No refugees for camp

Kate Bouey - CASTANET Nov 12, 2015 / 10:38 am
Vernon's cadet camp is not adequately equipped to house Syrian refugees in the winter, according to a military spokesperson. Sgt. Todd Shepherd, who runs day-to-day operations at the camp, said most of the buildings are unheated. “We have only five with furnaces,” Shepherd explained Thursday, when asked about the possibility of refugees landing in Vernon. “The rest are mothballed in the winter,” he said. “We take the water out of them. All that's left is literally four walls and a roof.” Shepherd said there has been “nothing, nothing from headquarters” about the camp being used for refugees. The Liberal government has pledged to bring 25,000 Syrians to Canada by the end of the year. CTV has reported the Canadian military is prepared to house half of them. A review has been ordered by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Jon Vance, looking at military training bases and cadet summer camps. Shepherd says work currently going on at the camp has been on the books for two years. “We are retrofitting old buildings because this is to become a tri-service camp,” Shepherd said. “There won't just be army cadets here (in future), but air and sea cadets as well.”