According to the federal government, just under 500 refugees have already arrived in the country.
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The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued the following statement after delivering a speech today to the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly in Gatineau, Quebec.
A second flight with another 150 refugees will arrive in Montreal on Saturday.
After he won the election, Trudeau promised to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees before 2016. Trudeau’s initial plan was to bring in the 25,000 by the end of this year, but his government has since said it will complete the transfer by the end of the February.
“First flight of Syrian refugees from Lebanon includes 70 Armenian Christians; most all privately sponsored”, tweeted CBC News correspondent Susan Ormiston from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost the October 19 election to Trudeau, had declined to resettle more Syrian refugees, despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach. The Canadian government agreed to cover the cost of travel for Syrian refugees, although other refugee groups still need to pay for their travel to Canada.
The Syrians’ reception in Canada contrasted sharply with that of the neighbouring United States, where fear of Syrian refugees following the deadly November 13 Paris attacks spurred opposition to allowing them entry.
“They step off the plane as refugees, but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada with social insurance numbers, with health cards and with an opportunity to become full Canadians”, Trudeau said.
It’s a military plane, although the government says upcoming flights are more likely to be handled with privately chartered aircraft.
– The Liberals make a commitment that if elected, they would resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees under government care.
“None of us could have made this happen without Canadians from coast to coast stepping up and helping”, Trudeau said.
Fwad Malik, member of a group sponsoring Syrian Families to settle in Canada, holds up a sign welcoming his charges as he waits for them to arrive at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015.
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-The government finally meets its July 2013 promise to resettle 1,300 people, achieving it by increasing the number of government-assisted refugees. Single male refugees will not be included in the program, although officials said that security concerns are not to blame. These officers will confirm each person’s identity using documentation the refugees received following their immigration process which took place overseas.
