She is full of questions for travellers, who, generally being Newfoundlanders, typically aren’t shy about asking a few questions of their own, including, due to her accent, where she is from. Thus ensues a “guessing game,” as they pick somewhere in Europe — often France and Germany — or Montreal.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
A member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces stands guard at a checkpoint in Kyiv on March 20, 2022.Canadians wanted to help, but the conversation in St. John’s went from what could be done to actually doing emergency airlifts.
PAL, an airline with a reputation for flying into rugged, remote communities, and CanAid Logistics Ltd., a boots-on-the-ground service provider in humanitarian hotspots, were keen to get involved when the province opened a Ukrainian Family Support Desk in Warsaw in March — the only province to do so — to recruit refugees interested in coming to a place most had never heard of.
What began as a humanitarian initiative has become a human resources windfall for the province and its business community, which struggles to attract and retain skilled workers, even those born and raised there.Photo by Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Her hope is that the refugees successfully jump through whatever retraining and licensing hoops are required to make maximum use of their skills in Canada, whether it is for her company or a nearby hospital, where the health-care worker shortage is equally acute.
Underlying the Ukrainian diaspora in Newfoundland and Labrador is a knowledge of life as it was changing overnight. It is a painful memory, coloured with hastily packed bags, abandoned homes and the loss of security. March was pure chaos for the Sysas. Poland was overrun with refugees. Starting over in St. John’s is a happier subject, but that’s not to say it isn’t difficult.
Work colleagues have given them bags of clothes and took the boys trick-or-treating on Halloween. Neighbours have unexpectedly appeared carrying plates of cod; friends are looking to get them a deal on snow tires; the family was given tickets to a Newfoundland Growlers hockey game a recent Friday night.Article content
Newfoundland and Labrador has made a bet on the newcomers, but the payoff remains uncertain. They are here now, but will they stay? On top of the licensing puzzle is the language barrier. It is a difficulty Constanza Safatle, the Chilean-born executive director of TaskForce NL, a non-profit that connects employers with immigrant candidates, can speak to firsthand.