This might sound familiar to the U.S. audience. Using a huge domed stadium to take care of refugees. This time, the flood isn't about water, but Haitian refugees streaming out of the United States and heading to Canada.
We have written about Olympic Stadium in Montréal for the Expos, Alouettes, Impact, the 2007 Denys Arcand film Days of Darkness, and now, a temporary home for Haitian refugees.
After the devastating 2010 earthquake, about 50,000 Haitians were allowed into the United States under temporary protection status. That provision is set to expire in January. The Department of Homeland Security considers Haiti to be safe. All accounts point to that temporary protection status not being renewed.
Unlike the stream of refugee claims earlier in 2017, the Haitian refugees are heading specifically to Quebec and Montréal. There is a strong Haitian community in Montréal. The French language is a common bond.
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Now, there is a real possibility that Canada will deport some of these refugee claims. Canada's own temporary status program has already ended after being extended twice by the Trudeau Government. But the Haitians who made the move figured Canada offered a better ending to their saga.
To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017
Their best friend might not be the shining face of Justin Trudeau welcoming refugees to Canada but the perfectly fine face of Philippe Couillard, premier of Quebec.
The province has a low birthrate and isn't thrilled with new people coming into the province who aren't fluent in French. The Haitian refugees speak French fluently and want to be in Quebec.
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The Haitian refugees are crossing illegally at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec. Refugees have to cross illegally due to the Safe Third Country Agreement. You might remember that then DHS chief John Kelly was confused as to why people were crossing illegally. Kelly got promoted to Chief of Staff under Donald Trump.
The stretch of Roxham Road near the border has seen a significant shift going from 30/day up to 200 and even close to 300 over a 24-hour period last week.
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Justin Trudeau's warmth over refugees has been a distinct contrast to the Donald Trump policies, real and proposed. Stephen Miller's fact-challenged rant on immigration in front of CNN's Jim Acosta and the White House press corps stands out in a sea of alternate facts. Acosta noted the requirement in the proposal to admit only English-speaking immigrants. Miller talked about citizenship, where the English language requirement is more stringent, when the conversation was about admission.
The Canada immigration program was cited by the Trump people as being the basis for the draconian proposal. There are similarities in that they are points-based systems, but the way the proposal uses the points is definitely not Canadian. The proposal from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) is so radical that there are plenty of Republican senators who have no interest in helping this proposal become law.
Ronald Reagan had a line about how people were all coming to America over any other country. In the last 7 months, we've seen people fleeing the United States in droves, risking life and limb. Many others would run if they could. And a lot of those people see Canada as a place for "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
photo credit: Sébastien Desrosiers/Radio-Canada
Twitter grab: @JustinTrudeau
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