A Niagara At Large News Brief
Word is circulating in the social media that a number of Niagara, Ontario residents will hold a rally this Monday (September 7th) in response of the growing Syrian refugee crisis and the Canadian government’s demonstrably pathetic response to it.
This sign, bearing the name of Alan Galib, the young Syrian boy in that heart-wrenching set of photos taken on the Turkish beach, mysteriously showed up on the front of St. Cathrines MP Rick Dystra’s campaign office in recent days and is making the rounds in social media.
The Niagara rally comes on the same long weekend similar gatherings are occurring in other cities and towns across Canada and is scheduled to take place in front of the campaign office of St. Catharines federal Conservative canadidate Rick Dykstra at 22 Geneva Street near the heart of St. Catharines’ downtown from 1 to 2 p.m.
It also follows in the wake of a photo flashed around the world last week of the body a three-year-old Syrian boy, washed up on a Turkish beach. The boy drowned along with his five-year-old brother and their mother. An aunt of the boys, living in the Vancouver area, said the family was ultimately hoping to start a new life in Canada.
Some information about this Monday’s Niagara rally was sent in the form of a comment following a recent piece Niagara At Large posted on the refugee crisis. The comment was from Fiona McMurran, a long-time Niagara citizen activist and member of the Council of Canadians, and we will end this news brief by reposting that comment here.
From Fiona McMurran –
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: WELCOME REFUGEES! is the name of the nation-wide mobilization in response to the Syrian refugee crisis.
Hundreds marched in downtown Toronto this September 4th in support of welcoming Syrian refugees to Canada.
Please join us for a WELCOME REFUGEES! rally on Monday, Sept. 7, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, outside the campaign office of St. Catharines Conservative candidate, Rick Dykstra, at 22 Geneva St., St. Catharines.
We are calling on this government to act immediately to remove the bureaucratic impediments to the entry of privately-sponsored Syrian refugees and to increase the number of government-supported refugees.
We also want to encourage Niagara groups and organizations to offer sponsorship to Syrian individual and families.
Let us remember that it was the generous response of Canadians that spurred the Clarke government to allow a larger number of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees into Canada in the late 1970s.
You can also visit following site for information on the event – https://www.facebook.com/events/395349683995893/ .
Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from our greater binational Niagara region.
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