Mississauga mayor leads charge to raise $5M for Syrian refugees

Bonnie Crombie brings together business, faith and community leaders to sponsor 32 families.

Thestar.com
Sept. 17, 2015
By San Grewal

As images of Syrian families perilously trying to find a future home continue to shock Canadians, the mayor of Mississauga has announced plans to raise money to resettle refugees in the GTA.

Bonnie Crombie met with 75 people - business, religious, community and political leaders - Wednesday, and has announced a plan to raise $5 million so 32 refugee families can come to Canada.

“I have had a number of community, faith, and business leaders reach out to me to discuss opportunities to do more to help Syrian refugees from a municipal perspective,” Crombie said in a statement Thursday.

Working with the group LifeLine Syria, which aims to settle at least 1,000 Syrian refugees in the GTA over the next two years, Crombie will help create a “Mississauga Fund.”

She said that at Wednesday’s meeting members of the city’s Muslim community issued an “Eid Challenge” for each mosque in the city - there are more than 40 - to raise $50,000 during Eid celebrations this month.

The city will use resources, such as its website and staff to help coordinate the effort and get information out to residents who want to help.

Meanwhile, local imams, Muslim business owners and many non-Muslim business leaders were among the group who pledged to raise $5 million.

Former Mississauga Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, a candidate in this year’s federal election, arrived in Canada from Syria in 1989. His mother and three sisters still live there. He was at Wednesday’s meeting hosted by Crombie.

“It was a moment of deep pride to see Mayor Crombie and my city reach out to the mosques, NGOs, business leaders and say: ‘How can we help, what can we do?’”

Alghabra, asked if his Syrian family and friends feel that Canada has let their people down in the aftermath of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi’s death while his Canadian aunt fought red tape to become a sponsor, said he didn’t want to politicize the issue.

“This isn’t about how Syrians or anyone else sees Canada; it is about us, it is about how Canadians see ourselves - who are we?”

Councillor Carolyn Parrish, a former Liberal MP, was also at Wednesday’s meeting. She is a five-time visitor to the Middle East and longtime advocate for people from the region trying to resettle here.

“In sharp contrast to the federal government’s embarrassingly inadequate response to the Syrian refugee crisis, Mississauga stepped up to the plate yesterday and pledged $5 million and sponsorship for 32 families. With less than a week’s notice, the mayor filled a room at 7 a.m. with a true representation of a modern Canadian city,” Parrish said.

“Business leaders and community groups enthusiastically pledged $5 million for sponsorships and immediate necessities for the hundreds of thousands languishing in camps. There wasn’t a single reference to security, religion - only an opening of wallets and hearts.”