Saskatchewan premier meets with Ukrainian refugees
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe ended a weeklong trade mission in Europe by meeting with Ukrainians who have been displaced since their country was invaded by Russia.
Moe said he met with them on Thursday for several hours in Kassel, Germany, in a repurposed office building being used as a shelter.
Moe said his Saskatchewan Party government will release a plan in the next few days to help displaced Ukrainians come to Canada. It includes offering immigration workers to help the federal government process visas to expedite travel out of Europe.
“Is there a way to support some of those communities that are already doing so much? And is there a way to ... signal to the Ukrainian people that they have support not only in the area, but across the ocean in Canada?” he said over the phone from Germany.
Moe said the Ukrainians he met, who were mainly women and children, didn’t ask for anything specific from Saskatchewan or Canada, but the visit highlighted the urgency to help them.
“I heard this a lot today: ‘My body is here, but my heart is with Ukraine,”’ Moe said. “Whether they are here for two weeks, two months, a few years or the rest of their lives, Saskatchewan will do whatever we can to support Ukrainian families that come to our province.”
Saskatchewan has one of Canada’s largest Ukrainian populations. The province is putting no limit on the number of people it will take from Ukraine.
The province has donated $100,000 toward Ukrainian aid and has set aside $335,000 in settlement support for those displaced.
Moe and his delegation arrived in London on March 26 and spent the week promoting potash, uranium and agri-food products to government and industry officials in both the United Kingdom and Germany.