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Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum says he’s been talking to premiers and big city mayors across the country about the refugee plan. One of the many cities preparing to accept new refugees is Hamilton.
The first point of contact for the city’s newest residents will be Wesley Urban Ministries. That agency has been charged with addressing immediate needs such as temporary housing. Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger says the city will be collaborating with the agency to identify space. “Hotels, vacant school, buildings that private sector providers might have some additional space that aren’t necessary identified as social housing. Can we put someone into that building in the vacant unit you have for two or three months?”
The mayor says refugees will be provided health care at existing facilities. Their language needs addressed by the YMCA. As for education, the mayor expects local schools will be able to accommodate new students almost immediately. “Kids need to go to school. I think they can assimilate pretty quickly. I see no reason why they can’t be put into the schooling system as it sits today.”
As for long term needs , Eisenberger says when it comes to social housing, the Syrian refugees will not be able to displace anyone on the current social housing wait list . “I think this is a great opportunity for the feds, province and municipalities to come together to deal with the social housing backlog across the country.”
In terms of numbers, the mayor rejects the idea the city will be asked to accommodate thousands of newcomers saying he believes it will be a more manageable number. “If I were guessing…and purely guessing I would say 2 to 300 would be max.”
