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Refugees could be calling Flin Flon home by year’s end

Flin Flon will likely be welcoming newcomers to Canada in 2016, owing to the work of the Northern Refugee Sponsorship Committee in collaboration with the Cornerstone Community Church.

Flin Flon will likely be welcoming newcomers to Canada in 2016, owing to the work of the Northern Refugee Sponsorship Committee in collaboration with the Cornerstone Community Church.

The committee has been meeting since September, unified by a desire to act locally in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. 

After researching possible routes for sponsoring refugees, the committee connected with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba. 

MCC Manitoba has federal status as a sponsorship agreement holder, and can act as the ultimate sponsorship holder for smaller organizations that want to sponsor refugees.

Since the fall, MCC Manitoba has been advising the Flin Flon committee on the process of bringing a refugee family to Canada.

Support needed

A major requirement for this process is community support, both through volunteerism and funding. 

In a November interview with The Reminder, committee chairwoman Laura Sparling said the cost of settling a family of six is about $32,500. 

The federal government pays one–third of the fee, leaving the Northern Refugee Sponsorship Committee with about $21,700 to raise to cover the costs of a family of six. In-kind donations count towards this fee, Sparling said. 

The committee hosted a town hall meeting on Nov. 26 to gauge local support, putting out a call for financial donations and donations of in-kind support such as ESL (English as a second language) teaching and home supplies for the incoming refugees. Over 60 community members attended. 

The Northern Refugee Sponsorship Committee has since received an outpouring of support, said Sparling. 

“If everybody donated what they said they were going to donate, we’d have $20,000, which is enough,” Sparling said. 

The funds raised will go towards housing, food and basic needs for the newcomers for one year. 

Application

With these assurances that there was support for the cause, the committee and the Cornerstone church applied to MCC Manitoba to be a sponsoring organization. 

“We have to be sure a group is well organized and well resourced enough,” said Arisnel Mesidor, migration and resettlement program coordinator with MCC Manitoba. 

The Flin Flon committee’s application was approved, which means it is now eligible to sponsor refugees via MCC Manitoba. 

The next step of the process is to “see which [refugees] we would be in a position to sponsor,” said Sparling. 

The committee has been reviewing government lists with information on refugees eligible for sponsorship. 

Sparling said while the committee is open to sponsoring refugees from any background, the size of the family and the medical needs of the individuals are key factors when evaluating whether or not Flin Flon can accommodate their needs.  

“We want to be cautious about what we take on,” she said.

Once a match is made, it could take two to five months for a family to arrive if they are coming from Syria, said Mesidor. He said that in the case of refugees coming from other countries, the timeline would likely be two to eight months.  

Objections

While Sparling said she has not personally received any messages from residents objecting to the cause, there were some concerns raised during the town hall meeting. 

One attendee asked what would happen to the newcomers if they were not able to support themselves after one year. 

“Our end goal is that we are supporting individuals, helping them to learn English and become self-sufficient, and at the end of one year, they will be able to provide for themselves,” said Sparling. 

There is back-up support, however: refugees receive permanent resident status upon their arrival in Canada, and would have full access to Canadian social assistance programs.

“People who object to the idea [of sponsoring refugees] like to use that as a basis for objecting,” says Sparling, “but through my research I found that the average Canadian was more likely to depend on social services than the average refugee.

“Another concern is when people say, ‘What about the people here that need assistance?’ And I would agree with those people. What about them? Our people locally also deserve to have support.”

Next steps

Once a family or group of refugees is matched with the Flin Flon committee, the process of supporting the newcomers’ transition to life in northern Manitoba will begin. 

Sparling says many people have volunteered space in their homes to accommodate newcomers if a rental home can’t be secured right away. 

The committee will also reach out to businesses to gauge employment opportunities for newcomers who will likely have limited English language skills. 

“Finding employment as early as possible is important,” said Sparling.

The committee continues to seek volunteers to help newcomers adjust to life in Flin Flon. It is currently looking for local Arabic speakers who can help with translation, if needed. 

More information on the Northern Refugee Sponsorship Committee can be found at
wewelcomerefugees.org.

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