Voyage of the Damned

Daniel Lebeskind, the architect who designed the controversial addition to the Royal Ontario Museum has been given the nod to create a monument to commemorate the shipload of refugees who never made it to Canada. In 1939 the MS St. Louis, a ship with 900 Jewish passengers fleeing Nazi Germany was denied entry to any Canadian port. The concern was that this would set a dangerous precedent and a deluge of other refugees would seek asylum in Canada.

The ship eventually returned to Europe where the passengers were accepted by a number of nations, although a number did eventually die at the hands of the Nazis. The story was eventually told first in a book, then a movie, called The Voyage of the Damned. This is hardly a proud moment in Canadian history but it will be remembered.

Interesting that this announcement coincides with the arrival of a ship full of people claiming that they are refugees. The concern is that these Tamils will be the first wave of asylum seekers, a trend the federal government wants to discourage. A recent poll shows that about 40 percent of Canadians feel that this ship should have been denied entry into Canadian waters, which is against international law. About 25 percent said the government handled this situation correctly. The other 35 percent said officials could have done better.

So, now that you have had some time to ponder this situation, is it another MS St. Louis, or totally different? Which group of poll respondents would you put yourself in? Does your faith influence how you feel about this?