Alberta is willing to accept more refugees if the federal government decides to lift a cap on how many can come to Canada, says Premier Rachel Notley.
She said the premiers had a conference call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last weekend about the United States and the issue of refugees came up.
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The premier said she believes Ottawa is considering such a move.
“Certainly we indicated to them at the time that we would be very happy to work with them to increase that number if that is the direction they choose to go,” Notley said Wednesday.
“We also had conversations about ensuring that there are adequate levels of support from the federal government to the provinces who receive these refugees.
“But as I’ve said before, our province is one of inclusivity, that respects diversity. The diversity of Alberta is growing year after year and I believe that that is a direct explanation for the level of success that we experience in this province, which often exceeds that of other parts of the country.”
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Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Tuesday he believes the federal government needs to look at what it can do to help in the short-term.
“There are people in desperate need who are fleeing violence and terror, whose very lives are on the line and I think that we’ve shown in our community and in our country that we can look after these folks,” Nenshi said.
“So I’d like to see the federal government ease restrictions especially on privately sponsored refugees sooner rather than later so that we can deal with the short-term issue. And in the long term, let’s think about how to place Canada in the world, in terms of refugees certainly, but also in terms of immigration and in terms of trade. Saying that we are open to minds and ideas and people and investment here, this could really be a turning point for our nation in terms of how we think about ourselves and we should capitalize on that.”
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The federal New Democrats have been pushing the Liberals to do more to fill the gaps left by U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary immigration order on people from seven Muslim-majority countries and his indefinite ban on Syrian refugees.
Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said Tuesday the government plans to stick to its current plans and ensure that it develops policy after careful consideration of all the implications.
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The Alberta government said the province welcomed 7,004 refugees between November 2015 and December 2016.
Of those, 4,921 were from Syria, including about 3,000 government-assisted refugees.
The Syrians settled mainly in Calgary and Edmonton, with a few hundred in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat and rural areas.
With files from Global News.
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