Trudeau government makes the right moves

It’s been barely a month since the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau took office in Ottawa and already his administration is sending clear messages to Canadians and the rest of the world that things have changed in Canada since the departure of three-term Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Trudeau said right after taking office that Canada would cease its air strikes against Daesh targets in Syria. And after last week’s murderous acts in Paris, Trudeau reiterated that Canada would not reverse its decision: The air strikes would not be started again.

Trudeau’s cabinet also decided that it would expedite the processing and arrivals of 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada before the end of the year, making it a matter of urgency. While Republicans in the US and right-wingers in Canada fume about Syrians being potential terrorists, Trudeau and his ministers see them as desperate and desolate and in need of humanitarian help and a better life.

And, most recently, the new Canadian government has signalled to its judiciary that Ottawa is dropping its legal challenge to women who choose to wear a niqab during citizenship ceremonies. The issue had become highly politicised under Harper’s reign, with Ottawa challenging a woman from Pakistan who refused to remove her niqab when being sworn in as a new Canadian citizen.

The virtue of Canada is that it welcomes all and treats them as equals. That virtue has been restored, and state-sponsored bigotry is again buried.