President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear to have devised a solution for the Middle East that sounds more like a real estate deal than foreign policy.
At this point, with a fragile ceasefire in place and Gaza laid to waste, this could be another of Trump’s opening salvos in a negotiating war in which only he knows the ultimate goal.
That’s good news and bad for Canada. If Trump is focused on Gaza, then it will divert his attention from this country and the tariffs he paused for 30 days. Suddenly, Canada becoming the 51st state is no longer part of the conversation. Trump may be planning to confer that honour on Gaza.
Buried deep in the discussion about Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians be removed from Gaza and that it be rebuilt and turned into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” was a proposal by an Israeli cabinet minister that should be deeply troubling to Canadians.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted on X that he’s instructed Israel’s military to draft a plan to evacuate “any residents of Gaza who wish to leave,” to be resettled to willing countries abroad.
“Countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, have previously expressed willingness to take in residents from Gaza,” he said.
Well, thanks, but no thanks. Canada is full right now. We have a housing shortage, a doctor shortage and a youth unemployment rate of 14.4%. We certainly aren’t going to welcome people who cheered Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Canada’s resettlement program for Gazans is limited to those who have relatives here and is capped at 5,000.
Last October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally realized he’d botched immigration and put a sharp pause on it, saying, “We didn’t get the balance quite right.”
Canada will reduce the number of permanent residents this year by 21% — from a previous target of 500,000 to 395,000.
Yes, we have a strong private refugee program. That was also paused in November to clear a backlog.
Trump has expressed major concerns about security along America’s northern border. Does he really want to import two million angry Gazans to live across the 49th Parallel from him?
We hear Greenland and Panama are nice at this time of year.