Nav Centre asked to house asylum seekers

Nick Seebruch
Nav Centre asked to house asylum seekers
Nav Centre prepares for asylum seekers in August 2017. (Nick Wolochatiuk)

CORNWALL, Ontario – Kim Coe-Turner, General Manager of the Nav Centre in Cornwall confirmed to Cornwall Seaway News on Thursday that they have been asked by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to be prepared to house asylum seekers this summer.

Coe-Turner also confirmed that she had met with Cornwall Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy on Wednesday, June 27 to notify him of this development.

The Nav Centre had been used to house asylum seekers for about two weeks in August 2017.

“The Centre has been in discussion for a few months now,” said Coe-Turner. “We are known as an emergency centre for things such as floods. At this point there is nothing signed.”

Coe-Turner said that the IRCC should be sending out a press release explaining its plans in the coming weeks. She explained that the Nav Centre had available space in the summer and could house up to 500 asylum seekers. There were 240 asylum seekers housed there last year.

“The Nav Centre is pleased to do its part in this initiative,” Coe-Turner said.

As stated, the Nav Centre was used to house asylum seekers on short notice last summer. At the time, temporary tents were setup to house some of the incoming guests, but Coe-Turner said that this time it is only expecting to house asylum seekers indoors.

There is no exact date as to when the asylum seekers would begin arriving in Cornwall, if at all.

It is unknown at this time which country of origin most of these asylum seekers will be from.

The office of Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy and the IRCC were both reached out to for comment, but none has been received at time of publication.

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