Premier Christy Clark says Syrian Refugees Should be Settled Across B.C., "There's an Abundance of Jobs in Some Regions of the Province; Where They are Begging for People to Come,"

When you are an career politician but you haven’t the first clue; about reality or what IS going on in the world; it is always best; stay out of sight; AND keep your mouth shut.

Surrey expected to be top city for Syrian refugee settlement, followed by Coquitlam.

Syrian refugees settling at highest per capita rate in Coquitlam

Canada's refugees: Where They Come From, by the Numbers

Syrian refugee support systems are gearing up to welcome some of the 2,490 people projected to start arriving in B.C.'s Lower Mainland by early December.

457 Syrian refugees resettled in Canada, but pledge was for 1,300.

Surrey, Coquitlam and Burnaby are expected to be the top choices for the majority of new arrivals, with 85 percent of government-assisted refugees to B.C. tending to settle in the Lower Mainland.

While most are expected to settle in Surrey, Coquitlam, with a smaller population, will see a higher per capita increase to its Syrian community.

Support workers say the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris; have not changed any plans to open B.C.'s doors to refugees.

"We can't stop now. There is too much at stake for those innocently caught up in this," said Chris Friesen, director of settlement services for the Immigrant Services Society in B.C. (ISS) who was part of an emergency meeting today.

 "We've got to speed it up," he said.

Friesen says despite the Paris attacks, thousands of British Columbians continue to reach out to help some of the 9.5 million displaced Syrians. "Yes. The situation in Paris was horrific, everyone can agree on that one, but there are millions of innocent Syrians that are caught up in a civil WAR GOING ON NOW FOR FIVE YEARS. There continues to be tens of thousands that are making the perilous journey to neighbouring countries and Europe," he said.

Emergency meeting: first of it's kind in B.C.

Friesen was part of an all-day, CLOSED-DOOR, EMERGENCY MEETING BRINGING TOGETHER HEALTH, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT AUTHORITIES IN A WAY, HE SAYS, HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE IN B.C.

Chris Friesen of ISS BC

"We can't stop now. There is too much at stake," said Chris Friesen, director of settlement services for ISS B.C. (CBC)

"And we are going into the winter months now," he added. “This is the first time in the history of the province we've held a meeting like this."

The process will see Syrians arriving and held first in temporary reception facilities, then into the communities where they will live.

Based on ISS projections about 2,490 government-supported Syrian refugees are expected in B.C. Most will settle in Surrey, Coquitlam and Burnaby.

The Fraser Health Region has seen 3,346 Syrians settle there since 2010, according to the ISS.

November 17, 2015 Premier Christy Clark says Syrian refugees should be settled across B.C., including in small towns with strong job markets. But experts caution that settling refugees in remote communities will be difficult and unlikely to happen within the next six months.

In a news conference Monday, Clark told reporters refugees should be settled "around the breadth of the province," citing the high cost of housing in the lower mainland as one barrier to refugees settling there.

"There's an abundance of jobs in some regions of the province where they are begging for people to come," she said. "We want to make sure that the refugees that we welcome in British Columbia have the best chance of success possible, and for some of them, that'll mean settling outside the Lower Mainland where they can afford a home, where they can be perhaps in a smaller community where there are plentiful jobs in the job market for people who want to settle there."

But while that could mean the northern part of the province, the director of the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. (ISS of B.C.) says there are few services for refugees here.

"CLOSE TO 95 PER CENT OF SYRIANS (SETTLED) TO DATE DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH OR FRENCH, AND TWO-THIRDS OF SYRIANS HAVE TRAUMA-RELATED MEDICAL CONDITIONS. THIRTY-TWO PER CENT ARE YOUTH UNDER THE AGE OF 19, AND THEY'RE COMING FROM MOSTLY URBAN CITIES IN SYRIA.

"All of the necessary supports needed to help them through the initial adaptation and settlement phase are not in place (in the north)," he said. He added it was "highly unlikely" any would be settled within six months. On Friday, settlement services like ISS expect to learn how many of the expected 25,000 refugees will be slated for B.C

Chris Friesen, director of settlement services, said that since 1987, all government-assisted refugees destined for B.C. have been initially settled in metro Vancouver [we definitely need more handguns, and weapons of war, in around the streets of No Man’s Land-the Killing zone of Surrey and throughout the roads and highways of the Frazer Valley]. "The issue outside Metro Vancouver, particularly in the interior and northern B.C., has to do with capacity and specialized knowledge," he said, noting almost all refugee services in B.C. are centred in the Lower Mainland.

"CLOSE TO 95 PER CENT OF SYRIANS (SETTLED) TO DATE DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH OR FRENCH, AND TWO-THIRDS OF SYRIANS HAVE TRAUMA-RELATED MEDICAL CONDITIONS. THIRTY-TWO PER CENT ARE YOUTH UNDER THE AGE OF 19, AND THEY'RE COMING FROM MOSTLY URBAN CITIES IN SYRIA.

Nov 17, 2015 Food bank use in B.C. Highest on Record for Province

100,086 people used food banks in B.C. last March; 32 per cent were children.

More than 100,000 British Columbians used a food bank last March — the highest number on record for the province, according to the annual Hunger Count survey from Food Banks Canada. That's up three per cent from the same month in 2014, and up 28 per cent since 2008, when 78,101 people in B.C. used a food bank. Nearly a third of food bank users in B.C. were children. ABOUT 32 PER CENT LISTED DISABILITY-RELATED SUPPORT AS THEIR PRIMARY INCOME.

CBC Open House and Food Bank Day in B.C. 2015

ALBERTA'S ECONOMIC WOES PUSH UP NATIONAL FOOD BANK USE

ALTHOUGH B.C. HIT A NEW RECORD, OTHER PROVINCES — MOST NOTABLY ALBERTA — ARE SEEING A MUCH LARGER RISE IN FOOD BANK USE.

Demand in Alberta was up 23 per cent in the past year, and up 83 per cent since 2008, driven by job losses in the energy sector.

Saskatchewan had a larger proportion of food bank users who were children, at 45 per cent.

Across Canada, 852,137 people used food banks last March, up 1.3 per cent from the previous year.

Nov 17, 2015, As the immigration minister who brought nearly 60,000 refugees from a war torn region into Canada, Ron Atkey is well-versed in fear. Back then — in 1979 — rumour had it the ranks of Vietnamese migrants were riddled with communists planning to exploit the generosity of gullible Westerners to establish a foothold overseas. A Chicago Tribune headline of the day told the story: "Fake Viet 'boat people' map U.S. spy network."

Fast forward 36 years, and Atkey sees parallels to the current federal government's plans to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by year end.

It's easy to see why the carnage in Paris last Friday raises concerns about the possibility of militants slipping through immigration security checks. But what is the alternative?

"It's a difficult choice because if you fail, it's on you," Atkey says. "But if you fail to act, it's also on you. And with that goes leadership."

Fear of any Error

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, which left at least 129 people dead. But beyond the sheer horror of the killings, the tragedy has heightened pre-existing questions about the feasibility and wisdom of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's deadline for bringing Syrian refugees to Canada.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has questioned the wisdom of the federal government's plan, though he acknowledged the vast majority of refugees 'pose no threat.' (Trent Peppler/CBC News).

The fear of making a mistake has been further ratcheted up by some evidence that a refugee claimant fingerprinted in Greece might have been one of the seven dead Paris assailants. Critics fear ISIS will use the exodus of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East as cover to plant operatives in the West.

Some, like Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, have called on Trudeau to suspend the plan. A B.C. man has started a petition calling for a referendum on the issue.

A History of Screening

Fear may be understandable, but it ignores the reality of life in the United Nations camps housing the refugees Canada plans to accept — not to mention this country's established practice of screening migrants for connections to groups designated as terrorist. "We have to have confidence that the immigration officials involved know what they're doing and will do the job properly," Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman says. "It may well mean that all the people may not be able to come as quickly as possible, but at the end of the day, when the people get here, Canadians should have trust that they've been properly screened and they don't pose a threat." Waldman says immigration security controls have always existed, but became heightened after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings in the U.S.

Canada's screening processes have been tested in recent years by boatloads of migrants arriving from Sri Lanka.~~Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan.