OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper put off a campaign announcement and cancelled a photo op Thursday as Europe's migrant and refugee crisis washed over the federal election.
Instead, Harper is expected to address the migrant crisis and take questions early this afternoon in British Columbia.
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander rushed back to Ottawa to deal with the tragic case of a Syrian family drowned while trying to get to Europe.
The photos of a dead boy washed ashore on a Turkish beach and news of a Canadian connection to the child rocked the campaign.
Alexander had to confront reports that Canada rejected the refugee application of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, his five-year-old brother Galip and their mother Rehan — all of whom died in an unsuccessful attempt to reach Europe by boat.
The Conservatives also postponed "to a later date" a planned appearance by Jason Kenney, who had been scheduled to make "an important announcement on Conservative efforts to protect the integrity of Canada's immigration system and the security of Canada."
Meanwhile, the Canadian Council for Refugees said the two boys might be alive had the Canadian government responded better to the Syrian crisis.
Fin Donnelly, who is running for re-election in Port Moody-Coquitlam for the New Democrats, said he delivered a letter in March to Alexander on behalf of Abdullah's sister Tima Kurdi, who lives in the Vancouver area. But Donnelly said the sponsorship request was not approved.
Images of Aylan Kurdi's lying face down in the surf and those of a Turkish police officer cradling the body in his arms, have resonated across the globe.
"The tragic photo of young Aylan Kurdi and the news of the death of his brother and mother broke hearts around the world," Alexander said in a statement Thursday.
"Like all Canadians, I was deeply saddened by that image and of the many other images of the plight of the Syrian and Iraqi migrants fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS."
Alexander said he would also get an update on the migrant crisis.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said the images of Kurdi reminded him of the iconic Vietnam war photo of the naked, nine-year-old girl fleeing a napalm attack in 1972.
"Chris Alexander has a lot to answer for, but that's not where we are right now. We're worried about how we got here," Mulcair said in Toronto.
"The international community has failed. Canada has failed."
While campaigning, Mulcair promised that an NDP government would convene a first ministers' meeting within six months of taking office to come up with a plan and a timetable for expanding the Canada and Quebec pension plans.
On the hustings in Brossard, Que., Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was asked about Alexander's decision to get an update on the Kurdi family case.
"You don't get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an election campaign. You either have it or you don't," Trudeau said.
"This government has ignored these pleas of Canadian NGOs, of opposition parties and of the international community ... all believe that Canada should be doing more, should have been doing more."
He said the government, Alexander and Kenney all should apologize over the handling of the case.
Trudeau also stepped into a local issue by pledging to cancel a proposed toll system for Montreal's Champlain Bridge if he becomes.
He said his party will go ahead with the bridge project, but doesn't favour the toll idea.
