Canada unlikely to meet target of 25,000 Syrian refugees by year end |

November 25, 2015 – Reported by the Ottawa Citizen – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from a historic first ministers meeting Monday to say he and the premiers are united in their commitment to bringing Syrian refugees to Canada, while acknowledging provincial leaders raised “precise” questions about security and funding. But despite narrowing the criteria for potential refugee claimants, the federal government is expected to say on Tuesday that it’s unlikely to reach its target of 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by year’s end. The Liberal government will unveil its plan to on a campaign promise that has sparked concern among some premiers about whether proper security screening can be done so quickly and who will pay for it all. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum was to release details of the ambitious program. Syrians have been steadily arriving in Canada for months and some of them will count against the Liberals’ election promise to resettle 25,000 people by Dec. 31 – a milestone the government is now expected to concede it likely won’t meet. Indeed, in a press release Monday announcing he had briefed several of Canada’s mayors, McCallum held to the 25,000 number but dropped all mention of a deadline…story continues below…