Canada will take an additional 10,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria over the next four years if the Conservative government is re-elected in October, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged on Monday. Canada has already settled roughly 20,000 Iraqi refugees and 2,500 Syrians, he told reporters at a campaign event in Toronto. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada website shows it finalized 19,900 refugee claims from all countries in 2014. Harper said, however, that the scale of the humanitarian crisis was such that it cannot come close to being solved by refugee policy alone. "We must stop ISIS," he said, referring to the Islamic State militant group operating in the area. The comments come a day after Harper said he would make it a criminal offence for Canadians to travel to areas controlled by groups designated as terrorist entities, such as Islamic State, if he is re-elected. Canada is part of a US-led coalition conducting air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq since last year. Most polls show the ruling Conservatives slightly trailing the official opposition New Democrats ahead of the Oct. 19 election. The Liberal party is in third place.
