For most of Hasan Minhaj's report on Syrian refugees in Canada, he's playing the typical Daily Show correspondent role of trollish devil's advocate, warning about the danger of Syrian refugee terrorists crossing the border from Canada to the U.S. — a risk that is seriously featured on Fox News, he points out. His first interview was with a group of Canadians who promote private sponsorship of Syrian refugees, a Canadian immigration system Minhaj called "KickStarter for terrorists." He met with one family of Canadian Syrian refugees. And then he sat down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and that's where a good segment became great.
Minhaj and the young, progressive prime minister engaged in a little trash talk and light inspirational banter about the importance of refugees, then Minhaj asked a serious question. If even 0.01 percent of the refugees get radicalized, that could mean 25 terrorist attacks in Canada. "How can you go to sleep knowing that risk is imminent?" he asked. Trudeau said this: "We live in a world where there are always risks, and the question is, how much do you want to live in fear of those risks? The best counter to the type of radicalization and marginalization that we've seen in other parts of the world is to create an inclusive society where everyone, including and especially Muslim Canadians, have every opportunity to succeed just like anybody else."
Trudeau's subsequent metaphor of immigrants as different flavors reminded Minhaj about America's melting pot, and he ended on a hopeful note — and an inspirational quote from an unlikely source. Watch his report below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiet vacationing: More workers are jetting off on company timeThe explainer You can be in two places at once
-
11 cool pools and lazy rivers to try this summerThe Week Recommends You'll want to dive right in
-
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped trigger the Great Recession. Would an IPO create new dangers?In the Spotlight It depends on the 'implicit guarantee'
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in ZürichThe Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
