Canadians earn praise for coming to aid of Syrian refugees
Syrian refugee families were welcomed with open arms, and an introduction to hockey, Saturday afternoon at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls.
“What you guys are doing here in the Niagara Peninsula is amazing — it’s a real community effort here with the mayor and the bishop involved and you should be lauded,” said Ed Wechli, a businessman from Pittsburgh who is involved with helping Syrian refugee families that have filed for asylum in the United States.
Wechli, who owns a coffee company, received a call about two years ago to see if he could help a Syrian family get to safety. He assisted that family getting settled and the following year he was asked if he could help other family members.
“There was no way, but I was able to find a path into Canada where we could try and get them some support. I contacted the diocese in St. Catharines and said we can get the money if the churches can sponsor the families and from that it just mushroomed,” said Wechli, who was in attendance on Saturday to meet some of the families that have been sponsored.
“We don’t have this same avenue in the United States,” he said.
“We are bringing in refugees, but the number is very small compared to what Canada is doing. It’s a horrible situation in Syria, people are being shot and beheaded and it’s the worst situation since the Second World War,” said Wechli, who encourages residents to get involved and help in any way possible.
Activities at the Gale Centre began with the puck being dropped for a fun hockey game with teams comprised of clergy and parishioners from the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Catharines.
Following the game, a reception was hosted by the Catholic Women’s League, when residents had an opportunity to meet the refugee families.
Bishop Gerard Bergie, of the Diocese of St. Catharines, later presided at the regularly scheduled mass at Our Lady of the Scapular Church on Thorold Stone Road. That was followed by a barbecue on the church grounds that was hosted by members of the Holy Name Society.
The bishop said the diocese is working hard to try and sponsor more families, but it takes a lot of patience because the process involves a great deal of delay, so it’s important to keep the momentum going.
“We have about four families and we are expecting about 12 more. We have about 20 parishes involved in helping refugees. Some are sponsoring on their own and others are joining together because they are small and there is a cost involved,” said Bergie.
“I would say close to half of our parishes are involved somehow. It’s certainly a big cultural change for many of them and the weather is also a big thing because most of them arrived in the warmer weather and they will have to learn to deal with a Canadian winter. It’s been a time of adjustment for everybody.”
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said we were all immigrants at one time or another and someone had to welcome us.
“These are families and the parents are just looking for something that is best for their kids. They want them to have a safe and enriched opportunity to start over again,” he said.
“Today it’s all about coming out to support people who come from a terrible war zone area. They will enrich Canada and make it even a better place.”
The mayor said Saturday’s event was all about helping to raise money and awareness so that these families can get settled and become contributing members of our community.
“When you meet some of the people they are so grateful and feel like they have won the lottery of life because they can take their kids and put them in a safe, wonderful country,” said Diodati.
“When they shake your hand they thank you from the bottom of their hearts for having this opportunity for their family.” tricciuto@postmedia.com