The first Canadian government plane carrying Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto late Thursday where they were greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is pushing forward with his pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February.
The arrival of the military flight carrying 163 refugees stands in stark contrast to the United States, which plans to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year and where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump caused a worldwide uproar with a proposal to temporarily block Muslims from entering the US.
The flight arrived just before midnight carrying the first of two large groups of Syrian refugees to arrive in the country by government aircraft.
Trudeau greeted the first two families to come through processing. The first family was a man, woman and 16-month-old girl.
The second family was a man, woman, and three daughters, two of whom are twins. Trudeau and Ontario’s premier welcomed them to Canada and gave them winter coats. Both families said they were happy to be here.
“This is a wonderful night, where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations,” Trudeau said earlier to staff and volunteers who were waiting to process the refugees.
All 10 of Canada’s provincial premiers support taking in the refugees and members of the opposition, including the Conservative party, attended the welcoming late Thursday.
Trudeau was also joined by the ministers of immigration, health and defense, as well as Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory.
In the US, several Republican governors have tried to stop the arrival of Syrian refugees in their states in the wake of the deadly attacks blamed in Paris and California.
The first flight arrived in Toronto before midnight and another will land in Montreal on Saturday. The planes, both military aircraft, will carry a total of about 300 Syrian refugees.
