Despite Stephen Harper promising to bring in some 20,000 refugees and expand humanitarian aid in light of the growing crisis in Syria, a Toronto-area Conservative candidate warned residents about an “agenda” to move Muslims into Europe that he doesn’t want to see happen in Canada.
A video obtained by Global News shows Joe Daniel, the Conservative candidate in Don Valley West making the statements while speaking to a group of voters in the Toronto riding of Don Valley West on Sunday.
“I think the agenda is to move as many Muslims into some of these European countries to change these countries in a major way,” Daniel can be heard saying in the video. “That is something I certainly don’t want to see happening in Canada.”
Daniel points to Saudi Arabia’s offer to build some 200 mosques in Germany, as hundreds of thousands of refugees flock to the European country.
Some German politicians have called the offer “cynical” saying the refugees need solidarity from Middle Eastern countries, not charity.
The Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have not been accepting refugees but have accepted nearly 500,000 migrant workers and donated upwards of $900 million since the crisis began in 2011.
In a statement Daniel pledged support for the Conservative Party’s refugee policy.
“I support the Prime Minister’s approach to the ongoing crisis at all three levels: militarily confronting ISIS, providing much-needed humanitarian aid, and addressing the refugee issue. I also support of the Government’s recent additional action on refugees, while still ensuring that rigorous security standards are maintained for the safety and security of Canadians.”
The 60-year-old Tanzania native was first elected to represent Don Valley East in 2011 ending 18 years of Liberal control in the riding. The riding was changed in re-alignment, becoming Don Valley North.
The refugee crisis has become an election topic since the photo of a drowned boy who had been trying to make it to Europe hit front pages around the world. Tom Mulcair said Canada could bring in 20,000 refugees by year’s end, while Trudeau said his government would accept 25,000.
Over the weekend, Conservative MP Jason Kenney insisted that the government would be releasing details on how it would accelerate the acceptance of 20,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
He defended the Conservative’s stance on the issue and said “people are picking numbers out of a hat.”
“At the end of the day, we have to have a manageable number so that we can apply the appropriate screening and focus on the most vulnerable,” he said.
WATCH: Jason Kenney says the government’s plan to accelerate refugee acceptance is in the ‘very near future’
So far, Canada has accepted approximately 2,500 Syrian refugees. Canada has also taken in some 12,300 resettled refugees – about one in 10 of all the refugees referred by the United Nations for resettlement in 2014.
But they only amount to a small number of all refugees. United Nations estimates say Lebanon, Jordan, Nauru, and Chad accepted the most refugees per capita in 2014.
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