Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created policy and administrative chaos when he tweeted out a welcome mat for the world’s refugees last winter. As the National Post reports, newly released emails show confusion within his own Liberal government as senior officials weren’t certain whether the tweet was political whimsy or a major policy shift.
Trudeau tweeted in January, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”
The unrestricted invitation came within a day of President’s Donald Trump’s decision to ban refugees from some Muslim countries and Trudeau’s declaration was widely seen — especially on social media — as a defiant declaration of opposition.
But while hundreds of thousands of people around the world applauded Trudeau’s ambiguous promise, an Access to Information request reveals that the Canadian government department overseeing refugees and immigration wasn’t sure how to respond to the sudden increase in refugee demands.
After observing that Trudeau’s social media comments had become international news in a New York Times report, officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada begged for instructions on what to tell the people who were showing up at Canada’s embassy in Mexico.
“Guidance required on how to respond to increasing number of refugees enquirers in the region following change in U.S. administration and Prime Minister’s tweet.”
There was a load of media inquiries as well as another email says to the public affairs department that it will endeavor not to “max you out.”
The “risk assessment officer” in Mexico, whose name is blacked-out in the emails provided, was looking for clarification on Feb. 1, 2017. “We are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from the public about requesting refugee status in Canada, and a number clearly having links with our Prime Minister’s tweet this weekend,” the officer said. “A significant number of the enquiries received since the weekend have been from nationals of the ‘US banned countries’, but we are also receiving them from all nationalities, both through emails and directly at our reception.”
Another query said Canadian embassies around the world were getting questioned over whether “it is true that Canada will accept the refugees the US are rejecting…”
Although Trudeau eventually got around to clarifying that all refugees crossing the Canadian border wouldn’t receive automatic citizenship, that message did not get to the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who began to arrive at border choke points in Quebec and Manitoba as Trudeau’s tweet became world famous.