Evidence of meeting #15 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 syrian.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Lawyer, Desloges Law Group, As an Individual
I'll certainly see what I can find. Again, I don't think there's much out there, but whatever there is, I will certainly be happy to provide.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
The other thing you talked about as a no-brainer was private sponsors. You talked about the cost and how it was easy to find jobs because the people who sponsor them have jobs lined up, and language training.
Do those private sponsors help with every need of the people who come to the country? However, at the same time, we also need to balance the books. Do you have any thoughts on balancing the books of the private sponsors versus the others, unfortunately the minorities, or whoever the person is? Any thoughts on that?
Lawyer, Desloges Law Group, As an Individual
Do you mean balancing in terms of numbers or of finance?
Lawyer, Desloges Law Group, As an Individual
As I said before, we definitely don't want to exclude people from the system who desperately need our help, but at the same time we have to be sensible and know that we cannot help everyone, so decisions have to be made.
As I mentioned earlier, there could be a way to collapse programs together to make a blended refugee sponsorship program. The details of where those refugees would come from, whether they're provided from an external agency or whether they're self-selected by the sponsorship agreement holders, could be worked out. That would be a very good way of mobilizing all those enthusiastic volunteers across the country who are very excited about this program right now, and it would allow them to participate in the process as opposed to the government and the taxpayer having to bear the entire burden for them, yet you would still get to help people who have had a lot of misfortune.
An organization called Lifeline Syria is a perfect example of an organization that does a lot of private sponsorships, but they're not picking people from specific ethnic or religious communities, as some of the other sponsors are, because they're not a faith-based organization. There could be a million other organizations just like that. Again, if you give them their head and let them do what they want to do, they know the right thing.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
What are your thoughts on the cap put on private sponsorship recently? Is it a positive, or do we need to make changes to it?
Lawyer, Desloges Law Group, As an Individual
I disagree with quotas. That's one thing on which I disagree with the speaker before me this morning. Let all the people who want to privately sponsor refugees do so.
Conservative
Bob Saroya Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
To the councillor in Surrey, how many people have found a place to live in B.C.? It's a beautiful place. I was there last week and I have about 20 million cousins living there. How many people are still looking for a place to live there, please?
Councillor, Surrey City Council, City of Surrey
I think we have 746 refugees located in Surrey, and about 1,700 are located in B.C. About 50 or 60 Syrians are still looking for places to live.
Liberal
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank Councillor Villeneuve and Ms. Murphy for appearing before our committee today. I know that you and your colleague Vera LeFranc have been active on rescinding transportation loan programs. I'll be presenting your petition regarding the transportation loan program this week in the House of Commons.
I also want to commend you on your activism. It's partially because of it that the $25,000 for Syrian refugees was front and centre for the minister. I understand it's one of the reasons it was not charged.
I also want to make it clear that any privately sponsored Syrian refugee who was interviewed before March 1 was not charged the transportation loan, so your efforts have not been without fruition. They've paid good dividends. I also want to let you understand that the balance of the program is under review by the department. I know it is front and centre.
My question to you is in regard to your February correspondence with the committee. In that letter, you noted that Surrey has emerged as a primary destination for government-assisted refugees settling in B.C. I'm wondering if you might be able to share with this committee examples of refugees in Surrey, some of the first-hand accounts of the impact that resettlement has had on the repayment of their loans. I know you mentioned the Somalian refugee, but perhaps you could show how this affects people so that this committee has a better idea.
Councillor, Surrey City Council, City of Surrey
I had not had a direct conversation with the most recent Syrian groups because they're still getting settled. We'll be seeing that report at our Syrian Local Immigration Partnership meeting at the end of June.
I can give you another prime example. In order to educate the public, we have put out a number of publications to make people aware of the issues and the impact on their lives—
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Sorry. I'm asking specifically how the transportation loan has affected refugees. Obviously the Syrian refugees who have come now have not been charged for the loan, but how has it affected refugees who have come in the past? Has it hindered their ability to resettle?
Councillor, Surrey City Council, City of Surrey
It hinders their ability to resettle because they have that debt on their backs. The money they get through provincial assistance is maybe $1,100 a month for a family of four. Mr. Sarai, you know about the high living costs in metro Vancouver. Two young men living together get $1,000 a month, and they have to split that, plus their costs, so they are only receiving $700 apiece as refugees and welfare recipients. The cost of living is very high for them.
We are seeing that most people are not able to make ends meet by the end of the month. We've seen an increase of over 600 new refugees going to the food bank in our city, which is funded not by government but by people in the community. They're having a difficult time feeding their families. You can imagine trying to make ends meet in B.C. or in Surrey, where you live, on $1,100 a month. You have to pay your rent, your food, your hydro, your phone, your education costs, and your clothing costs. On top of all that, having to pay back a government debt would probably leave you with no assets.
This affects every new refugee who arrives on the government-assisted plan. They're starting with nothing. When I immigrated to Canada in 1970, I had English and a college education and I still had a lot of difficulty getting settled and established, even though I had the ability to find work quite easily. Just to get your feet on the ground as a newcomer is difficult, and when you have nothing it's even more difficult, given the high cost of living in our province.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
What aspect of the loan repayment is the most troubling? Is it the interest, the repayment schedule, or the size of the loan?
Councillor, Surrey City Council, City of Surrey
It's the size of the loan. I'd say the entire loan is troubling. It's unfortunate that we would be putting that kind of debt on people's backs. It should be eliminated because it's bad public policy.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, Ms. Villeneuve.
I'd like to thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee today.
With that, the meeting is adjourned.