Hon. Paula Simons: Honourable senators, I know that I am just one of many Canadians who has been deeply concerned about the dangerous plight of refugees from Afghanistan who are fleeing or trying to flee the Taliban regime.

I know that many of us have been frustrated that things are not happening more quickly, even while we understand the challenges involved.

Today I am happy to celebrate a small victory. This week a group of 184 refugees arrived in Canada from Afghanistan. They are destined for new homes in Edmonton, Calgary and Airdrie, a bedroom community just outside of Calgary. Today I would like to celebrate the work of two of Alberta’s largest refugee settlement agencies: Catholic Social Services in Edmonton, and the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society in Alberta.

Despite the impression their names might give you, these are truly ecumenical organizations in the best sense of the word. For decades, they have been contracted to offer settlement services to refugees in Alberta. Those refugees have come from many places over the decades: Vietnam, Ethiopia, Iraq, South Sudan, Myanmar and Syria to name a few.

When refugees arrive, staff and volunteers do everything possible to help them adapt to life in Canada and help them to find apartments, jobs, schools and teach them about dressing for the Alberta winter, and how to use transit systems and grocery stores. It is difficult, vital work and a gift to all Albertans.

They have been preparing for months for the arrival of these Afghan refugees, raising funds, organizing housing, balancing the need to prepare for the newcomers with their responsibility to settle other refugees arriving from places such as Yemen and Eritrea.

Fariborz Birjandian of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society Alberta has been leading the efforts to bring and settle Afghan refugees here. I want to thank him and his team for all of their work.

As an Albertan, I am proud of these organizations which do such essential work to help some of the most vulnerable new Canadians adjust to life here. I am proud of all the Albertans who are doing so much to make Alberta a welcoming refuge for people.

And if you will allow me, as an Alberta senator, I want to welcome these 184 newest arrivals to the most remarkable, open and exciting of provinces. I welcome you in the name of my grandmother and mother, who came to this country as refugees themselves. I am very proud that you have chosen to make your home with us. We want to bless you with our generosity just as you have blessed us with your trust.

You may think you are lucky to be here, but I think we are lucky to have your courage, your determination, your passion and your wisdom to enrich our province and our country in every sense. Thank you. Hiy hiy.