The words "self-awareness" and "irony" are apparently not a part of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's vocabulary.

To wit, during an end-of-year interview with Global News, the Canadian leader accused President Trump's 'racist' immigration policies of provoking a worsening immigration crisis in Canada, as more immigrants seek to flee north, fearing a 'hostile, anti-refugee' climate in the US. When asked what he believes is to blame for the worsening crisis, which this year led to the Canadian government putting asylum applicants up in 3 star hotels after shelters - including one in a stadium in Montreal - filled to capacity, Trudeau said it was Trump's policies, not Trudeau's infamous 2017 tweet advising migrants that Canada would offer safe harbor to anybody fleeing persecution, that inspired thousands of migrants to flee north from the US into Canada.

To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017

Migrants are choosing to flee the US for a reason, Trudeau said - and not because of a silly tweet. Put another way: Trump's tweets are to blame, not Trudeau's, for inspiring some 35,000 migrants to cross into Canada at "unofficial" entry points along the US-Canada border.

"If people are in the midst of migration around the world right now, it’s not because of a tweet restating - almost word for word - Canadian policy on refuges, because that’s exactly what it was," he said in a year-end interview with the West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson. "And certainly, if people are fleeing the United States right now and are choosing to leave the United States right now, it’s not something I said. It is perhaps domestic realities within the political context in the United States that is driving people to move or to make those certain decisions."

At issue is an agreement called the 'Safe Third Countries' protocol, which governs the processing of asylum claims between the US and Canada. It states that migrants must declare asylum in whichever country they land, but includes a loophole that allows migrants who originally landed in the US to file a valid asylum claim if they cross into Canada through an "unofficial" checkpoint.

During one recent town hall, a heckler demanded to know how the Canadian government planned to disburse money to Quebec, which has been hard hit by the immigration crisis. In response, Trudeau accused the woman of being a "racist".

In August, a heckler confronted him at an event in Quebec and demanded to know when the province would get federal cash as compensation for dealing with the influx crossing at Roxham Road, which has become the situation’s epicentre. In response, Trudeau criticized the woman for her "intolerant" views and said "your racism has no place here."

Thought Truduea rejected criticism that he was using racism as a subtext for rejecting legitimate complaints about the Canadian government's unwillingness to dole out resources to help the provincial governments process asylum applicants.

"No, I haven’t been critical of people who’ve raised concerns. I recognize that there are lots of legitimate questions: are we processing these people right? Are we investing enough money in the system to be able to handle this? And we have invested more and we’re improving our systems."

Put another way: If you criticize Trudeau and his fellow virtue-signaling liberals, then you're a racist.