First plane with Syrian refugees to reach Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government plans to resettle 25,000 Syrians throughout the country by February.

“We have great hopes for the success of this group of people that are arriving and their families as they build their new home here in Canada”, said Arif Virani, the parliamentary secretary for immigration.

Well before the election, the Liberals had called for Canada to increase its commitment to Syrian resettlement, suggesting back in March that 25,000 was their number.

Canada is taking refugees from Lebanon and Jordan where around 500 embassy officials have been processing potential immigrants, some of whom have been living in camps there for years.

While this is the first Canadian-sponsored plane to carry refugees, most of the group are privately-sponsored, but small groups arrived in November, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

“They will enter this terminal as refugees and leave as permanent residents of Canada”, the daily quotes Heidi Jurisic, of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as saying.

The Supreme Court has said we can murder our sick, disabled and elderly by euthanasia.

Officials say the refugees on the first plane loads will be mostly or entirely privately sponsored.

– Canada closes its embassy in Damascus, a move that would come to have major repercussions for refugee resettlement out of the Middle East as that visa post handled the majority of the files for refugees from other countries who had sought temporary safety in Syria.

Mr Trudeau, who swept the 19 October Canadian elections, has a different stance on refugees than his predecessor, the conservative Stephen Harper, who did not wish to resettle more people.

All refugees will also be checked for signs of illness when they arrive in Canada, per the Quarantine Act, and treatment will be available if anyone is ill upon arrival.

The most progress is being made out of the government’s operations in Jordan, where hundreds of people a day are now being screened by security and health officers.

But critics of that position point to the fact Canada has a proud tradition of accepting the world’s asylum-seekers.

Trudeau initially wanted to resettle 25,000 refugees in Canada by December 31 but there were concerns about logistics and he faced some pushback following the Paris attacks.

Nov 26: The federal government announces a $100-million contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help fleeing Syrians.