CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall has not yet been announced as a destination for some of the thousands of Syrian refugees the Liberal government says will be in the country by the end of the year.
Some 25,000 refugees from the war-torn country are expected to arrive in Canada by the end of February, with 10,000 arriving in this country by the end of December, but it still remains unclear whether Cornwall will house any of those refugees, presumably at the Nav Centre.
A press conference in Ottawa Tuesday afternoon provided broad details of the Canadian refugee resettlement plan, but specific mention of individual communities was not mentioned. The press conference included Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Nav Centre officials have not commented on the issue to date, though informally there have been missives about a potential for housing some refugees at that facility. Staff at the Nav Centre have suggested, as an example, an increased number of cooks in the facility’s massive kitchen could be hired on short-term contracts to help should refugees be resettled in Cornwall.
City officials said Monday night at a council meeting that the city has not been officially approached in any way concerning refugee resettlement.
