St. Stephen welcomes 1st group of government-sponsored Syrians

The first group of government-sponsored Syrians arrived in St. Stephen on Thursday and while they are not the first refugees to call the town home, the three families mark the beginning of a new wave of settlement in rural towns.
 
Laurie Parris, executive director of the Multicultural Association of Charlotte County, said the families made a deliberate choice to come to a small place.

"For the first time in many, many years, these people are being given choice. So there are families who arrived who didn't necessarily want to go to a larger centre," Parris said.

The community of St. Stephen has been anticipating these newcomers for a long time, she said.

"We have three very young families. They're all in their mid-thirties — all of them have young children."

Over the past few weeks, the Syrian families were living in a hotel near Fredericton. They were given the choice of moving to St. Stephen, Bathurst, Edmundston or Woodstock.

Settlement counsellor Kwame Boateng said he has been pitching Charlotte County by speaking to the families about his own personal experience

"I was an immigrant once and I didn't know anybody the first time I came to Canada. But I stuck here in a smaller town — it's the best way to go. Because you have the support of everybody in the community and that is what they are looking for," he said.

Originally, the St. Croix Vineyard and Friends Refugee Committee had expected to privately sponsor a family, but when that option wasn't available, Carol Anne Wiebe, a volunteer with the group, says they shifted priorities. 

"When we found out that there was so many people in hotel rooms and waiting to be placed, we were frustrated and we thought, if we can help those people, let's move over to that program. And that's what we did," said Wiebe.

Joann MacCready, another volunteer with the St. Croix Vineyard and Friends group burst into tears when she watched the Syrians arrive in the St. Stephen church basement where they met their sponsors. 

"I think it's good for my community, it's good for me as an individual, and can't save the world, but I can help these people get a new life. It could be my children."