I have talked to so many people lately who are frightened and bewildered by the current political climate in North America and Europe. I feel the same way — shocked and lost and gobsmacked by the way things have unfolded in the US and the UK. I took heart, however, in the astonishing Women’s Marches held around the world last weekend. They have driven home for me an understanding of what like minds, working together, can accomplish.
To that end, in response to the recent heinous executive orders signed by President Trump, I have just written a letter to my MP, and to the Prime Minister of Canada, imploring them to rescind the current ‘Canada-US Safe-Third Country Agreement’. This agreement, put into place in 2004, limits the ability of Canada to offer safe haven for refugees rejected by the United States.
You can contact your Member of Parliament by following THIS LINK. You can write Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2. You can call the office of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Ahmed D. Hussen, at (613) 954-1064.
In case you’d like a template to follow, here’s my letter to the Prime Minister. Feel free to use and share!
To the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau,
As a Canadian, I am writing to ask that your government immediately rescind the current Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, that we may welcome the refugees who are being abandoned by President Trump’s heinous executive order.
Tonight a mosque in Quebec City is paying the price of mindless hate.
Thank you for taking on this challenge. Historically, Canada has not always stood on the side of fairness and equality for all, but today we have the opportunity to lead by example. I am asking you to take this very important step.
Sincerely…*
Okay — hope this helps. These are dark times, my friends. We need to be kind, and help lift each other up.
More soon…
~kc
*Edited to add that the PM’s official title is the ‘Right Honourable’ and your MPs are ‘Honourable’.