Real estate companies are contributing apartments, airlines are offering seats and individual business leaders are chipping in cash.
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We have talked about this amongst our friends and neighbours and the majority feel as we do, that bringing to Canada 25,000 Syrian refugees is wrong and has the distinct possibility of putting our country in an even greater danger than at present.
The government also said it is honouring a commitment made by the previous Conservative government to match donations by Canadians to the global relief efforts.
The need for more time was chief among Immigration Minister John McCallum’s messages when he announced the plan.
The government is relying heavily on the United Nations agency to accomplish its goal of bringing in 25,000 more Syrian refugees to Canada before the end of February.
“We know that Syrian refugees are cutting on meals, taking on debt to meet their basic daily needs and risking their lives to leave Syria”, she said. The extra time gives them more opportunity to prepare.
International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the government will move quickly to disburse the funds.
Only 10,000 may arrive by the end of the year, less than half the number pledged by PM as part of his election campaign.
In his Thanksgiving message on Thursday, President Barack Obama – who has said he will veto the House bill if it reaches his desk – called for Americans to treat refugees as latter-day Pilgrims, in a reference to the first Americans who fled religious persecution to establish themselves in the new world.
With this announcement, the government says Canada has provided a total of almost $1 billion in aid funding in response to the crisis in Syria.
CBC notes that the government has “so far been mum about both the kind of security screening it is doing and whether it will be limited to refugee camps overseas, or whether some of it will take place in Canada”.
He added: “When those 25,000 new Canadians begin to integrate into families… then numerous fears that come from not having personal connections and contacts with people will simply evaporate”.
Asked if single men were excluded partly because of the possibility of radicalization or other security concerns, he said: “I think that is the case historically, but it is also the case they are less vulnerable”.
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In short, Mr. Trudeau acknowledged that his government sacrificed some of the details of its initial plans so that it could reassure Canadians, so public support for resettling refugees would not fall.
