Syrian refugees still welcome in York Region

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 19, 2015
By Lisa Queen

Stouffville Cares started out in May as a handful of people getting together to brainstorm ideas on sponsoring a family from the Middle East to come to Canada.

By fall, the movement to bring in a United Nations-registered family had captured the hearts of dozens as images of seemingly countless desperate refugees from Syria and other countries fleeing the horrific conditions of their homelands were shared around the world, including photos of the lifeless body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying on a beach following a failed attempt to escape to Europe.

“What that photo did was put a face to the suffering. It raised awareness throughout Canada and throughout the world, no doubt about it, a three-year-old little boy,” Rev. Joan Masterton, the minister at Stouffville’s St. James Presbyterian Church, which is spearheading the Stouffville Cares campaign, said.

“We had people walking in off the street (after seeing images of the plight of refugees throughout the summer). I had people emailing me. I had strangers walk in off the street with cheques.”

The compassion embraced by Stouffville Cares was mirrored in communities across York Region and the country as Canadians scrambled to find ways to help, even making the plight of refugees a key issue in the federal election campaign.

“And then Friday night happened,” Masterton said.

Last Friday, terrorists killed 129 people and injured more than 350 during a series of co-ordinated attacks in Paris that left millions around the world reeling.

In Canada, the attacks have left some questioning the wisdom of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election promise to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the new year.

While Canadians appear to want the country to open its arms to refugees, some worry the rush of bringing thousands of displaced people to our shores within the next six weeks could override our ability to conduct adequate security and health checks.

While his former Conservative government brought in 25,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq since 2009 and was committed to bringing in 20,000 more over the next year, Thornhill MP Peter Kent slammed the Liberals’ ambitious time frame.

“I would hope the events in Paris will drive home to Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet that blind fulfillment of unwise promises in an unwise timeframe is not only unwise, but I think it’s unacceptable to most Canadians,” he said.

“I certainly support their pledge, as I supported our pledge, to bring in refugees from Syria, but very carefully, very prudently and with the appropriate security clearance before they arrive in Canada. I think it’s unrealistic to try and fulfill an election promise simply because it was an election promise.”

Moving too quickly could leave Canada vulnerable to health and security risks, Kent said.

“One of the big problems, and we’re seeing that Germany and other European countries are facing now in the flood of refugees who have migrated overland through Greece and into Europe, those refugee claimants who are found to be unworthy are very difficult to remove from the country,” he said, differentiating between refugees being referred by the United Nations and those who are not.

“While here in North America and Canada and the United States, we don’t face the sort of mass migration that Europe has proven vulnerable to, I think we do need to be responsible and prudent in making sure the folks we welcome to the country are the sort of folks who will continue to make Canadian diversity the wonderful thing it is.”

While Conservatives were painted as hard-hearted, ISIS poses a real threat, Kent said.

“I think we have seen, and it is still very early days in terms of the Paris attack, but I think that some of the predictions that were discounted out of hand, that ISIS would use the mass migration to Europe as a cover to put terrorist cells in position to attack Western countries who stand against ISIS have proven to be real,” he said.

York University professor Susan McGrath, who this week was presented with an award by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her innovative work in leading the Refugee Research Network and in 2014 was awarded the Order of Canada for her contributions to refugee rights research and policy, said the Paris attacks shouldn’t change Canada’s approach to bringing in Syrian refugees as quickly as possible.

“Absolutely nothing has changed, other than people being anxious,” she said, adding most Syrian refugees are women and children living in desperate conditions.

The Paris attackers were apparently from Belgium and if European-based terrorists are determined to come to Canada, they could get visitors’ visas much more easily than going through the scrutiny UN-sponsored refugees face, McGrath said.

“What we’re focusing on is trying to get these kids and families out,” she said.

“People are living in dire straits. There is not enough food. The (UN) World Food Programme has had to cut back its funding so it is not a good situation. Not only do we need to meet the first 25,000 commitment we made, but, in my view, we need to plan for the next 25,000 and the next 25,000 and keep going until the crisis is abated.”

Earlier this fall, Canadians showed a willingness to help alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees, Immigration Minister John McCallum, the MP for Markham-Thornhill, said.

That hasn’t changed in the wake of the Paris attacks, although the government is committed to properly screening refugees, he said.

“The government is committed to a rigorous, balanced and compassionate response to this humanitarian crisis,” McCallum said in an email.

“Effective security has always been paramount to the government’s planning around Syrian refugees. The resettling will be accomplished in co-operation with provinces, territories and cities and with the relevant security authorities. This operation will be done without compromising security. The prime minister has reiterated the government of Canada’s commitment to immediately resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees.”

Health Minister Jane Philpott, MP for Markham-Stouffville, is chairing a government committee to co-ordinate Canada’s plan to bring in Syrian refugees.

While the committee is still working out details, the government remains committed to bringing in Syrians in response to the refugee crisis, while, at the same time, ensuring the newcomers are properly screened, she told reporters this week.

“It’s an ongoing crisis, it’s an urgent and important crisis and we’re doing everything we can while obviously being very mindful of the health and security concerns,” she said.

“There have always been security concerns, so while Paris is a tragic situation, we have always known there are risks involved in this, but we have always said we will be responsible and (manage) the risks in a responsible way,” she said.

While Masterton understands the Paris terrorist attacks have understandably left many people frightened, she said they won’t deter Stouffville Cares.

“I spoke (in church) Sunday morning in favour of continuing the course, that we will not be moved by fear, that we will carry on and I trust the government of Canada will do the same and not kowtow to the pressure of a few extremists,” she said.

“Life is a risk, there is no doubt about it, but surely of all the risks we take in life, this has to be one worth taking.

We are a Christian church. We consider ourselves children of God and disciples of Jesus. Jesus, himself, was a refugee and treated the dregs of society with integrity and respect.”