Evidence of meeting #14 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was community.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Shaun Chen Liberal Scarborough North, ON
Okay, very quickly, Ms. Said, do you feel that the bullying you experienced at school was because some of the kids were not aware of refugees and what their struggles are?
11:50 a.m.
Member, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
Yes. When I was in Syria, I didn't belong there, and I felt like I was the only black person who was there. I used to get picked on every recess, or when I was eating by myself. Then when I came here, I was afraid of having the same experience, not knowing that every place was different, so when I got help and motivation and support, it was eye-opening and it was life-changing too.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, Ms. Said.
Mr. Saroya, I understand you'll be splitting your time, and one minute will be going to Madam Boucher.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Absolutely. Maybe Madam Boucher can take that minute first.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Good morning.
I am new to this committee; I am replacing someone today.
I have a question I put to all organizations. There is a lot of talk about Syrian refugees. We have some in my riding, and most of them are anglophones or are trying to speak English.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
I'm sorry, I think some of the witnesses need to have translation.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
I'm sorry about that. I'm a francophone.
Okay, I will start over slowly.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
I am from Quebec. Syrian refugees are arriving in my community, and they speak very little French or English. Do other communities have the same problem? Is it difficult to send the Syrian refugees to the right place? There are Syrian refugees in Quebec, but most of them don't speak French. Is the English-speaking part of the country dealing the same problem?
11:50 a.m.
Executive Committee Member, Canadian Council for Refugees
Maybe I can try to answer that. I think the ultimate goal is to find a place where the Syrian refugee feels comfortable residing.
The challenge, of course, is dealing with temporary accommodation. That is where they need to land and relax a little bit and have time to explore the community. We have seen movement in interprovincial migration. As I mentioned earlier about the early intervention by settlement organizations, we can really help them to develop a settlement plan, looking at where the communities are and then moving them there.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, Mr. Chan.
Mr. Saroya, go ahead for three and a half minutes.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank all of you for coming down and educating us on many issues.
Hayat Said, you are the star here.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
You are absolutely a star. If you keep up something like this, you could be sitting on this side of the table in a short time.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Can we talk a little bit more about bullying? How can we help? What can the Canadian government bring to the table to stop this bullying?
11:55 a.m.
Member, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
Honestly, it would be helpful to have really motivating people. When I came I met a lot of volunteers who spoke the same language, Arabic, and it was really good to communicate with them and tell them what I needed and ask how I could translate that into English. It is really important to have a really supportive community and people who support you every day. Even though people will say nothing is impossible—I used to say it would be impossible for me to speak English or to get high grades or go to university or college—it is really important to have that motivation and the people who can motivate you every day and tell you even the simplest things and just tell you that you can do it and you can achieve whatever you want. It's also important to have financial support. The Boys and Girls Club gave me financial support and donated supplies to my family. It is a really great community helping me.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Ms. Bukhari, how can we help as a Canadian society to stop the domestic violence you mentioned? The person was arrested. Obviously, is it the cultural difference? Maybe it's something that's acceptable somewhere else, but not acceptable here. What can we do to help?
11:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Arab Community Centre of Toronto
We need to be able to set up, if we can, some culturally sensitive information sessions for the newcomers in regard to domestic violence in Canada, on what the rights are, what the responsibilities are, what will happen. This is what we do at the centre in a limited way. But what happens if the wife complains to the police? What happens if the neighbour complains to the police and the husband is taken away?
It needs to be done in a culturally sensitive manner, in a safe manner. Programs such as this will need to be set up, particularly targeting this newcomer population that is coming in.
There is a great need. There are many issues coming out of this problem. We have heard of this particular family that I spoke of. We have heard that the wife has gone to Vancouver, that she's somewhere in Vancouver right now. This is a rumour and we have no idea whether this is true.
We need to be talking about these things.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Ms. Said, I want to say we're really proud of you, as others have said. You've overcome bullying, your shyness, language barriers, all in a very short time.
If I had a magic wand or this panel had a magic wand, what do you think that we could do better to make new refugees' lives better? What would be the challenges you face and the ways that we can make your integration, your adjustment, a lot easier?
11:55 a.m.
Member, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
It definitely would help to have the different languages. It doesn't matter if the refugees only come from Syria or from all over the world. We should all give them the supplies that they need. It would be helpful giving them the education as well, obviously. Coming here it was really helpful knowing my language...and the English support was a big thing. Also, it's motivating them to join different programs, like leadership programs, outdoors, and being motivated and having confidence.
Also, financially, it would be helpful to help the family, and getting that communication with the family and joining with them.
Noon
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Are there any cultural challenges when coming from the Middle East to here and adjusting into a western society, i.e., being a young woman and being allowed to go into, say, extra-curricular activities? I'm not saying in your particular case, but for other young kids who come from Syria or other refugee countries in that area. Do you see any challenges that they have in any way and how we can help them adjust to those challenges?