In a speech addressed to the government employees and the media gathered at the airport, Mr.Trudeau said, “Tonight they step off the plane as refugees, but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada”.
Advertisement
“With the first wave of refugees entering Canada this week, the situation is urgent”.
In the coming days, CN will join with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other Canadian business leaders to direct funds to assist with housing and other needs of Syrian refugees.
‘This is not a government project, ‘ said John McCallum, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, at an announcement about corporate funding to help Canada resettle Syrian Refugees.
Leaving Syria has been hard for the family, who survived multiple bombings before fleeing to Lebanon, Youssef said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from right, and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, left, look over winter clothing which will be handed out to arriving Syrian refugees before arrival at Pearson International airport, in Toronto, on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.
“We know the welcome and integration of refugees is a highly complex and multifaceted process, and this initiative is one modest piece of much broader collective and national efforts”, said Simon Brault, the director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, in a press release. The planes, both military aircraft, will carry a total of about 300 Syrian refugees.
Syrian refugees now in Turkey will be able to fly to Canada directly without transitioning in another country, he said, adding that 100 people were processed the first day the centre was operational.
“They’ve been having a very hard time there so we wanted them to have a good start here in Canada since all dreams come true here”, she said.
He suggests dozens more planeloads of refugees will arrive in the next few weeks to meet the target.
Dr Meb Rashid, medical director at the Crossroads Clinic, a hospital-based Toronto refugee health center, said the government’s plans have shifted dramatically from one week to the next. When she’s not writing you can find her checking out a museum exhibit, wandering around a used bookshop, or watching reruns of “Gilmore Girls”.
“There are a lot of moving parts to coordinate and it’s very hard to plan when you don’t know numbers, you don’t know dates”, he said.
Advertisement
“I will work hard”, he said.
