Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to first congratulate Councillor Villeneuve and Ms. Murphy for their work and congratulate the City of Surrey for accepting, welcoming, and helping to settle refugees affected by the crisis in Syria.
I know that it's heartening when we see communities welcoming refugees and giving them a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, at the same time it's disheartening to see that in certain instances we have witnessed racist rhetoric and discrimination against Syrian refugees. In particular, the National Post reported on February 21 that at a school in Calgary the walls were spray-painted with messages of hate. I quote one message: “While Syrian refugees feast in hotels, Canadians starve on the streets”.
You mentioned in your statement earlier that you started a myth-busting campaign. What are some of the myths that you've encountered in your work, and how did you go about addressing those myths in the campaign that you launched? I'm very interested to know.