Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 30th, 2016

[Chantal Desloges]

Exactly, and give the private sponsors their heads. They are excited. Let them go.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Kwan, you have seven minutes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses.

Councillor Villeneuve, first off, thank you very much for your years of advocacy in both economic and social justice. I've known you in your work in your community for a long time.

I'm particularly interested in the city of Surrey. You mentioned that some 44% of GARs from the Syrian refugee crisis are settling now in Surrey. Based on the numbers the officials have given us, that's about 700 GARs, approximately, for the numbers who have settled in Vancouver.

To that end, there are two areas I want to explore, one of which you spoke about, and that's the transportation loan question and the impact on the Syrian refugees who are saddled with the burden of carrying this loan. Those who came before November 4 are carrying this loan, and I would also argue it's not just Syrian refugees but other refugees as well.

Given your vast experience and knowledge base in your community, can you speak about the real impacts for them in terms of people's ability to pay for rent, particularly after the twelve-month sponsorship period, and the ability for the children to engage in the broader community's activities that may require costs and all those kinds of burdens? Can you give us some examples of what that's been like for the refugee community saddled with this burden?

[Judy Villeneuve]

What I'd tell you is that as chair of the social policy advisory committee, in 2009, when this issue was brought to my attention, I think our entire city council was shocked that the poorest of the poor refugees coming out of war-torn countries were required to pay back a transportation loan when they really were coming here with nothing. That is the reality.

We have had presentations by Somalian women, for example, who came with a translator to talk about how grateful they were to be in Canada and how they wanted their children to have a sense of hope for the future, but they were struggling economically. The transportation loan was an extra stressful burden in their lives.

I'm sure that as an MLA in your riding particularly, MP Kwan, you have heard these stories before, that families with high rents in B.C. are struggling just to pay the rent. They get an average for a family of four of about $750 for rent supplements, and then they have $400 for living costs, and they are expected to pay all of the other deals plus the kids' clothing.

We see growing lineups at our food banks because ends can't be met. It's not just the stress of being grateful to Canada and also often scared of the government; it's also that paying another $89 or $100 a month after 12 months to pay back their loans is taking food out of their kids' mouths. Honestly, some of them are just sending their teenage children out to work in order to meet this obligation, because they don't want to go back and they want to be good citizens.

I think any of us can understand what it must be like to start your life with a burden, with no employment opportunities at that time, and to be relying on government assistance but also to be obligated to pay the money back to that government.

I can give you an example. Peter Yuot is a young man from the Sudan who came with his two brothers. He's settling in New Westminster in an apartment. He's working two different jobs. He's back and forth trying to take care of his younger siblings, who are in high school. He has worked at several different kinds of jobs. He was forced to drop out of upgrading courses at Douglas College when he was told he wasn't eligible to apply for a student loan until his federal bills were fully covered.

Most of the immigrants and refugees I have talked to want to contribute to the community, but there are just so many barriers facing them. Really, everybody I present this issue to, whether it's Rotary Clubs, ratepayers' organizations, different committees, non-profit organizations, is shocked. They are shocked that we are asking the poorest of the poor to have this burden on their back.

One thing I know is that political people I talk to across parties agree that this is an unfair burden.

I was very excited with a new government coming in. We tried to work through the old government system, and we did take all the time to go through all the proper channels, through all the local councils in B.C. and throughout the country and through all the non-profit organizations. All the change that occurred was bad public policy that may have been put in place in the seventies. They are now considering that the needs and the high cost of living in Canada are no longer something that is really acceptable or humane, in my opinion.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

You have 50 seconds.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm going to move on to the youth concerns.

You talked about youth programming. Other presenters have raised that aspect as well. Can you tell us what needs to be done in terms of resettlement services to support youth so that they have a chance to succeed?

[Judy Villeneuve]

I think that funding is necessary for more programming for youth. Over one-third of our city's population is under the age of 19. We're very focused on getting youth the kinds of opportunities they need to be engaged in and to get the wrap-around services they need when they're struggling, so any kind of funding or financial aid in the city is really helpful for us at this time.

Parents who want their kids supported and engaged often don't have the money to put them into extra classes or sports. Our city opens up its doors through its recreation facilities by granting passes for families, but there are many other areas in which youth don't have that opportunity. In order just to make ends meet financially for their families, many of those youth are looking for other kinds of work to bring in money. Sometimes it's good work and sometimes it's not so good. We need to be aware of that. Our goal is to give everyone in this city an opportunity to meet their capacity and to do well.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

Since we're running out of time, if you have any specific suggestions as to the kinds of programs or funding that need to be in place, perhaps you could present them to the committee in writing.

Also, if you can also share with us the UBCM and FCM resolutions in support of the waiving of loans, those would be most helpful.

[Judy Villeneuve]

I would definitely be able to do that. We can send a package back to Ottawa. We supplied a full package on the issue and all the resolutions to another immigration committee.

I really appreciate your giving me an opportunity to speak to this issue today. I know there are many other issues for the committee, but this one is a concrete action that you can take, and our whole city is urging you to make that public change.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Mr. Chen, you have seven minutes.

[Shaun Chen, Liberal, Scarborough North, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to first congratulate Councillor Villeneuve and Ms. Murphy for their work and congratulate the City of Surrey for accepting, welcoming, and helping to settle refugees affected by the crisis in Syria.

I know that it's heartening when we see communities welcoming refugees and giving them a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, at the same time it's disheartening to see that in certain instances we have witnessed racist rhetoric and discrimination against Syrian refugees. In particular, the National Post reported on February 21 that at a school in Calgary the walls were spray-painted with messages of hate. I quote one message: “While Syrian refugees feast in hotels, Canadians starve on the streets”.

You mentioned in your statement earlier that you started a myth-busting campaign. What are some of the myths that you've encountered in your work, and how did you go about addressing those myths in the campaign that you launched? I'm very interested to know.

[Judy Villeneuve]

Thank you very much.

I'm going to let Aileen respond to that because she was more directly involved with that particular campaign, but I will say I'm really proud that we were very proactive in working with the community when the Syrian refugee settlement began. To date in our city, even though at the beginning there were letters of concern to the editor about this decision, I would say our community has not faced a lot of racism regarding this issue. In fact, there has been overwhelming support by people wanting to help. The biggest challenge has been linking them with the people who can connect them with how they can help, but the response from the community has been very helpful.

Overall our biggest issue is ensuring that economically we have opportunities and enough support for newcomers to get a chance to do well here. There's an overwhelming sense that we want to accept newcomers, and we're dependent on it. We're a young city, and this is where many should be.

I'll let Aileen talk about the myth-busting campaign.

[Aileen Murphy]

The refugee myth-busting campaign was actually a campaign that we did in 2012 and 2013, so it was prior to the arrival of the Syrian refugees specifically. It was in response to the number of refugees we had in the community and some of the misconceptions. If you're getting into trouble, then that becomes sort of a pervasive perspective of refugees.

I think refugee settlement is about nation building, and that has been part of Canada's proud history. Particularly in terms of the next generation, it's the whole promise of this group. In Surrey 60% of the Syrians who have arrived are children and youth, so I think if we work with those families and with those young people, they will become the next citizens contributing to the community.

In our myth-busting campaign there was a focus on the education sector, so we developed training from elementary school through to the post-secondary level. With the little guys it was around artwork and stories that the children produced. With the high school and post-secondary students, it was workshops that were developed by a team of young people. It was making sure that as refugee children and youth hit the education sector, their needs were understood and they were properly supported and encouraged and that there were expectations for them to succeed.

We also did some digital storytelling. Some young refugee youth were trained and made videos about their experiences, about their views on issues in terms of English language training and so forth. Then we created some materials that a community...just in terms of who were the refugees, what were the numbers, etc. I think often the community thinks the numbers are much larger than they are, whereas in fact they really are a small percentage compared to our total immigrant population.

[Judy Villeneuve]

We continue to work with Simon Fraser University and Quantum University in doing research and setting benchmarks for our city in this area. I think that kind of partnership really informs us on what steps to take so that we're not doing it in a scattered way but in a very well-researched and benchmark-set manner. We are as productive as we can be, as supportive as we can be. We're playing a strong advocacy role and we see where some of the major issues are, such as the transportation loan issue.

[Shaun Chen, Liberal, Scarborough North, ON]

It's so important that you've focused on youth and the schools, because research demonstrates that when youth feel a sense of belonging, their educational outcomes are greater. At the same time, to educate that next generation of Canadians to understand the lived histories of the Syrian refugee children and to be more caring and compassionate is such a wonderful project.

It reminds me of the title of the guide that you showed us, “Everyone in Syria Belongs.” Can you explain more about that campaign and how that has helped to create a better sense of community with the refugees coming from Syria?

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

You have 40 seconds, please.

[Aileen Murphy]

This is actually a local immigration partnership. It's a federal program that funds communities that are coming together and developing local strategies and approaches for human rights. Actually, in the fall we will be developing a very specific refugee plan. This is really just for all newcomers in Surrey. As we said, it's hot off the press. We'll be starting implementation immediately.

[Judy Villeneuve]

Then we have our federal funding to do the planning, and that's been very—

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Mr. Saroya, you have five minutes, please.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses, Chantal here and the councillor in B.C. Thank you for coming out and educating us.

My first question is to Chantal.

I had never heard the third category. This is the first time I've ever heard it. Could you please tell us more and explain to us how this system works? It seems that it's important to push this third category as much as the privately sponsored program and the government-sponsored program. How does it work, please?

[Chantal Desloges]

You've hit the nail on the head, because nobody knows. It's part of the problem. Very few people have ever heard of it. You have to be a lawyer nerd like me to have gone through and picked things apart and read about it.

Awareness about the program is very low, and there aren't any instructions on how to use it, but I think it's a gold mine sitting there waiting for people to use, if only they knew how. I wish I could help you, but there's very little information available about it.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

What can be done to educate people? Is there any easy way for people like me to learn more about this category?

[Chantal Desloges]

The IRCC website should have a section on it, but if you look through it, again there's really no information. If you go on there, you'll find a lot of information about how to sponsor refugees and how government-assisted refugees come, but there is no information about this category.

I think that step number one would be just to get the information out to the public. Maybe there could be even an awareness campaign. Can the sponsorship agreement holders play a part in disseminating that news? Could we maybe take a little financial pressure off those agreement holders?

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Can you provide this information to the entire committee? At least we know something is out there and we can use it and we can educate in our ridings, among other places.