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Canadians should support refugees

I must say I am very disappointed by the number of Canadians who have bought into the fear.

To the Editor,

Re: Canada should welcome refugees, not treat them as threats, Letters, Nov. 24.

As an immigrant to Canada and a new citizen, I must say I am very disappointed by the number of Canadians who have bought into the fear, especially when the facts are so easily found, if only one chooses to look. Instead, people are reacting to unfounded fears.

The letter writer asks, “…has anyone consulted the electorate on how we feel about these people in our country?” I say yes, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won the election with this plan clearly a part of his platform.

Refugees from the Middle East will contribute to society like all refugees have in the past and will in the future. The point for now is to give these people a safe place, a refuge from the complete destruction of their homes and the murder of their families and friends.

The letter writer states that “already about one-quarter of the U.S. states have declared they will not accept refugees because of what happened in Paris.”

It is a fact that none of the Paris terrorists were refugees. If an Islamic State terrorist wants to get into Canada, they will not use the refugee process that takes 18 months to two years or more to complete and is very thorough.

Hatred is unbecoming.

Melanie KirkNanaimo

 

To the Editor,

I’m very concerned about some of the negativity regarding welcoming refugees to Canada. Reading through the various different surnames of the people writing letters to the editor, I seem to encounter many immigrant names, my own included of course, and think that we all have some nerve denying others the rights and freedoms we have accepted for ourselves.

Canada has had some very black times in our history of accepting immigrants. Many may not remember, but my family speaks of a time when European Jews tried to come to Canada during the 1930s. Despite our vast space and resources, we only accepted 5,000.

This is a disgraceful period of Canadian history that I would not like to see repeated. When I hear the paranoia, I think I’m in another country, perhaps our neighbours to the south?

Lee MasciarelliNanaimo