34-year-old Syrian refugee Khitam, from the Daraa province, left her home along with her husband and two children after their neighbour's house was hit by a missile Nov. 28, 2015. Khitam broke down into tears over sadness at what she's lost and anxiety over what's ahead in Canada.Annie Sakkab
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POLITICS NOTEBOOK
By Chris Hannay (@channay)
As Mark MacKinnon reports from Jordan, many Syrians in refugee camps see Canada as a place representing hope for their children – even if they don't yet know much about the country or its languages.
So when do they arrive in Canada, where will they be living?
The federal government has said it will bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of February, 2016, the majority of whom will be assisted in their transition by the government.
But more than 4,500 refugees are being privately sponsored by organizations or groups in Canada, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says most of those will be settling in Ontario.
Of those refugees whose private sponsorship files are currently being processed, 1,318 are headed for Toronto, 1,079 are going to Willowdale (a community in Toronto) and 156 are coming to Scarborough (another community in Toronto).
In total, 3,318 refugees are being privately sponsored to come to Ontario, and 33 have already arrived.
The next largest destination is Alberta, with a total of 845 private sponsorship files. Five hundred are going to Calgary (24 have already landed) and 321 are headed for Edmonton (12 are already here).
British Columbia has committed to taking 3,500 of the 25,000 total refugees, though only a little over two hundred are so far coming from private sponsorship.
The challenges will be many to integrate all these new arrivals into Canada, but many organizations and governments are stepping up to the task. As Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps told The Globe's Justine Hunter (in an analysis for subscribers): "We want to provide a welcoming new home. It will take a heroic effort."
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS MORNING
By Evan Annett (@kingdomofevan)
> As 150 world leaders gather in Paris today for the start of the COP21 climate-change conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is being praised as one of the "signs of hope" at the crucial environmental meeting. Here's a primer on what's at stake.
> If you're curious how Mr. Trudeau's first big environmental summit compares with his father's, check our Trudeau comparison feature to find out.
> On the sidelines of Paris, Mr. Trudeau will also hold his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.
> "Complexities" in processing refugees in Turkey are slowing down the Canadian mission to bring Syrian refugees here, Canada's ambassador to Ankara says after the refugee processing centre in Jordan opened for business this weekend.
> In Alberta, the government is under increasing pressure to deal with the deadly abuse of the opiate drug fentanyl, which, in the first nine months of 2015, has resulted in 213 deaths in the province.
> Newfoundlanders vote today in a provincial election where the Progressive Conservatives, lagging behind the Liberals in the polls, are seeking their fourth consecutive mandate.
THE CLIMATE DEBATE
Justin Trudeau is heading to France for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, COP21, and it could mean big things for Canada's approach to climate change.
Join us for a debate on what the conference could mean for Canada today at 12:00 p.m. (ET).
Editorial Page Editor Tony Keller will be joined in studio by Chris Ragan, chair of Canada's Ecofiscal Commission, and Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada.
Leave a question for the panelists in the Comments section or tweet us (@globeandmail) with the hashtag #cop21.
SECUREDROP
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WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
"Big, defining moments are a critical means to push the global response to climate change forward; they are not ends in themselves. Regardless of what is accomplished in Paris, the real work begins when everyone goes home."
- Matthew Hoffmann on the refugee crisis.
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail): "As a former businessman who made a few spectacularly bad deals, buyer's remorse is a concept Pierre Karl Péladeau must understand. ... Unfortunately for the PQ, its new leader is proving to be a painfully slow learner."
David Akin (Toronto Sun): "I've seen no brief from any climate change campaigner which suggests cutting emissions is possible without the world's biggest emitters committing to a legally binding target to do so. And for the Trudeau government to fail to commit to this basic principle in its international diplomacy is surely to fail the trust and admiration of the climate change campaigners who had so much hope that there really would be 'real change' in Ottawa."
Chantal Hébert (Toronto Star): "Regardless of the timetable challenges of Parliament, medically assisted suicide is coming soon to all of Canada, under provincial variations on the Quebec regimen. ... Given that, common sense would suggest [federal Justice Minister Jody] Wilson-Raybould be thankful that Quebec has done all the leg work and come up with a legislative template for the rest of the country to borrow from."
This newsletter is produced by Chris Hannay, Evan Annett and Steve Proceviat.
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