A recent article in The New York Times stated as fact that Justin Trudeau’s Syrian refugee resettlement program is widely seen as a success in Canada.

That may be true if you only ask liberal elites and leftist journalists. The mainstream media selectively – and almost exclusively – report on positive stories about the Syrian refugee program, while purposely burying stories that may portray the program in a negative light.

These elites are paranoid about a backlash against Syrians, against refugees and against Muslims. They just don’t trust everyday Canadians to be fair and draw the correct conclusions – correct according to the Liberal open-borders dogma.

But the success of the program is not a given, and thus far, it is not self-evident.

Refugees are distinct from other types of immigrants, and refugee resettlement takes hard work and a deliberate effort to put refugees on the right path.

This is where the Trudeau government has fallen short.

A fair assessment of Canada’s refugee resettlement efforts should be judged on three key standards.

Did we select the most at-risk and persecuted refugees for resettlement? Did we ensure that proper screening and security precautions are taken? And, finally, did we prepare refugees for life in their new country and properly integrate newcomers once they arrived?

First, Trudeau’s program didn’t prioritize Yazidis facing genocide or persecuted Christians, but instead selected the first Syrians who could get to Pearson Airport in time for a photo-op with the PM.

In a testimony to the Public Safety committee in the House of Commons, senior CBSA official Martin Boldue said that most refugees in Trudeau’s program had already fled Syria “a number of years” earlier.

“Most of the 21,000 of the refugees who have made it to our boarders were not housed in camps, they had been living in theatre for a number of years, renting apartments,” said Boldue.

Far from fleeing a war zone or escaping immediate danger, Trudeau selected refugees who were safe and already resettled in a neighbouring country.

Second, when it came to screening and vetting incoming Syrian refugees, Trudeau once again sacrificed accuracy in exchange for expediency.

As reported in the Sun, Trudeau’s procedures were so sloppy that some Syrians were issued government documents with incorrect personal information.

The Trudeau government was so rushed they couldn’t even get names, dates of birth and genders correct. This doesn’t exactly lend peace of mind to Canadians worried about the terrorism and violence that has destroyed Syria getting imported alongside refugees.

Finally, far from preparing these newcomers for life in Canada, the Trudeau government abandoned many refugees the moment they arrived.

Syrian refugees were dumped in budget motels and left without translators. There was chaos and miscommunication between government agencies and long queues for everything from language courses to matching refugees with private sponsors trying to help.

An important 3-day overseas orientation session, which explains Canadian laws and how to navigate the job market, was skipped in pursuit of Trudeau’s airport selfies.

Trudeau put his artificial political timeline first, and was willing to sacrifice everything else.

Looking at the results through this lens, Trudeau’s Syrian refugee program is far from a success.

That doesn’t mean Syrian refugees in Canada are doomed to failure. Despite the incompetence of the Trudeau Liberals, individual Canadians have stepped up to lend a helping hand and welcome the newest of Canadians.

Generous and welcoming Canadians, not Trudeau, deserve credit if this program is to succeed.