{"id":9888,"date":"2019-03-13T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T14:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=9888"},"modified":"2019-03-13T11:00:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T14:00:25","slug":"private-sponsorship-refugee-program-celebrates-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=9888","title":{"rendered":"Private sponsorship refugee program celebrates 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

FALL RIVER: <\/strong>Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen launched the 40th anniversary of Canada\u2019s private sponsorship refugee program in small-town Canada, with the Baroud family and members of the Riverlake Syrian Refugee team on hand.<\/p>\n

The event was held at St. John\u2019s United Church in Fall River. It was arranged through MP Darrell Samson and the Riverlake Syrian Refugee Project.<\/p>\n

Hussen relayed stories of his past and of Canada\u2019s past, celebrating the refugee program. Hussen himself was a 16-year-old Somali refugee, and is now the Minister of Immigration in the Canadian government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a special time to come and meet you,\u201d Hussen told the volunteers from the Riverlake Syrian Refugee Project that were on hand. \u201cThis is all about you, it\u2019s not about us. It\u2019s about the work you\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen launched the 40th anniversary of Canada\u2019s private sponsorship refugee program in smalltown Canada, with the Baroud family and members of the Riverlake Syrian Refugee team at St John\u2019s United Church in Fall River. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hussen talked about a meeting he had with former Prime Minister Joe Clark, who was in power when the Private Sponsorship program was brought in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we\u2019re celebrating the 40th anniversary of this wonderful program,\u201d he said to applause. \u201cJoe Clark got the ball rolling. This Canadian Private Refugee Sponsorship program has transcended time, has transcended changes in government, 40 years and going as strong as before.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he had the chance to experience the Canadian generosity that makes the country one of the best in the world for acceptance of refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to experience that first hand, coming here at the age of 16 without my family,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t an easy experience, but I was helped by my Canadian neighbours; friends; I was helped by employers.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining the high school track team, they became my second family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
MP Darrell Samson talks with Wassem Baroud. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was those small gestures that helped him settle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me feel like this is the greatest country in the world,\u201d said Hussen.<\/p>\n

He then explained stories he heard during a stop in Halifax of refugees who fled war and have now became very successful, and is giving back to the community.<\/p>\n

Hussen said he asked sponsors if they would do it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir response was absolutely,\u201d said Hussen. \u201cThere\u2019s something human about reaching out to help those in need.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nour Baroud speaks to some of the lady volunteers who welcomed the family to the get together with the group to recognize the 40th anniversary of the sponsorship program, and meet with Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really blessed to be in this country. I don\u2019t think the average Canadian is any more generous than the average American or the average Australian, but knowing that when we see horrific images in war and targeted for persecution, we feel for those people and we want to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said what the difference is when people see these images.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference is the average Canadian can get up off the couch, find four more Canadians and sponsor a family or an individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Forty years later, other countries are seeing the advantage of having the privately sponsored refugee.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany countries are coming to Canada asking us about it,\u201d Hussen said.<\/p>\n

After speaking, Hussen shook some hands of the volunteers and the Baroud family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FALL RIVER: Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen launched the 40th anniversary of Canada\u2019s private sponsorship refugee program in small-town Canada, with the Baroud family and members of the Riverlake Syrian Refugee team on hand. The event was held at St. John\u2019s United Church in Fall River. It was arranged through MP Darrell Samson and the Riverlake […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[371,372,93,2,228,229],"class_list":["post-9888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-ahmed-hussen","tag-baroud-family","tag-darrell-samson","tag-fall-river","tag-immigration","tag-riverlake-syrian-refugee-project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}