The chief of Canada’s Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, pledged to deport foreigners who take part in what he referred to as pro-Palestinian “hate marches,” in a transfer condemned by the nation’s main Muslim rights group.
Poilievre on the marketing campaign path Saturday vowed to deport foreigners from Canada for legal hate-mongering, accusing pro-Palestinian protestors’ “hate marches” of contributing to a spike in anti-Semitism.
Poilievre was campaigning in an Ottawa electoral district contested by Liberal chief and Prime Minister Mark Carney, who this week drew the ire of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu over remarks on the warfare in Gaza.
“We will bring in tougher laws to target vandalism, hate marches that break laws (and) violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion,” Poilievre instructed reporters.
“Anyone who is here on a visitor visa who carries out law-breaking will be deported from this country,” he added, phrases echoing messaging from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which has deported pro-Palestinian pupil protesters.
Poilievre has up to now sought to distance himself from Trump, whose financial assaults and threats to annex the United States’ northern neighbor have outraged the Canadian voters.
The Canadian conservative decried pro-Palestinian protests, saying they had been contributing to a worsening state of affairs with regard to hate crimes.
Pro-Palestinian encampments at universities and marches that sprang up in response to Israel’s conduct of the warfare have been principally peaceable, however police have in some circumstances charged protestors.
On Tuesday, Carney was heckled at a rally by a protester who shouted that Israel was perpetrating a genocide in Gaza.
Carney responded by highlighting Canada’s restrictions on some arms shipments to Israel, to which Netanyahu responded on X: “Instead of supporting Israel, a democracy fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the only Jewish state.”
Carney later clarified that he didn’t hear, nor assist, the Gaza genocide declare and referred to as for “every effort to establish a cease-fire in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) stated it was deeply disturbed and disgusted by Poilievre’s pledges.
“We are concerned about the precedent put forward that those marching in protests for Palestinian human rights will be facing the same issues as Americans facing the Trump administration,” NCCM stated.
The civil rights group stated it may imply these on customer visas and different non permanent visas can be deported in the event that they take part in “hate marches.”
“Needless to say, it is already the law in Canada, under IRPA, to deport non-Canadians who commit serious crimes. Mr. Poilievre’s pronouncement is thus technically redundant,” the group stated.
The point out of the particular challenge of “hate marches” is undefined, and members of the Conservative Party have characterised numerous rallies and protests calling for Palestinian human rights as “hate marches,” at the same time as thousands and thousands of Canadians have taken to the streets to name for human rights.
“Let’s be clear: this is not the time to import Trump’s ideas of deporting those he doesn’t agree with on Gaza,” stated NCCM CEO Stephen Brown. “Mr. Poilievre needs to reject Trumpian policy ideas that put free speech at risk.”
Noting that at a time when the Trump administration poses a severe risk to Canadian sovereignty by means of annexation efforts and makes an attempt to hurt the Canadian financial system with record-level tariffs, NCCM stated it’s deeply troubling for a Canadian federal chief to imitate a Trump-style method simply to realize further votes.
“No one should be deported, jailed, or arrested for calling on Canada to uphold its commitment to international human rights. In such a critical moment, our leaders must defend Canadian values — not compromise them by copying a foreign leader for political advantage.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com