Lebanese Canadian Evacuation

Garth Turner, the communicative MP for Halton has incurred the wrath of another interest group.

Apparently I have been targeted by the Arab community in Canada for electoral defeat. This news was given to me yesterday by an Ottawa reporter following up on a media release I have yet to read.

As I was told, the community is (of course) outraged at the Harper government for its pro-Israeli stance and (also, of course) hopping mad at me for the comments I made regarding dual citizenship and the exodus from Lebanon. My understanding is that ridings where Tories won with a relatively small margin, and which have a reasonable-sized Arab community, are going to be battlegrounds. Halton could be ground zero.

So, the reporter asked, what do you have to say about that?

While anger is let loose in press releases and electoral threats, I wondered how the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon is going. From Foreign Affairs Canada.

What is the status of the assisted evacuation so far?

• Canada has successfully evacuated over 13,400 people to date.
• Our evacuation plan is still in place. Our primary consideration is the safety of Canadians.
• There have been reports of individuals posing as Canadian government officials and fraudulently charging transportation fees to the embarkation port. All costs related to the evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon will be borne by the Government of Canada. Canadians are responsible to make their own way to the assembly point.

There is something terribly wrong with a ‘war’ that kills more children than combatants. So for a brief moment, may I take heart that grumbling aside, Canada’s taxpayers and our federal government helped some to safety? 

Deliberately. With effort. Willfully.
That is 13,500 people out of a deadlier kind of cross hairs.
For now.