SYR Refugees to Canada (split fm SYR refugees thread)

[The Bread Guy]

Niiiiiiice ...

More than a dozen Syrian refugees were pepper sprayed late Friday night in an incident that police are treating as a hate crime.

The attack happened outside the Muslim Association of Canada Centre during a “welcome night” event for newly-arrived Syrian refugees.

City police said a crowd of men, women and children had gathered outside the MAC centre when a man wearing a white hoodie apparently rode by on a bicycle and sprayed 15 to 30 people, including some young children.

Police said that a number of people were treated on scene, but there was no word of any serious injuries ...

This from Vancouver PD ...

The VPD’s Major Crime Section is continuing to investigate last night’s pepper-spraying outside of the Muslim Association of Canada Centre.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., a large crowd of refugees were gathered outside of the Muslim Association of Canada Centre located at 2122 Kingsway Avenue when an unknown man on a bicycle rode up and pepper-sprayed a group of men, women and children.

A number of people were treated for exposure to the pepper-spray by paramedics and the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service.

Police are searching for the man on the bicycle, who is believed to have been wearing a white hooded sweatshirt.

A number of sections within the Vancouver Police Department are assisting with the investigation. Although the motive for the pepper-spraying is unknown at this time, investigators are treating it as a hate motivated crime, until determined otherwise.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

... and this from the immigration minister:

“I was appalled when I heard of last night’s incident outside the Muslim Association of Canada Centre in Vancouver, in which an unknown assailant pepper sprayed a group of Syrian refugees. Paramedics treated more than two dozen men, women and children for exposure to the noxious substance.

“That the group was there to attend an event welcoming them to Canada only makes this attack even more infuriating and reprehensible.

“Canadians know that this incident is an affront to our values as a nation, and is at odds with the overwhelmingly positive welcome that Syrian refugees have received in communities across our country.

“I am sure that welcoming community spirit will endure, and will grow even stronger in the wake of this disturbing crime. I would also like to assure recently arrived Syrian refugees that those who gathered last night to support and welcome them embody the Canadian spirit. This attack in no way represents their new home.

“As Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, I wish all of the victims of last night’s attack a quick recovery, and I look forward to our police and legal system bringing the perpetrator to justice.”

 

[jollyjacktar]

That is no cool.  I hope they find who did it and make them account for their actions.  The victims weren't asking for trouble, would be a different story if it was the bunch from Cologne.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Meanwhile, standby (at least some) CFBs - highlights mine...

Refugee agencies and the Red Cross are racing to line up housing for thousands of Syrians in the coming weeks as the focus of the Liberal government's program shifts from refugees with private sponsors to those assisted by the government alone.

Three military bases in Ontario and Quebec should be ready by the end of next week to provide essential services for government-assisted refugees, said Hossam Elsharkawi, associate vice president, international operations for the Canadian Red Cross.

"We are not able at this stage to quite understand how many weeks they will stay at these centres, but at least these centres will have the capacity of three to four thousand refugees," he said.

( ... )

Since the start of the program, military bases were eyed for housing needs, but neither the Defence Department nor the Immigration Department would elaborate Friday on the plan to use them.

CFB Kingston and CFB Valcartier have always been at the top of the list, followed by Meaford, Petawawa, Trenton and Borden.

"Due to the many factors influencing if and when a refugee will have to go to an (interim lodging site), it is premature to speculate on the scale of possible operations," Faith St. John, a spokesperson for the Immigration Department wrote in an e-mail ...

Re:  the bit in yellow, here's the list of all the "possibles" from the Op PROVISION backgrounder:

If requested, the CAF is prepared to provide interim lodging for refugees at the following bases/wings in Ontario and Quebec:

- Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Kingston;
- CFB Borden;
- 8 Wing Trenton;
- 4th Canadian Division Training Centre in Meaford, Ontario; and
- Garrison Petawawa; and
- 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Wanted:  someone to cater meals (more in attached) and do laundry/dry cleaning for refugees @ CFB Borden - just seeking information for now.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Some of the latest ...

Plans to temporarily house Syrian refugees at Canadian Forces Base Borden and the base in Meaford have been cancelled.

According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), officials have determined that only two of Canada's military bases will be asked to house some of the 25,000 Syrian refugees expected to land on Canadian soil by the end of March.

“We are going back to regular operations,” said Capt. Rob Bungay, media spokesman at CFB Borden west of Barrie, who said they received the news on Monday of this week.

The IRCC has stated only two interim lodging sites, including CFBs Kingston and Valcartier, will maintain a state of “high-readiness” in the event extra lodgings are required for the refugees.

Together, the two eastern Ontario and Quebec bases offer approximately 3,000 beds, which the ministry feels would provide sufficient capacity if needed at all.

Two weeks ago, the Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance directed the Canadian Armed Forces to be prepared to provide interim lodging for up to 13,000 refugees should the need arise.

Bungay said there are 220 winterized accommodations at Borden's Blackdown Cadet Training Centre that could be used to house 1,500 Syrian refugees if it was requested of them.

Bungay said each family unit is configured with bunk beds, tables, chairs, coat rack and lockers.

Family units were recently upgraded with mats, insulated flooring and heating units, and Bungay added that medical clinics and dining halls are already heated and insulated.

However, all current preparations at CFBs Borden, Meaford, Petawawa and Trenton have ceased ...

 

[The Bread Guy]

And here's the risk you run writing stories about past briefing notes* in the present tense ...

The government of Canada has ordered its military to draw up plans for migrant camps that will allow more than 6,000 Muslims to be housed on a long-term basis at several Canadian Forces Bases.

Planning documents for migrant camps requested by the centre-left Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (pictured) were released in response to an ‘Access to Information’ request from the political website, The Rebel.

The request asked for information regarding religious expenditure by the Department of National Defence (DND). Planning documents in English and French — published at The Rebel website — show the planned use of taxpayer funding goes way beyond the provision of shelter in migrant camps at military bases.

Hundreds of thousands of Canadian dollars have reportedly been set aside for “religious support” to fund the purchase of Qurans, prayer mats and foot-washing towels, as well as the construction of mosques or “worship centres”, with CAN$216,ooo for Quebec bases alone.

In total seven Canadian Forces Bases across the provinces of Quebec (2 bases) and Ontario (5) will be affected, with the budget for Quebec alone totaling more than CAD$46 million for the first six months. Eviction warnings were first sent to Canadian soldiers in their barracks in November last year ...

On that bit in yellow, uh, no they won't all be at this point ...

• "CFB Trenton no longer on standby for refugees"
• “Syrian refugees won’t be coming to CFB Borden, Meaford”

Still, let's not delay the outrage bus any longer than we have to ...

... It’s shocking that Canadian Armed Forces personnel will be ordered to abandon the coalition battle against ISIS and return to Canada to become waiters, chauffeurs and social workers for Muslim migrants, and that Canadian Forces Bases will be turned into squalid refugee camps ...

:facepalm:

* - Although I WILL give credit to the outlet for sharing at least some of the material they obtained and wrote about to allow readers to reach their own conclusions - most media don't share their "obtained" documentation obtained via ATIP.

 

[PuckChaser]

Jokes on him, most PMQ housing and single quarters already resemble squalid refugee camps.

 

[Jarnhamar]

I couldn't find a better place for this.

Good news is our new friends seem to be learning how to work the system, just like good Canadians.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/syrian-refugees-bedbugs-follow-feb10-1.3442623

mmigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia says staff thoroughly inspected an apartment to ensure it was bedbug-free before moving in a family of six Syrian refugees on Feb. 1.
Director of operations Gerry Mills said families are moved into safe and appropriate housing, and ISANS staff keep the health and well-being of refugees in mind.

"Our staff know what bedbugs look like and since Friday we've had staff there every day in different apartments, honestly trying to look for bedbugs. We have found not one bedbug," she said.

Gerry Mills, director of operations at ISANS, says the Zeinas's apartment was swept for bedbugs. (Elizabeth Chiu/CBC)

On Tuesday, Ziad Zeina told CBC News through an interpreter that he wanted to get his family out of their two-bedroom apartment on Gerrish Street because the bedbug problem "is non-stop and it's not going to change and there's no solution at this moment."

 

[kratz]

I read the same news report, but wasn't certain if there was a good place for discussion on it here.

 

[George Wallace]

I couldn't find a better place for this.

Good news is our new friends seem to be learning how to work the system, just like good Canadians.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/syrian-refugees-bedbugs-follow-feb10-1.3442623

This story has been making the rounds.

This Iman in Edmonton is a good candidate for DEPORTATION, but we know that Trudeau is highly unlikely to carry out any such action:

http://www.therebel.media/syrian_refugees_in_alberta_welcomed_with_prayer_destroy_enemies_of_islam

 

[Jarnhamar]

I read the same news report, but wasn't certain if there was a good place for discussion on it here.

I think there's a penchant to blow any story involving refugees, especially Muslims, out of proportion.  Social Media is full of stories and comments about giving help and what not to refugees when homeless (and homeless vets) are suffering. Most of those people didn't seem to give a shit about the homeless until it was a convenient argument against refugees, right?

So someone is trying to rip off the system, how is that news?  As I said in my post they're a new family here and they've already realized they can try and buck the system with a false claim. I'm going to guess they, and others in the same boat, realize being a refugee will give them a bit of political clout when it comes to the media or politicians.
When we army types live away from home we're lucky to have heat or a roof that doesn't leak.  If you go to Connaught in Ottawa on a tasking you're instructed to bring your own bed sheets. These people are given free lodging in the form of their own apartment but it's not good enough. Stuff like this effects public support and compassion IMO.
Lastly there seems to be a number of cases where stories of refugees in the news get hidden or pushed to the side. In some places (Sweden, Germany) the government is outright trying to coverup and hide refugee-related problems. It'll be interesting to see if Canada follows the same path.

 

[CougarKing]

It seems Trudeau's pledge to take in more Syrian refugees overlooked those who came into Canada via the US:

CBC

Syrian boy seeking refugee status ordered deported to United States
[CBC]

February 15, 2016
A 16-year-old Syrian boy who arrived at the Canadian border at Fort Erie, Ont., claiming refugee status last month was taken into custody and placed in isolation for three weeks in a Toronto detention centre.

Last week, officials with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) ordered the boy deported, because by law, Canada no longer accepts refugees who come through the United States.

But his lawyers say the boy is an unaccompanied minor and should be allowed into Canada to claim refugee status.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[The Bread Guy]

It seems Trudeau's pledge to take in more Syrian refugees overlooked those who came into Canada via the US:

CBC

I'm sympathetic about the plight of folks who've been f**ked over in Syria, but this causes me pause:

... Mohammed's family fled Syria for Egypt after the war began. But when Mohammed turned 16, his residency permit in Egypt expired. He faced being sent back to Syria and being conscripted into the military.

Fearing that, his parents flew with him to the United States and then arranged to get him to the Canadian border. They believed Canada's openness to accept Syrian refugees meant he would be safe here while they flew back to Egypt ...

Were they in a refugee camp?  Someplace else?  As usual with media stories, we're not hearing the WHOLE story. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

If I'm reading the French correctly, it looks like the CF bases won't be needed after all ...

À quelques jours de la date butoir que s'était fixée le gouvernement Trudeau pour l'accueil des 25 000 réfugiés syriens, tout porte à croire que les bases militaires rénovées pour leur arrivée ne seront pas utilisées.

À la sortie du caucus libéral mercredi, le ministre de l'Immigration, des Réfugiés et de la Citoyenneté, John McCallum, a indiqué que nous étions au «point où l'on n'aura pas besoin des bases militaires».

En séance de breffage technique un peu plus tôt, des hauts fonctionnaires n'avaient toutefois pas fermé complètement la porte à ce que les bases de Valcartier, près de Québec, et Trenton, en Ontario, soient éventuellement réquisitionnées. Ils excluaient toutefois qu'elles puissent être utilisées cette semaine ...

 

[The Bread Guy]

Some giving back ...

When Rita Khanchet saw images of a vicious wildfire destroying homes and uprooting tens of thousands of people in Fort McMurray, she immediately thought of Syria, the homeland she fled just five months ago with her husband and young son.

Khanchet and her family know first-hand how scary it is to leave a community, home and possessions behind, and she was determined to help the people of Fort McMurray.

“It’s not easy to lose everything. We can understand them more than anyone in Canada. We were in the same situation,” said Khanchet, who lives in Calgary.

“Me and my family wanted to do something for these people. Canadian society helped us when we came to Canada.”

Syrian refugees across Calgary are now giving what little they have to northern Albertans, after Khanchet posted an appeal in Arabic on a private Facebook group the newcomers created and frequent.

“(Canadians) gave us everything. And now it’s time to return the favour,” she wrote.

A fellow Syrian refugee translated and shared Khanchet’s post with a wider community on the Syrian Refugee Support Group page, and within hours offers of help came in from new Canadians determined to give back to their new home.

“All the Syrians are saying, ‘I’m ready to give, I’m ready to give,’ ” said Saima Jamal, a co-founder of the Syrian Refugee Support Group.

“It’s amazing. You have to understand how little these guys have . . . But they understand the idea of an entire city losing their home. That’s something they can easily relate to. They went through that.” ...

Something about having walked a mile in similar shoes ...

 

[CougarKing]

"Photo op" or "Selfie op" ?  :blotto:

Yahoo Daily Brew

Language training for refugees no laughing matter, Rempel says
[Daily Brew]

June 7, 2016


BY: Trevor Koroll

A response from Immigration Minister John McCallum may have been hysterical to his colleagues in the House of Commons, but one Tory MP wasn’t laughing.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel questioned McCallum again on Tuesday about funding cuts to language training for refugees.

“Yesterday, when the minister stood here and glibly claimed that he had a plan to address language training, was he looking at these cuts, or was he planning his next photo op?” asked Rempel.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[jollyjacktar]

Too bad the slavers couldn't be summarily slaughtered... 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Interesting point - shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...

Local refugees (in Newfoundland) from South Sudan are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to offer the same concern and support for displaced Sudanese people as the country has for Syria.

Overshadowed by war in Syria, the civil war in South Sudan has displaced over a million people, and resulted in an estimated 300,000 civilian casualties since 2013.

While a peace treaty was signed last August, war has broken out again, prompting the UN to consider intervening. Sudanese-Newfoundlander Benjamin James came to St. John's as a refugee in 2010. He says the sooner the better.

He says as a child he saw things that no child should see, and now he hopes Prime Minister and the people of Canada can speak out and do something to help the people of South Sudan.

 

[AbdullahD]

So I didn't feel this little tid bit needed its own thread but a neat little aside... about the character and motivation of the refugees in kamloops.

One Syrian brother (and his family) got work shortly after coming to canada, one of them within 24hrs of getting posted to kamloops. I let one of them know (since we are on good terms) that I am submitting my applicaton for the Canadian forces in the first week of september and he got very excited, he told me that once he was a Canadian citizen his intention is to sign up

So I told him I "believe" people with Permanent residence status were good too and I would doubke check and the guy darn near wanted to sign up then and there

Now dont get me wrong when thousands of people come, a few bad ones may get in too. But this family at least are not trying to be bumbs on the log.

Had to get it out, a lot of the Syrians feel a lot of love for Canada because of what we have done and want to pay Canada back.

Abdullah

 

[mariomike]

Aug 25, 2016

Ontario puts another $1.55M to refugee settlement, support
http://www.680news.com/2016/08/25/ontario-puts-another-1-55m-to-refugee-settlement-support/
Ontario is putting another $1.55 million toward refugee supports, including settlement services, mental health care and programming for students.