FREDERICTON – The provincial government in New Brunswick released its plan for dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis Friday afternoon.
The province is expected to take in close to 1,000 refugees in the coming weeks as part of Canada’s commitment to resettle 25,000. The province will also likely be welcoming many more as community groups and individuals step-up to sponsor refugees privately.
Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Francine Landry revealed the details of how the province intends to respond at a news conference in Fredericton Friday.
She told reporters that the province believes the refugees will be good for the province, adding “it was the right thing to do,” as they were fleeing war in their home country.
According to the government’s plan, the response will include a three-step plan that will involve a committee coordinating seven provincial departments, including Health and Education and Early Childhood Development.
The departments will be tasked with organizing cultural training for front-line workers and identifying Arabic speaking translators and interpreters in a number of departments.
Initially, the province plans to welcome the refugees in a single location, with a reception centre and temporary housing set-up. In 1999, during the war in Kosovo, New Brunswick welcomed more than 1,000 refugees at 5th Division Support Base Gagetown in Oromocto, before resettling them in other communities in the province.
That plan may be used again, though it’s not yet clear if the Base will be the location.
The province will also be working closely with settlement agencies in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, as well as other areas in the province and allowing them to coordinate the effort.
More than 200 residents showed up to a meeting Thursday evening in Moncton, to learn more about how they could help with the refugee crisis.
Jean-Pierre Alexandra, executive director of the Multicultural Association of Greater Moncton Area, told the crowd the settlement agency will need volunteers.
“We would like to request, for example, volunteer settlement mentors who have a few hours a week to help tour the immigrants in the city,” he said.
He also mentioned they will have a particular need of volunteer councillors as they expect many of the newcomers may be suffering from trauma-related mental illness, due to the atrocities they have experienced.
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