After months of promises and weeks of preparation, the first planeload of Syrian refugees was headed to Canada on Thursday, aboard a military plane to be met at Toronto’s airport by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Advertisement
Before the refugee families headed to their hotels, they were suited up with winter coats, as Canada’s climes are just a bit different from those in Aleppo and Damascus, where most of the refugees are from.
Trudeau replied: “You are home”. Trudeau was eagerly waiting at the airport to welcome the “new Canadians”.
CN is a true backbone of the economy whose team of approximately 25,000 railroaders transports more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America.
Sarah is a freelance writer from Northern Virginia.
Sarkis Jenanian was meeting his uncle, who was his sponsor, in Toronto before heading to St. Catharines, Ont., where he looked forward to beginning a new chapter.
“I am reaching out to the Canadian business community to show a similar generosity”, said McCallum.
Dozens gathered at the arrivals gate in Terminal 1 in hopes of personally welcoming refugees. “As Jews, we were also locked out, I know what it feels like”.
Andrew Harris, 51, said he wanted to counter the fearful messaging about Muslims that has circulated since the Paris attacks.
Refugees carried their belongings in red plastic bags with a sticker that read “Welcome to Canada”.
Christians, who made up about 10 per cent of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million, were among several religious minorities the former Conservative government gave priority to for refugee status in Canada. The majority will stay in Toronto, while others are heading to Columbia and Alberta, reports the Times.
“This is something that we are able to do in this country because we define a Canadian not by a skin colour or a language or a religion or a background, but by a shared set of values, aspirations, hopes and dreams that not just Canadians but people around the world share”, he said.
Few headlines were almost as enthusiastic as the left-wing USA blog Daily KOS: “Prime Minister’s reaction to refugees arriving in Canada will be a highlight in world history”.
Canada has long prided itself on opening its doors to asylum seekers.
Advertisement
Odjaghian said numerous refugees she spoke to, especially young people, have expressed that arriving in Canada is a chance to rebuild their lives.
