One of the most moving parts of the Syrians’ arrival isn’t actually even in the video: Canada’s newly elected prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was at the airport to greet the refugees in person.
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United Nations High Commission for Refugee officials, who are assisting with the resettlement plans, recently told reporters they were having difficulty finding refugees ready or willing to come to Canada on such short notice.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, co-chair of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Task Force on Syrian Refugee Resettlement, said, “CN’s support during this humanitarian crisis is a very welcome contribution to help address immediate and short-term needs of the thousands of refugees Canada will welcome in the coming weeks and months”.
Tsipras also said the government had initially been “taken by surprise” by the sheer number of migrants, “but since September there has not been a single arrival who has not been registered”.
And, it’s because of this fear that many Republican politicians are hesitant on the topic of Syrian refugees.
Canada has promised to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, and 25,000 by March.
As Trudeau met the military aircraft amid tight security at a special terminal, privately sponsored Syrian refugees were arriving on commercial flights at Toronto’s main terminal, greeted by sponsors and ordinary Canadians who had come to the airport to welcome the much-anticipated newcomers.
“I am reaching out to the Canadian business community to show a similar generosity to what we have seen this morning from CN”, he said.
“We can make it work – we will scramble with whatever gets dumped our way because that’s what we do, that’s what the situation demands”, she said.
For corporations, McCallum said that means money, and lots of it.
“Welcome, welcome to Canada”, said Hannah Bytion, as she repeatedly embraced her sister, who she last saw five years ago.
Trudeau was on hand as the new arrivals were given donated winter coats, gifts and toys. More than 1.2 million refugees have arrived in Canada since the Second World War.
Andrew Harris, 51, said he wanted to counter the fearful messaging about Muslims that has circulated since the Paris attacks.
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Canada has already resettled 3,500 Syrians since the beginning of 2014.
