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.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
I call the meeting to order. Good afternoon.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on March 8, the committee will continue its study on the federal government's initiative to resettle Syrian refugees.
Appearing before us today is the Honourable Peter Kent as well as Rabea Allos, who is representing the Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council. I welcome both of you.
We will begin with a brief statement from the Honourable Peter Kent.
Peter Kent As an Individual
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon, colleagues.
I'll get to the point quickly. Notwithstanding all the wonderful truths about Canada's welcoming generosity over the decades and through successive governments, I believe the rush to achieve the Liberal campaign promise targets have created a domino tumble of foreseeable but unintended consequences.
My observations today are those of a private sponsor. I became a private sponsor with my wife Cilla last year after working for the last few years with constituents in the GTA in the Armenian community's orthodox and evangelical congregations and with the Melkite Catholic Church.
By way of background, the Canadian Armenian community has sponsored close to 15,000 Iraqi and Syrian-Armenian refugees over the past eight years. In the last six months, almost 4,000 Syrian Armenians were sponsored. At the moment, more than 500 Syrian-Armenian refugees are waiting for air transport to Canada, and roughly 2,000 Syrian-Armenian refugees are waiting for sponsors.
Most of the almost 10,000 privately sponsored refugees in the government's 25,000 target group had been in the admission process for many months before the election. Those arriving before November 4—in multiple family groups of 20 or 30 men, women, and children—allowed sponsorship agreement holders and individual sponsors time to manage all of their settlement responsibilities.
That all changed when sponsorship agreement holders' quotas were dropped and arrival numbers soared into the hundreds weekly. Even when the original and unrealistic end-of-year deadline was extended by two months, SAHs and individual private sponsors were overwhelmed by the suddenly accelerated volume of arrivals. They had to find temporary accommodation, permanent housing, furniture, schooling, documentation, and so forth. While government-sponsored refugees were provided paid hotel accommodation and per diems for weeks—and, in some cases, months—before being settled, privately sponsored refugees were covered for one hotel night only, and the costs then went on the private sponsor's tab. This was not a problem before November, but it became a serious financial burden for some private sponsors in December and January.
SAHs worked literally around the clock to manage the flood. The good news is that with the help of community groups, generous hotels, and a good number of reasonable landlords, settlement of the bulk of privately sponsored refugees has been, I believe, largely accomplished.
However, the abrupt deceleration of refugee processing after February 29 caused new frustrations for SAHs and private sponsors. Many millions of dollars are now sitting idle in SAH escrow accounts. Substantial financial losses have been incurred by some sponsors who leased accommodations—at government urging—for refugees who, they are now told, might not arrive until next year. I'm told by sources close to the Canadian embassy in Beirut that more than 2,000 refugees are now ready to fly to Canada. Airline bookings are very tight, and the embassy has had trouble finding flights. Also, there is continuing uncertainty over payment of ticket loans, repayment conditions, and the use of collection agencies pre-November 4 and post-February 29.
I have a few suggestions the committee might wish to consider with regard to your terms of reference: treat all refugees equally; waive the ticket loan program, regardless of arrival date; reinstate the charter program; restore and speed up the application process; and create new protocols or temporarily relax rules to accept internally displaced refugees, since many of the religious minorities are not in United Nations camps and are having a difficult time living on the economies in Jordan and Lebanon.
Moreover, I suggest that we sensitize the Lebanese and Jordanian governments to the plight of those Syrian refugees who entered those countries in flight but illegally and who have submitted applications to the Canadian embassies. These refugees will be handed over to the Syrian government if caught by authorities.
I think this is critically important, given Syria's military conscription policies.
I suggest that the government increase the number of joint government/private sponsorships and adopt a temporary rental subsidy program for refugees faced with high rental costs. I have no doubt that many, if not most, will become highly productive contributing members of Canadian society, but many of them need short-term support.
I suggest that the government encourage professional associations to better improve certification processes for arriving professionals.
Finally, Mr. Chair, in response to the minister's remarks earlier this month regarding Canada's broader global refugee obligations, I believe it's wrong to pit one refugee group against another. The government said Canada could do more. The government asked Canadians to do more, and I believe it is the government's job to ensure that more is done, but done properly. It is one thing, Mr. Chair, to land refugees on Canadian soil; it is quite another to fully settle them into Canadian society.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, Mr. Kent.
Go ahead, Mr. Allos, please, for seven minutes.
Rabea Allos Director, Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council
Honourable members, good afternoon.
I would like to thank you for the kind invitation. I am honoured to be here today to speak on behalf of the Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council. I am one of the founding members.
In the time I have today, I would like to talk about three things.
First, I will give you a background about the Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council and myself. Second, I will talk about the repatriation and resettlement of refugees in need of protection. Third, I will talk about the two streams of refugees who come to Canada: the government-assisted refugees, or GARs, and the privately sponsored refugees, the PSRs.
The CRSC was established in 2013 after the Second National Catholic Conference on Resettlement, which took place in Toronto in December 2012. At the conference, it was felt that there was a need to form a national body for Catholic refugee sponsors to share experiences and knowledge about refugee resettlement programs, given the important role that those agencies play in sponsoring refugees. There are about 100 sponsorship agreement holders across Canada, and about 30 of them are Catholic agencies.
In 2015, all Catholic SAHs combined privately sponsored more than 7,500 refugees. About 50% were Syrian nationals. Iraqi nationals were the second-largest group, in addition to Somali and Afghan refugees.
I personally started getting involved with refugee resettlement advocacy in 2005. A group of concerned Canadians grouped together trying to raise awareness and help Iraqi Christians and other minorities when the war in Iraq escalated to a civil war. In 2013, as a result of the Second National Catholic Conference on Resettlement, Catholic sponsorship agreement holders started to advocate for resettling Syrian refugees as the civil war in Syria intensified.
In June 2013, I joined staff and volunteers of the Office for Refugees, Archdiocese of Toronto—ORAT—on a trip to Lebanon to meet and interview Syrian refugees to select the most vulnerable for sponsorship in Canada. At the time, no one in Canada was discussing the Syrian refugee crisis. In fact, bureaucrats at CIC asked the SAH council to condemn ORAT, as there was no Syrian refugee program in place at the time.
In any refugee crisis you have to distinguish between protection need and resettlement need. The first goal for the international community is protection of refugees locally until a durable solution is available. A durable solution would be voluntary repatriation after the end of the war or the crisis, local integration in the host country, or resettlement in destination countries. Most refugees would prefer voluntary repatriation, meaning that their preference is to return to their homeland rather than to resettle abroad.
Resettlement to destination countries like Canada needs to be prioritized for the most vulnerable refugees, who will be hard to repatriate: the minorities of the conflict area, such as ethnic and religious minorities, political activists, women at risk, and homosexual and transgender groups.
Resettlement of refugees is the most important part of solving refugee crises. This resettlement should ensure that the refugee is integrated into society and gains financial independence as early as possible. The longer refugees remain on financial aid, the more difficult it will be to integrate them into society. That will ensure refugees do not end up in ghettos or on welfare for extended times.
The council recommends that the program name be changed from “private sponsorship program” to “civic resettlement program”. This will make the program more attractive to Canadians and will enable Canada to bring in more refugees who will be contributing to Canada's economy and growth. It will certainly remove belief that the refugee sponsorship program is a burden and an entitlement for financial aid.
As you know, Canada has two streams of refugees: the government-assisted refugees and the privately sponsored refugees. The GARs are usually selected by the UNHCR, an organization that is politicized by their donors.
The selection of the refugees is not based on needs, but on the wishes of the donor countries. For example, in the Middle East, minority groups do not stay in refugee camps, but rather live in run-down areas and work in black markets to make their living, as they would be persecuted in refugee camps. Therefore, UNHCR does not refer those refugees for resettlement in large numbers, even though they're the most entitled to it. We encourage the government to look into other options for referral agencies, such as sponsoring Canadian missions to troubled countries for the selection of refugees among the most vulnerable.
The program in Canada provides the refugees with generous financial support that encourages many refugees to feel entitled and not to work. In comparison, the United States offers refugees financial support for three months, to be extended only if the refugee proves it is needed.
CRSC believes the GAR program needs to be modified and turned into a blended system of financial support from the government that involves private communities and groups to provide moral support and ensure integration. We believe the government should not be in the compassion business.
Director, Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council
The PSR program has the following advantages that the GAR lacks: it has extended family unifications; it has mission trips to select the most vulnerable and disadvantaged; it is more economical and less of a financial burden on taxpayers; refugees are integrated and embraced by society, and hence less likely to be financial burdens or radicalized; and it builds bridges and fights against racism, prejudice, and xenophobia.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you, Mr. Allos.
Ms. Zahid, you have seven minutes, please.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I will take this opportunity to thank our witnesses for joining us today and providing their input.
My first question is for the Honourable Peter Kent. Last September several news outlets, such as CTV, The Huffington Post, and CBC, reported that you had tweeted and later retracted a photo of a Syrian refugee, falsely claiming him to be an Islamic State fighter. You also called for more prudent and detailed refugee screenings.
It is clear that the government has put into place security screenings addressing the concerns of the RCMP, CSIS, and CBSA. Given this, what further security screenings do you feel are necessary?
As an Individual
Sure. I'll explain that with regard to that tweet. I didn't endorse what was said. I agreed it was an ominous portrayal of the uncontrolled migration from Turkey through Greece and into Europe.
With regard to screening, I agree that screening is certainly necessary, and to meet the government's 25,000 quota, that screening was enthusiastically carried out with additional resources, but that ground to a halt after February 29. While it's prudent to ensure that those we welcome into Canada as members of Canadian society are thoroughly processed not only on a security basis but also with regard to health and other conditions, I think it can be done at a much faster pace, and we know that there is a backlog in both Jordan and in Lebanon.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Previously you mentioned all these screenings were done, as was said, by the RCMP—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Ms. Zahid, it might be coming out of the scope of what our study is to look at, so perhaps if you'd like to move to the next question.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
I'll move to the next question.
You stated in a media release on January 11 that “government-sponsored refugees receive unlimited support funding while locating housing and support services”, but this is not true. GAR received a limited amount of supplemental government assistance, and it is rather dangerous to perpetuate this notion that GAR has access to unlimited funding and government assistance. Government assistance ranges from city to city for all the GARs. For example, in a city like Toronto, a family of four refugees, with parents and two children under 18, would receive $5,455 as a one-time benefit, and also $1,507 in monthly support for up to 12 months.
Perpetuating this myth only serves to further challenge an already disadvantaged and vulnerable group and generate confusion among the Canadian people. Do you feel this is...?
As an Individual
No. Let me remind you again that I'm here as a private sponsor sharing my personal experience and perceptions. I'm not appearing as a representative of my party. I'm not appearing here to defend many of the perceptions, real and imagined, about the inequities involved between government-sponsored and privately sponsored refugees. I spoke to the issues of inequities that I see with regard to the travel costs and with regard to the financial burden imposed on private sponsors when the volume of arrivals increases the burden on private sponsors and private sponsor groups, SAH holders.
That one-night hotel stay was an almost insignificant benefit to the private sponsors, who all of a sudden.... I'll give you a good example. A number of the members of the Armenian community are sponsoring more than one family, and spaced out over several months, they were able to receive a family of normally five, six, or seven members, find accommodation, settle people, find their furniture, and get them into schools. However, all of a sudden in December and January, when the government accelerated the program and began using in the early weeks the private sponsors who had already been in the works for some months, or in some cases years, effectively dumping multiple families on people who had expected to settle one family at a time, it became a real burden both in terms of the cost of temporary accommodation and hotels and in finding permanent accommodation and all of the other settlement procedures that are involved.
Liberal
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Ms. Zahid has given me some of her time.
I have to say your submissions are actually quite refreshing, Mr. Kent. I appreciate your wearing your personal hat and not your previous hat or parliamentary hat. You served in the last government and continue to serve in Parliament, so it is actually quite refreshing to hear somebody of your partisan background profess a new-found enthusiasm for the refugee movement, larger numbers, quicker processing, and more spending.
There are a few things that I just want want to clarify. I just want to get some clarity from you in respect of what you've actually been indicating, because you've asked for rental subsidy programs, reinstating charters, and paid-for flights. You've also indicated that the PSRs should have been staying for longer than one night in hotels and then moving on to their privately sponsored family, recognizing full well that the private sponsorship is just that; it's a private sponsorship. It's meant to alleviate the burden on the government that allocates funding for the rest of the individuals who are arriving.
I want to ask you about the cost that you foresee in this exercise, putting on your previous hat of having been in cabinet. However, I find it a bit ironic, personally and professionally, for you to say that the divisive politics of pitting refugees against one another should be ended. It would have been refreshing to hear that kind of rhetoric prior to October 19 from people who you previously served with, because those divisions were actually accentuated by your party in the previous government.
In any event, you also said something, and I'd like some clarity from you on this—
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
You said that the government urged private sponsors to procure apartments, and that has never been done. It has never been done. I would ask you to produce some documents that provide evidence of the government urging private sponsors to procure apartments prior to people arriving on Canadian soil.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
The seven-minute time slot is over. We'll move over to Ms. Rempel for seven minutes, please.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Allos, I want to thank you as well as your group. Your group has done amazing work in Canada on this issue. It has been one of the largest groups to participate in this initiative.
I want to just tease out some of your thoughts around minority groups and refugee camps. The government has said that they are not using religion as a screen. I appreciate the sentiment behind that, but for anyone who has been to the region, you have to acknowledge that part of the conflict is religiously motivated. There are religious differences in terms of persecution.
I'm just wondering if you could speak to the fact that in prioritizing refugees, looking at the persecution of certain faiths isn't xenophobic. It's not a commentary on the faith itself; it's more the fact that some faiths are persecuted to a larger extent than others. I'm wondering if you could speak a little bit to your group's experience on how you think the process could be changed to acknowledge that there are certain minority groups, certain faith groups, who are persecuted to a larger extent in the region and who are perhaps not being reached by the initiative right now.
We heard from government officials that, for example, only nine Yazidi cases had been looked at in recent times. Perhaps your organization could speak to some recommendations around that situation.
Director, Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council
Actually, in a way it shouldn't be religious. However, if you look at refugees in the Middle East, you see that the most vulnerable are converted Muslims. They are more vulnerable than Christians or Yazidis. Atheists are more vulnerable. Then you have the Yazidis, then Mandaeans—it's a small group that follows John the Baptist—and then Christians. Those are the most vulnerable.
Definitely those groups, when the war or the crisis is settled, are the people who cannot go back, cannot be repatriated. They will be looking to move somewhere else—Canada, Sweden, the U.S., or Australia—and they will probably be easier to resettle and integrate into a society than those whose hearts are still back in the region.
At the end of the day, yes, I am a Canadian who is originally from Iraq, but my loyalty is to Canada, and it should be to Canada. It shouldn't be somewhere else.
We really should be looking to help those people who want to come here and their heart is here, not somewhere else.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Do you think the government is doing an adequate job right now of prioritizing the most vulnerable groups in the region through the refugee initiative?
Director, Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council
I don't think so. There was a political decision to bring in 25,000 within a certain time frame, and if you want to make that number you have to compromise on different issues. If numbers are more important than anything else, you will just go to the United Nations, get whatever is available immediately, and bring them over. I would rather give it more time to go out and select the most vulnerable.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
In terms of recommendations we could include in this report, how would you suggest the government could do a better job of prioritizing the most vulnerable in terms of their refugee initiatives?
Director, Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council
Look at agencies other than the UNHCR. The second largest in the world is ICMC, the International Catholic Migration Commission. They work very closely with the UNHCR. They deal mostly with refugees who do not go to refugee camps but live in the rundown areas in different parts of the world.
Second, I would definitely recommend that the government work with private Canadian groups to send them over to crisis areas, let them qualify the refugees, and make sure those are the most vulnerable ones.