Trudeau’s Liberal government has pledged to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February, but immigration minister John McCallum said on Wednesday that the government may not reach its target of resettling 10,000 by the end of the year. He said that by the end of the year, 10,000 Syrian refugees will be identified as certified Canadian permanent residents, but the government is still unsure whether the refugees would be able to set their foot on Canadian soil within that time as promised.
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However, McCallum said he is “confident” that Ottawa will meet its overall target to resettle refugees “well before” the end of February.
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McCallum blamed the delay on inclement flying weather, refugees wanting to say goodbye to friends and families, and other circumstances beyond the government’s control.
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Mr. McCallum said the government is “moving heaven and earth” to bring in as many refugees as quickly as possible, rejecting the argument that he was “playing politics with people’s lives” by making unrealistic promises to refugees.
“This is like a wave, it starts slow and it builds up”, McCallum said.
One week ago, federal officials said they were optimistic that the objective of bringing in 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year would be met. The deadline was extended to the end of February last month.
According to the most recent statistics from the Canadian government, 1,186 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November 4.
Health care systems in many provinces were already under severe strain before the Syrian refugee crisis. There will be no flights landing on Christmas Day, McCallum confirmed, but some may be taking off to begin their journey to Canada.
Ottawa has now scheduled up to five flights per day to bring over the refugees, but McCallum, who recently visited camps in Jordan and Lebanon, said their transport could be delayed by “weather” and “human nature”, explaining that some refugees simply may not be ready to depart on two days’ notice.
As the minister spoke, one flight was on its way to Montreal carrying almost 300 refugees.
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Prime Minister Trudeau greeted newly-arrived Syrian refugees at Pearson International airport in Toronto on December 11.
