Canadian Leaders Greeted at Debate by Giant List of Names of 20,000 Dead Migrants

As they arrived by bus at the final English-language debate of the election, Canada's federal leaders were greeted by activists with a giant banner listing the names of 20,000 migrants who had died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and the US-Mexico border.

The Munk Debate on Monday night saw the leaders of the NDP, Liberals and Conservatives square off on foreign policy — including climate change and immigration reform.

Before the leaders took to their podiums, about 150 protesters from activist group No One Is Illegal placed banners on the sidewalk with the names of migrants who had died, and chanted "Refugees welcome!"

It has been almost a month since three-year-old Alan Kurdi's body was carried off a beach in Turkey, triggering a public outcry in Canada and abroad. Kurdi's relatives had been trying to immigrate to Canada. After the backlash, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered his condolences to the toddler's family, but initially said he would not open Canada's borders to more refugees than previously stated.

Minutes into the debate, the moderator asked the three leaders about their stances on immigration.

"I've already explained that we have a generous and responsible approach," Harper said. "There will be more refugees resettled, more humanitarian aid, we will continue the military intervention against ISIS."

List of the 20,000 migrants who have died crossing the Mediterranean, according to No One Is Illegal — Hilary Beaumont (@HilaryBeaumont)September 28, 2015

He reiterated that since his initial hard line on immigration following Kurdi's death, the Conservatives had said they would bring in 10,000 more refugees from Syria by next September.

"There's not simply a political solution to this crisis," Harper said, pointing to military intervention against the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS) as an additional solution.

"We have not opened the floodgates," he said, adding that Canada needs to bring people in while making sure there's not a security crisis.

Trudeau said it was "incumbent on us to help those people," and said in the coming decades there will be more refugees due to climate change.

"The Liberal party has proposed 25,000 refugees six months ago and we have maintained that," he said.

When his turn came, Mulcair added that the former chief of defense staff Rick Hillier called for the federal government to stop using the pretext of security to block more refugees from coming to Canada.

Outside the debate, spokesperson for No One Is Illegal Tracey Jastinder Mann told VICE News none of the major parties are doing enough, and after the election is over on Oct. 19, she wants to see the next prime minister of Canada completely overhaul the immigration system.

"Harper has made the same promise to bring in 10,000 refugees three times, while failing to propose any real meaningful change to an immigration system which denies permanent residency rights to most," No One Is Illegal said in a statement.

"Trudeau and Mulcair are yet to propose a new comprehensive vision for immigration policies, bickering over limited numbers of Syrian refugees while over 60 million people are displaced around the world," the statement read.

Follow Hilary Beaumont on Twitter: @hilarybeaumont