In unusual move, Canada raps Trump for proposal to ban Muslims

'It's something that we can't accept in Canada' Foreign Minister Stephane Dion

OTTAWA: The Canadian government, which usually refrains from commenting on foreign election campaigns, on Tuesday took the unusual step of criticizing US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his comments about banning Muslims.



"It's something that we can't accept in Canada. We have never been as far removed from what we've just heard in the United States," Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said when asked what he thought of Trump's comments.

Trump on Tuesday defended his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States on security grounds and compared his plan to the World War Two internment of Japanese-Americans.

Muslims make up around 3 percent of the population in Canada, which prides itself on being multicultural.



"No political party here could get anywhere near what's been said in the United States, not even with an Olympic-style pole vault," Dion told reporters.

After Trump made his proposal on Monday, Canadian foreign ministry officials had declined to comment on the grounds that Ottawa did not become involved in election campaigns abroad.