BROOKS’ CONCERT ‘AIN’T GOING DOWN’ WITH REFUGEES
More than 200 Syrian refugees staying at various hotels in Hamilton, Ont., had to be shuttled to the Niagara region this week to accommodate the crush of visitors in the city for a series of concerts by country music legend Garth Brooks.
A spokeswoman for Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger acknowledged the temporary move to St. Catharines, about 50 kilometres to the east, might cause a bit of apprehension and nervousness among the refugees, but she said the city was assured the transition would cause minimal disruption.
“They endured a l ot. We’re hoping this transition is as smooth as possible,” Amanda Kinnaird said.
The decision to temporarily relocate the government-sponsored refugees to St. Catharines until April 2 was made by Wesley Urban Ministries, the lead agency in Hamilton assisting in the resettlement of Syrian refugees. Its executive director said Wednesday all 228 impacted refugees would continue to receive the same level of support and access to services they had been getting in Hamilton, including orientation workshops on Canadian money, banking and schools.
“As long as they’re getting the support and services they need … it’s really a non-issue for them,” Daljit Garry said.
“We were transparent with them. The reality is the (hotel) rooms were booked in advance. … We don’t have a big hotel stock here.”
Hamilton officials say they are expecting 80,000 out-of-town visitors for the series of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood shows running Thursday through Sunday at the FirstOntario Centre.
It has been 20 years since Brooks, a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, performed in the city. His visit is part of a comeback world tour that started in September 2014.
Within 45 minutes of tickets being made available for the Hamilton shows, a record 54,000 tickets were sold, Kinnaird said.
“It’s huge. A lot of tourism in the city,” she said.
Susan Monarch, manager of Hamilton’s tourism division, confirmed the majority of downtown hotel rooms have been booked for the remainder of the week.
Reached in Los Angeles, a publicist for Brooks said she was unaware that refugees had been squeezed out of their hotel accommodations.
“This really has nothing to do with Garth Brooks. We have no arrangements with hotels other than to house our band and crew,” Nancy Seltzer said. “Hamilton has been a great city for Garth and we are looking forward to playing there.”
Federal immigration officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ottawa has been covering the costs for transportation, hotel accommodations and food for the Syrian refugees.
While in St. Catharines, the refugees are staying in about 65 rooms at a Days Inn hotel. Garry said staff from Wesley Urban Ministries who have been working with the refugees travelled to St. Catharines to minimize any interruptions in service.
Many of the families have leases signed for permanent accommodations and are just waiting for their movein dates, she said.
Jeff Burch, executive director of the Folk Arts Multicultural Centre in St. Catharines, the main provider of resettlement services in the region, said Wednesday the Niagara region has anticipated playing a supporting role to Hamilton to deal with the influx of refugees.
“We always planned to be pressure valve for Hamilton if they got really busy,” he said.
To date, Hamilton has received about 1,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees.
Burch said he and his team have health-care and childcare providers ready to assist the refugees. Residents and businesses are also hosting a large dinner for them.
“I think it’ll make them feel a little more welcome and give them a bit of a break.”
Who knows, he said. Maybe the refugees will take a liking to the Niagara region and want to resettle there.
“This could open up other options for them as they learn about another region,” he said.
There are more than 200 privately sponsored Syrian refugees already in the Niagara region.
To date, more than 26,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada.