THUNDER BAY – As the city plans for the potential arrival of refugees, residents are stepping up to welcome them with open arms.
Thunder Bay Multicultural Association executive director Cathy Woodbeck said the organization has been inundated with people offering assistance in any way possible after city council on Monday night unanimously voted to bring in 20 families, around 100 individuals, of Syrian refugees, despite some negative reaction swirling through social media.
“The number of people we need answering the phones for the calls we’ve had, it’s amazing,” Woodbeck said after a Friday afternoon media conference at city hall.
“It’s just overwhelming and people are so concerned. They read, see and hear anything negative but they want to know how they can help and just to let us know they’re behind the effort and really want to see families arrive and want to help once they get here.”
The municipal emergency control group, which includes Mayor Keith Hobbs, acting city manager Norm Gale and community emergency management coordinator Dennis Brescacin, met earlier Friday to begin the process of planning for the arrival of Syrian refugees.
Hobbs was contacted by federal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum last weekend to ask about the city’s capability to welcome refugees.
He took issue with any social media commentary painting the expected refugees as terrorists.
“The refugees the Canadian government is looking at have been in refugee encampments, some of them up to four years, some for 18 months, have been thoroughly vetted by the United Nations, the RCMP and border services,” he said in remarks during the conference.
“I want to allay those concerns right off the bat and I think it’s absolutely ridiculous those kinds of things are circulating amongst the community.”
In the past the city has welcomed refugees from war-stricken regions such as Burma, Kosovo and Vietnam.
Woodbeck said the organizations is using what they learned with the arrival of those refugees to prepare for the Syrian refugees.
“Many of (the volunteers signing up) are newcomer families that have been through this,” she said.
“They’ve been immigrants, they’ve been refugees to Canada. They’ve gone through the process and gone down that path and want to help. They’re very valuable volunteers to us because they know what the needs are and what will happen to children in schools.”
The multicultural association has been compiling a list of available housing and volunteers who speak other languages that could aid the transition for the refugees.
Woodbeck said a number of people have expressed a desire to host fundraisers or drives to collect needed items or assist in other ways.
“We know what the first needs are. We know what we’re going to need to have ready before they arrive, we know about interpreting and transportation,” she said. “We have families where the children are involved and say they’ll be mentors in school, be a helper in bringing children to school and let them know where everything is.”
