You don’t have to have voted for Stephen Harper in last month’s federal election to understand that, on the big issues that matter, Canada’s former prime minister got things right.

That, in the wake of last weekend’s wave of deadly ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris, the one leader in last month’s election campaign who emphasized that in addition to the economy, security was our most important concern, was right.

That the one leader who said that being prime minister meant making “the difficult decisions necessary to protect our country’s security,” was right.

That the one leader who said “we could drive ourselves crazy with grief” over tragedies like the drowning of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, but Syria’s civil war could not be solved by refugee policy alone, was right.

That the one leader who said it was important for Canada to continue its participation in the U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, was right.

Canada, under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, now has a policy to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees within six weeks — SIX WEEKS! — that was the direct result of the emotional tsunami caused by pictures of little Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a Turkish beach during the election campaign.

Trudeau is now stuck with defending it — when he isn’t posing for selfies — along with his policy of withdrawing Canada from the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS, despite the terrorist group’s co-ordinated attacks in Paris Friday that left 129 people dead and 352 injured.

For heaven’s sake, if one death in Turkey was enough to change Canada’s refugee policy with regard to the civil war in Syria, why aren’t 129 deaths in Paris relevant when it comes to giving that policy some serious and sober second thought?

Trudeau doesn’t have to abandon his commitment to admit 25,000 Syrian refugees as quickly as possible, but he must, for the sake of the security of all Canadians, abandon his political promise to get it all done by new year.

Take a few more weeks, or months, to do it right, for heaven’s sake, so security officials have the time to do proper background checks, without feeling the pressure of an arbitrary, artificial deadline.

Similarly, Trudeau doesn’t have to reverse himself on pulling out of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS in Iraq in Syria, which he said yesterday will happen before March.

But since he keeps talking about Canada continuing its military mission against ISIS in a significant way — for example training local fighters to take on the terrorist group — how significant a campaign is he considering?

Will he divert monies from the air campaign to send in more military trainers?

Is he talking about an increase in the 69 Canadian special forces now working alongside the Kurds in northern Iraq?

Will Canadian forces be calling in airstrikes, which the Liberals have criticized in the past?

Canadians deserve more answers and fewer selfies.