It is not necessary to set one’s watch on polls to see that Stephen Harper’s business-as-usual reaction to the Syrian refugee issue has missed the political mark.

One look at the line-up of critics who are, to put it mildly, underwhelmed by his low-key response to the resettlement needs of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians driven out of their country by an ongoing civil war tells the story.

Unlike the opposition parties, more than a few of those critics actually support Harper’s decision to sign Canada up for air strikes against Islamic extremists in the Middle East.

Unlike the Conservative leader, they do not see the pursuit of the military engagement against Islamic extremists in the Middle East as an excuse or a rationale to decline to resettle many more Syrian refugees in Canada right away.

Retired general Rick Hillier served as the commander of the armed forces at the peak of the country’s military engagement in Afghanistan. A dove he most certainly is not.

On his Facebook page this week, Hillier wrote: “I wonder why we, as the great country that we are, could not stand tall during these dark days for the hundreds of thousands of displaced souls who are fleeing, quite literally, for their very lives.”

He believes Canada should try to bring in 50,000 migrants before the end of the year.

Barbara McDougall served as Secretary of State of External Affairs in Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government. She, too, believes Harper has so far not risen to the challenge.

In an op-ed piece published on Tuesday in the Globe and Mail, McDougall wrote “It is beyond time for Mr. Harper to recognize that every leader faces an unexpected moral choice that sometimes seems to come out of nowhere — and this is his.”

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is one of Harper’s closest provincial allies. On the day after Harper argued for a stay-the-course approach to the refugee crisis last week, Wall tweeted: “SK can support more refugees. As a people and a government, we will do its part for those fleeing war and tyranny for safe asylum.”

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard supported Canada’s military participation in strikes against Islamic extremists in the Middle East from the very start. He, too, is no dove.

His government wants to triple the number of Syrian refugees coming to Quebec. A number of other provinces, including Ontario, have similarly offered to do more. Couillard also decided to find out for himself just how difficult it is to sponsor a refugee family. He joined a group of his riding’s constituents set up for that purpose.

Toronto mayor John Tory — a former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader — has also signed up to help sponsor refugees. And he has been working with the mayors of Canada’s other big cities to push to resettle more Syrian migrants in Canada. “As mayor of the most multicultural city, I believe we should mobilize to sponsor Syrian refugees. This is who we are as Canadians,” he explained.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi leads the city that is home to Harper’s riding. On the weekend, he called the Conservative response to the migrant issue a “disgrace.”

When he decided to stay the course on the refugee issue late last week Harper knew he was walking into a fight with his opposition rivals.

He must have, at least initially, relished the prospect for he could have instead taken up the other leaders on their unanimous offer to come together around a range of more proactive measures on the refugee front.

Harper called that a partisan game.

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The refugee crisis appeared on the campaign radar at a time when the Conservatives were in dire need of a shot of momentum after a bruising first month on the hustings.

Since then, the party has dropped to third place in voting intentions in a number of polls.

Based on the recent past, the high road not taken would have led to greener pastures for the Conservative campaign. It was when he allowed Canadians to catch a glimpse of his non-partisan side, right after the Parliament Hill shootings, that Harper last caught a real break in voting intentions.

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