Canada urged to be leader in Syrian refugee crisis
Canada and the European Union have a moral obligation to provide leadership on the refugee crisis in Syria, said some expert panelists assembled to discuss refugee issues at the University of Alberta on Wednesday night.
“I think countries around the world look to Canada for indication of what they’re going to do. I think the worst possible thing we could do is not carry out that moral obligation, because others could look to it as an excuse to say, ‘Canada’s not doing it,’” said Andre Corbould, Alberta’s deputy minister of jobs, skills, training and labour.
The possibility of terror attacks is a flawed reason to close Canada’s door to refugees, said Erick Ambtman, executive director of the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.
He said the government’s move to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to the country by the end of February is “recapturing that sense of what it is to be a Canadian on an international front.”
No European country comes close to Canada’s “culture of welcome” for newcomers, said Carleton University visiting professor and international migration expert Agnieszka Weinar.
It’s in Canada’s best economic interests to accept refugees, University of Alberta political studies Prof. Reza Hasmath added.
Giving a safe haven to people displaced by war may also help prevent terrorism, he said. Radicalization will increase if their displacement drags on for years.
As a bonus, the global optics are good, said Jennifer Fowler, Edmonton’s director of multicultural relations.
“For the government that came in now, it was about reinventing the Canadian brand from a strategic perspective, which I completely agree with,” Fowler said.
Organized by the University of Alberta’s Kule Institute for Advanced Study, the forum saw panelists hash out issues like whether Canada’s plan to accept and integrate refugees is a model for other nations, how to ensure refugees can live successfully in Canada in the long run, and how to sustain Canadians’ interest in refugee issues. The institute collected questions on its website and from the audience.
Alberta has welcomed approximately 1,200 Syrian refugees since civil war broke out in the Middle Eastern country, Corbould said. Around 175 of those newcomers are children now enrolled in Alberta schools, he said.
Panelists also rebuffed the idea of a tension between a moral obligation to accept refugees and a sluggish economy dragged down by sinking oil prices. Settlement programs aren’t directly competing with other government programs for dollars from Alberta’s sparse coffers, Corbould said.
Existing residents may fear newcomers could take Canadians’ jobs, Hasmath said. Labour market statistics instead suggest newcomers are competing with existing migrants for work.
Building relationships with people already in a community is pivotal to newcomers’ long-term economic success, Hasmath said.
“A lot of it has to do with trust.”
I think countries around the world look to Canada for indication of what they’re going to do.