Trudeau set to tour Edmonton on Saturday
EDMONTO N Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to visit Edmonton on Saturday and plans to speak with police at their downtown headquarters after stopping at the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.
Trudeau is to start the day participating in a roundtable discussion with community leaders from the Mennonite Centre. He is to then meet with police officers before holding a media availability at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald after lunch.
The Mennonite Centre offers support to new immigrants and refugees through language classes, employment counselling and various services aimed at easing their transition into Canada.
Boosting immigration was key to Trudeau’s platform when he was elected in 2015 and the Canadian Council of Refugees said immigration levels have jumped to 300,000 new permanent residents in both 2016 and 2017 from approximately 250,000 new permanent residents in 2015.
The prime minister has plans to meet with senior staff from the organization, which has recently increased its support for refugee claimants seeking asylum because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
The centre’s executive director, Erick Ambtman, said the increase in these cases became apparent about two years ago, but gained momentum after the U.S. presidential election last November.
“There was a tenfold increase after Donald Trump took office,” he said.
In the past, the centre might have encountered one of these cases per month — now the centre sees 10 to 15. There were 56 of these clients from April until September.
Ambtman added Edmonton is developing a reputation as a safe place to settle.
“LGBTQ claimants are especially isolated and especially vulnerable,” said Sara Buczynski, who leads the Mennonite Centre’s settlement outreach.
The high cost of housing forces refugees to often find roommates or rely on homeless shelters in the short term, where they can be vulnerable to discrimination if their gender identity or sexual orientation is revealed. Funding for the centre’s LGBTQ settlement practitioner is funded by the Stollery Foundation, but Ambtman said he would like to see government step up and provide more supports.