On February 29, 2016, Anas al-Masri and his family arrived in Ottawa on the last day of a government program that admitted over 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada. The al-Masris were sponsored by Refucare Ottawa and supported by over 50 residents from Sandy Hill as well as by St. Paul’s-Eastern United Church. On October 19, 2019, Anas and his children became Canadian citizens. Here they are celebrating after the ceremony with delighted sponsors and supporters Shelley Cruise, Dodi Newman, Cathryn Fortier, Jerry Fortier, Cindy Mitchell, Anas al-Masri, Tarek al-Masri, Manju Sah, Kurt Mitchell, Alison Thompson, Abdulrahman al-Masri. Kneeling is Lilyan al-Masri with Aman al-Masri, Alison and Abdulrahman’s child. To the right of Lilyan is Yousef al-Masri. Behind Shelley is part of Larry Newman.
