OTTAWA—The Liberal government is marshalling its most senior cabinet ministers to shepherd the massive task of bringing in thousands of Syrian refugees by the end of the year.

“The commitment is to have 25,000 of them here by the end of the year. We are working on the logistics of that,” Immigration and Refugees Minister John McCallum told reporters Monday in the House of Commons.

“We are working on the process for selecting the refugees, for getting exit permits for these refugees. We have to engage with leaders of the countries in which the refugees are now residing . . . we are working on all these fronts at the same time.”

The cabinet committee, chaired by Health Minister Jane Philpott, with Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly serving as vice-chair, met Monday for the first time. McCallum will join the ministers responsible for public safety, defence, foreign affairs, democratic institutions, and Treasury Board, among others, on the committee as it tries to meet the Liberals’ campaign pledge.





McCallum confirmed that the government is looking at bringing the refugees to Canada by military airplane, by sea, or by commercial airlines.

Air Canada has offered to help transport refugees before the holiday rush, and offered that aid shortly after the Liberals were elected on Oct. 19. While the airline cannot fly into Syria, it can ferry refugees from neighbouring countries.

“Air Canada has offered to co-operate with the federal government to the fullest extent possible in any operation to transport Syrian refugees,” Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “At this point, however, we have only exchanged preliminary information.”

McCallum also told reporters that the federal government is looking at bringing in refugees from Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon — the three countries that have seen the largest influx of Syrian refugees. And he confirmed that temporarily housing refugees on military bases is one of the options on the table.

Since assuming his cabinet post, McCallum has stressed that multiple departments must be involved in Canada’s response to the refugee crisis. While the Liberals are not yet ready to reveal their plans, they’ve attempted to show they’re being proactive on a file that became a prominent issue over the course of the election.

The Prime Minister’s Office also announced on Monday that Malcolm Brown will serve as a special adviser on the response to the Syrian refugee issue. Brown is a long-time public servant that served in senior positions at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Canadian Border Services Agency, and most recently, as the deputy minister responsible for international development.

Despite widespread approval of the sentiment of the Liberals’ goal among refugee advocates, some point out it will be challenging to find low-cost housing for 25,000 refugees over a seven-week period — particularly in major centres like Toronto and Vancouver, cities that have infrastructure in place for war-traumatized refugees.

“While the government may think refugees are better off in a cot in a high school gym than in a camp in Lebanon, there has to be an orderly, safe system in place, or you will create additional challenges for the refugees,” said Chris Friesen, chairman of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance. “You cannot send traumatized non-English speakers to places that cannot support them.”

In a statement, NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the party applauds the Liberals’ goals, but hopes the government’s next announcement is how it intends to achieve it.

“We support this goal. But today’s announcement was short on details and we believe Canadians were looking for a concrete plan for getting vulnerable refugees out of harm’s way, not hearing about new cabinet subcommittees,” Kwan said.

A Conservative spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

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With files from The Canadian Press

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