In the House of Commons Wednesday, Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams praised a local war hero and called on the government to stop ignoring families escaping Afghanistan.
Williams said Bay of Quinte region resident Corporal Justin Bronzan, a former infantryman from the Royal Canadian Regiment, took in Omar, an Afghan interpreter who worked with Canada for three years.
When the Taliban took over, the 37-year-old feared for his life and family and fled Afghanistan alone.
He walked for seven days to get to Iran, became shipwrecked in Greece and landed in refugee camps across eastern Europe.
Corporal Bronzan and his family took Omar in, helped him reunite with his family in mid-October and continue to host Omar, his wife and two daughters.
Williams said the Liberal government has failed to act in the years and months leading up to the fall of Afghanistan and urged the government to help Canadians like the Bronzans bring interpreters to safety immediately.
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says the government predicts it could take two years to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada as promised.
The minister says the government is facing challenges in Afghanistan and other countries where refugees have fled.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, he says the two-year timeline is an estimate and that hundreds of Afghan refugees are arriving in Canada weekly.
with files from the Canadian Press
