Syrian refugees bumped from overbooked hotels for Garth Brooks fans

Country superstar Garth Brooks arrived in Hamilton on Thursday "fired up" for the first of five concerts amid news that his shows inadvertently bumped 228 Syrian refugees from the hotels they'd been living in. Brooks was due to meet with the media on Thursday afternoon and reporters were eager to get his reaction to reports that an influx of fans in town for his concerts had ousted refugees from the hotel rooms they were being housed in since coming to Canada. The singer cancelled that media appearance after bad weather rerouted his Hamilton flight to nearby Toronto. His representatives said there were no plans to reschedule. A day earlier, it was revealed that refugees in the city were being bused to St. Catharines, about 55 kilometres away, because Brooks fans had snapped up many local hotel rooms when they ordered their concert tickets back in January. City officials expect more than 80,000 visitors to descend on Hamilton over the next four days while Brooks is in town...more