Julie Payne and Federal Government

Hamiltonians: Meanwhile, Hamiltonians sponsoring refugee families are knee deep in paperwork as they race to finish applications for families they're hoping to bring into Canada as part of the federal government planned intake of 25,000 refugees from the Syrian conflict, according to Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton man helping Syrian family 34 years after fleeing Saigon "We're moving as quickly as we can," Ancaster resident Julie Payne, fundraiser for a group of 15 Hamiltonians looking to sponsor two families, said Tuesday. "We're making sure we don't make any mistakes along the way, getting our forms checked and double checked." Payne group, Walking Together, is typical of perhaps dozens of Hamilton groups seeking to sponsor refugees from the Syrian conflict — they only came together about 10 weeks ago, and while they're getting plenty of help from local settlement agencies, none have much idea when those families will begin to arrive. On Tuesday, media crews were shown document processing stations, medical triage areas, waiting rooms outfitted with Arabic signage, and play rooms stocked high with fox and moose plush toys. Or even how many are coming our way. "We would love to see them in the new year, but we just don't know — we want to make sure we're ready," Payne said. Daljit Garry is the executive director of Wesley Urban Ministries, which is one of about 30 agencies across Canada acting as regional co-ordinators for the government assisted refugees. Refugees are coming to Canada, broadly speaking, in three streams: privately sponsored via groups such as Walking Together; sponsorship agreement holders, such as some churches which have standing sponsorship arrangements with the federal government; and government assisted refugees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.