in Toronto Feb 22, 2015

Alexander was the point man for the defeated Conservative Party government when the drowning deaths of two Syrian toddler siblings and their mother fleeing the civil war in Syria rocked Canada and the world. Alan Kurdi, three years old, his five-year-old brother Ghalib and their mother Rehanna drowned while fleeing by boat from Turkey to Greece on September 2.

As immigration minister, Alexander more than personified the Canadian’s government’s miserly acceptance of Syrian refugees. It turns out that he sloughed off a specific request to bring the family in question to Canada. The request was directed to him by another member of Parliament on behalf of the sister of Rehanna Kurdi. The sister is a citizen and long-time resident of Canada.

Like the U.S. government, the Canadian government has been content to watch the Middle East be destroyed by years and decades of foreign intervention and war. The U.S. and Canadian responses to the latest refugee crisis caused by their policies, in Syria, have been to pour on more military intervention while keeping their borders all-but sealed to refugee victims.

Chris Alexander and his Conservative henchmen thought they could squeak through an election victory on October 19 by anteing up hateful rhetoric warning of an increasingly dangerous world caused by people of Muslim faith. During the election campaign, their government targeted the first victim of a new law which permits the government to strip the citizenship of a person holding dual citizenship and even of someone born to a dual citizen. They also targeted the small number of women in Canada who wear the niqab face covering. In 2011, Alexander’s predecessor, Jason Kenney, executed an order saying niqab-wearing women would not be permitted to take part in their own citizenship ceremony. The Conservatives said they would extend such rulings if they were re-elected.

Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on September 18 against the 2011 regulation, upholding a lower court decision and effectively approving the existing procedure whereby a woman can reveal her face to a female citizenship officer for the purpose of identification and wear her niquab during her actual citizenship ceremony.

Rather predictably, the Global TV report passes over comment on the foreign policy on which Chris Alexander has pounded away for the past 20 months–his hatred of all things Russian and his support for the civil war regime which came to power in Kyiv, Ukraine in February 2014.

Alexander served as Canada’s ambassador in Afghanistan from 2003-2005, during the time of Canada’s military intervention there at the beckoning of its U.S. big brother. Canada’s Afghan military adventure began in 2001 and was stepped up in 2004, both times by Liberal Party governments.

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