The 163 refugees, who traveled from Beirut, Lebanon, are the first of 25,000 Syrians to be resettled in Canada by early next year.
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“This is a wonderful night”, Trudeau said at the airport terminal, “where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily hard situations”. He said the government was working with CN to work out the details of allocating the money.
There’s a ton of worldwide news coverage today of Canada’s prime minister welcoming Syrian refugees to the country.
“Canada has a long and deep history of helping refugees and immigrants”, said Luc Jobin, the executive vice president and chief financial officer at CN.
“We suffered a lot”, a refugee arriving with his wife and 16-month-old daughter told the New York Times.
“It’s a very important initiative and something that Canada is getting behind, but that doesn’t absolve the government of its responsibility to be asking how we are resourcing these initiatives”, Ms. Rempel said.
ANOTHER flight with Syrian refugees will land at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on Saturday, December 12.
Canada will accept 10,000 refugees by the end of this year, and another 15,000 by the end of February.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, and I really hope you like it here in Canada”, one boy said. “I came as a permanent resident, but when I met the families and saw the children that were coming out, you just saw the enthusiasm in their eyes and how appreciative that they were for what Canada is doing for them”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets a family of refugees from Syria as they arrive at Pearson International airport, in Toronto, on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.
“You are home. Welcome home”, Trudeau told the refugees, video from the scene showed.
More than 400 refugees have already arrived on commercial flights since the Liberals took office on November 4.
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Reprinted with permission from Toronto Star.
