Clark commits $1M to settle refugees in B.C.
Premier Christy Clark fought back tears Tuesday as she pledged $1 million to help community groups settle Syrian refugees in B.C.
Clark said Liberal government officials will consult with frontline agencies and individuals in the coming days to determine how best to distribute the onetime “readiness fund.”
“We’re going to start working with immigrant-settlement groups, community groups to see exactly how we’ll deploy that money — where the gaps are,” she said. “That’ll give us a better understanding of what more we might need to do.”
The province also announced a toll-free number at 1-877-952-6914 where community groups and private sponsors can get help navigating the bureaucracy around refugee sponsorship.
“Lots of people have said that’s really hard to do,” Clark said. “We’ll help you find your way through that process, so that it’s as easy as possible for community groups, churches, individuals to put together the plan to be able to sponsor refugees into our province from Syria.”
Clark choked up as she talked about the death of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, who drowned with his mother and five-year-old brother, Ghalib, while trying to get from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos.
The boys’ aunt, Tima Kurdi, who lives in B.C., has said the family boarded an overloaded boat for Europe after losing hope of immigrating to Canada.
A photograph last week of Alan’s body on a beach in Turkey has focused international attention on the refugee crisis.
“I think every parent or uncle or aunt or brother or sister who saw that picture of Alan Kurdi on the beach would have been struck by how little he was — a tiny little figure on the beach,” Clark said, pausing to compose herself.
“And I think we all want to make sure that we do everything we can as Canadians to make sure that children and families like Alan Kurdi’s find a way to Canada so that they don’t have to face that kind of distress, that kind of loss.”
The government said its readiness fund will complement existing federal and provincial programs, and will be used to: • provide trauma counselling • assist “groups of five” refugee sponsors • support local governments settling Syrian refugees • help professional associations in B.C. to review and approve refugees’ credentials so they can begin working • help employers hire, train and mentor Syrian refugees
“British Columbians have told us that they want to help, and as a government, we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to respond to the generosity of British Columbians,” Clark said.
NDP Leader John Horgan called the $1-million fund a welcome first step, but said there’s more the province could do, including boosting support for English-language training for new immigrants.
“We’ve been seeing reductions over the past number of years on English-as-a-second-language training,” he said. “So I think if we’re going to be serious about settlement resources, we need to focus on that as well.”
Rev. Bruce Bryant-Scott, refugee co-ordinator with the Anglican Diocese of B.C., said the fund demonstrates leadership by Clark and the government.
“This really isn’t in their jurisdiction, but I’m really pleased to see them coming forward on this.”
He expressed hope that the province will increase the size of the fund once it sees how many people are coming forward to sponsor refugees.
“My phone is ringing off the hook and I’m getting lots and lots of emails from individuals who are saying, ‘I want to help,’ ” he said.
In Victoria, St. Matthias Anglican Church will host a Syrian refugee sponsorship information session tonight at 8.
David Lau, executive director of the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society, encouraged the government to consider helping communities outside the Lower Mainland that are striving to help refugees.
“Areas like southern Vancouver Island certainly have no shortage of kindness and generosity as well as quite a few jobs that are not being filled by existing residents,” he said. “Many of these jobs will be lifelines for refugees who are trying to get back some semblance of normalcy to the lives of their families.”