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Flint is one of Hamilton’s sister cities. It is located in the state of Michigan, and it has a population of 102,434. It would take roughly four hours to fly there, and like Hamilton, it was built upon a prominent trade industry (in our case, steel; in theirs, lumber). We don’t typically have much to do with Flint, and most of the time the idea of a “sister city” seems like something arbitrarily assigned across the globe.

Our status as sister cities was made official by Sister Cities International, and we have been linked to them — along with our other sister city, Fukuyama, Japan — for close to 60 years.

We aren’t very close, geographically or socially, but we hold a connection with them that is beyond our local bounds. For those who do not know, the citizens of Flint are currently the victims of a water crisis. Their only sources of water have been contaminated due to old and poorly maintained piping infrastructure made of lead, and their water is currently considered poisonous. They need $55 million dollars to fix the existing damage, and their citizens, including children, the elderly and animals, are falling ill at a rapid pace.

We know that they need help, and we know that we’re intrinsically on their side, but why aren’t we, as a community, doing anything?

Hamilton’s Mayor Eisenberg has reached out to the mayor of Flint, offering to provide necessary aid, but aside from one dedicated citizen donating a few thousand water bottles to the city, we don’t have much else to show for ourselves in terms of providing tangible help in any form. And when I refer to “us” or “our,” I don’t necessarily just mean the city as a whole, but the separate McMaster community as well.

It’s an age-old fact that McMaster students have found it difficult to assimilate into the city and become members of the community. But so long as we are living, working, or being educated here, we are part of the “City of Hamilton.” And with that being said, we are more connected to our brothers and sisters in Flint than any other university community.

Our lack of initiative related to helping Flint speaks to the rough connection we have as a university to our city and municipal responsibilities.

Flint has multiple colleges and universities within its borders. Students and faculty are people who are being affected by this lead poisoning, and if we were in their place, the support of our sister university could mean a lot and make a difference.

The University and its hospital are two of the largest businesses in the city. Even if the city may not necessarily be able to provide some form of financial support to the citizens of Flint, it could be possible that the lucrative business of our institution could be able to provide help in some way, shape or form.

Our lack of initiative related to helping Flint speaks to the rough connection we have as a university to our city and municipal responsibilities, a shortcoming that we have been trying to mend. Many people have no idea that Flint is Hamilton’s sister city, let alone that Hamilton has sister cities. While most students can get away with going a full undergrad not getting to know their city, when something like this comes up, as members of this community, we should be proactive (as we are with many other initiatives on campus) in doing something to help or raise awareness for this cause. As a campus, the biggest thing we have going for us, outside of our finances, are our numbers. We have bodies, and lots of them, who can stand up and make a difference for a municipality that doesn’t have a lot of support from elsewhere, and one that is an innate part of our own city culture.

Not too far from us, and not too long ago, the town of Walkerton, Ontario was in a somewhat similar situation with an E. coli problem. The town benefited from the help of its neighbours, and Flint is now in an even worse situation that needs dire help. We may not always identify with this city we live in, but when Hamilton and its related communities needs us, we need to be there to help facilitate action and effort.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Cook/ Reuters

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By: Nimesha Wickramasuriya

The 2011 Syrian civil war has resulted in more than ten million individuals in need of humanitarian assistance. Many have fled to neighboring European countries but some have been denied access. For example, last week Croatia was overwhelmed with the number of refugees entering their country and sent thousands of individuals to the Hungarian border without the assurance that they will be granted safe access. In light of these recent events, I would like to take a look at the Canadian history in refugee assistance and what we can do to alleviate the Syrian refugee crisis.

Canada has a long history of involvement with refugee assistance, even before the country became independent of British rule. In 1776, 3,000 African-American individuals escaping slavery were granted safe passage into Canada. In fact many Canadian citizens can trace their origins in Canada back to humble refugee beginnings, which contributes to the Canadian population’s multicultural blend.

Unfortunately, Canada also has a history of hostility; in 1939, 907 Jews fleeing Nazi persecution boarded a ship called St. Louis and headed to Cuba hoping to escape Germany. The Cuban government, as well as the United States, and other Latin American countries refused to grant them access. As a last resort, they started their journey towards North America hoping Canada would take them in. After a month long voyage at sea, they reached our border only to be refused entrance again as Prime Minister Mackenzie King  felt that this was “not a Canadian problem.” They were forced to return back to Germany where all of them were placed in concentration camps, and where 254 of them faced excruciatingly horrible deaths.

This occurred over 75 years ago, and the outcome of St. Louis still haunts our collective consciousness, yet this event did not hinder the hostility of Canadians in the future towards accepting refugees. In 2010, after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, a boat occupying 490 refugee escapees reached British Columbian coastal waters after a three month long voyage. They did not receive a warm welcome; they were faced with armed border guards and RCMP officers, as if escaping the war-torn country was not enough. Their boat was thoroughly inspected by officials for human trafficking, drugs and “terrorist-like activities” and even after the full inspection they were detained in the boat for several months until Canada made a decision. Meanwhile, the health of the refugees declined greatly without medical assistance, resulting in one death and several others severe cases of illness.

I hope history does not repeat itself with the Middle Eastern refugee crisis. Fortunately, some European countries have been providing assistance: Germany has granted access to 50,000 refugees per year, while the UK has pledged to take in 20,000 refugees directly from Syrian refugee camps by 2020 and France has consented to 24,000 individuals.

But with over 10 million individuals displaced from their homes, this is not enough. Canada and the Harper government has agreed to take in an additional 10,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq over the next four years but has also elusively stated that there may be “processing delays.” This is a pitifully low number considering that Ontario being larger than Germany, the UK and France combined.

After the St. Louis and the Sri Lankan-Tamil boat, one would think the barriers that we put up would be broken down, so what is keeping our country from accepting more? At the moment the government and media seem to be one-sided, only focusing on the negative aspects of accepting refugees.

This type of coverage can result in racism and damaging stereotypes. I believe accepting more refugees might actually help Canada by contributing to a more diverse population and better unifying Canada with the Middle East. We ought to learn from our past mistakes, disregard our prejudices, and allow more refugees into our country.