Dear Editor
Re: Burnaby could receive 500 Syrians, Burnaby NOW, Nov. 18.
Well, Jennifer Moreau is at it again, talking way over my head once more. Would it be abusive of me to ask just what she means by saying: “refugees are expected in Burnaby, which is the third most common municipality in B.C. for government-assisted refugees to settle”? In what way is Burnaby most common over, say, Pouce Coupe or Chetwynd or Terrace, etc.?
Also, would not 300 long-term housing units be helpful in housing homeless people who abound throughout the municipality, that are made up of those born in Canada, who have lived and paid taxes and have a birthright to be here? It is not that I am opposed to immigrants, as my mother came to Canada in 1923, but she was given no special considerations in doing so, just like hundreds of thousands of others who made a life for themselves without vast quantities of treasure being spent to assist them to do so.
As for this Ugandan fellow, now missing, why does it seem almost inconceivable that he might have “flown the coop,” so to speak? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time, would it?
Now I am totally aware that the editrix, Pat Tracy, is in the habit of disallowing me to make comment on any matters seen as being culturally sensitive, or even mildly poetic or even prosaic. She will, perhaps be pleased to know that I concur almost completely with the mayor’s take of the situation, and that I hope he harries both the provincial and the federal bureaucrats concerning the Dauphin’s stubbornness on bringing acrimonious strangers into our peaceable kingdom!
Larry Bennett, Burnaby
