Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 30th, 2017

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, not just for your presentations today, but for the good work you do in our community.

There's no question the situation with the Yazidis is very challenging. It seems to me that there is a great need to build up some infrastructure and supports. In the communities where there is better infrastructure, they seem to be doing better, but in others, not so much.

To that end, Ms. Smith, I would like to start with you.

In terms of the infrastructure needs in your community, can you name the top three things the government can do to support your efforts and those of others like you in this work most importantly to support the families that are in need?

[Shannon Smith]

Yes, I can easily do that.

The first one is interpretation services that extend beyond six months, because communication is a barrier to all the other issues, such as transportation and mental health services, which would be my next two priorities: interpretation and access to personalized, individualized mental health care, not in a group setting, but in their homes.

This is extreme sexual trauma, even for children, and it's very difficult for them—outside the comfort of their home and a trusting, private relationship—to really, fully express what they've been through. I believe that's why they continue to relive it.

Transportation is a major issue, particularly in Calgary where there is cold and snow, where we have a woman who is confined to a wheelchair and an elderly mother who will never leave her side. She was nine months in the country and I just figured out that Gule did not even have a grocery cart, so she was carrying eight to 10 bags on each arm when we couldn't help her get groceries. Through the snow and the cold, she was bringing groceries home, trying to feed this family of seven people. How is she supposed to carry enough groceries? Transportation is a huge issue for getting the daughter to school, as well. These things are very overwhelming when you're already traumatized and cannot speak the language. For us, getting on the bus might be simple. For them, it's not.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

I'm going to turn to you, Mr. Chacon, on the issue around the interpretation and translation work you do through your agency.

You talked about the lack of funding, because as these different languages emerge, you may not have the already built-up capacity to develop and train people in this regard. Can you tell the committee what kinds of resources you need from the government to work in collaboration with you, so that we can actually build up this capacity to do the work that is so critically important?

[Benjamin Chacon]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan, for the question.

To begin, we actually have begun training interpreters in Calgary, and I think they can be accessed through different organizations in the city. One of the difficulties, I believe, is connections and communication between different cities to ensure there is capacity in those locations.

To answer your question, we've already developed an assessment for Kermanji, but one of the difficulties with the Yazidi community is that they speak several dialects. In order to meet their requirements and have people with capacity to help them, we need to develop new assessments to ensure that they have the fluency.

As for costs and funding, as I mentioned, we are a charity. We are able to generate and create assessments ourselves, but with the limited resources that we have, we only have a small capacity. Assistance from the government would be amazing if we could—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

What do you need from the government on this specific question?

[Benjamin Chacon]

We need funding.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

How much?

[Benjamin Chacon]

I would say $100,000 would go a long way to develop as many languages as possible in all the different communities.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Could you provide something written in terms of those needs and submit that to our committee, so we can actually have that information on record?

[Benjamin Chacon]

Yes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

On the issue around bringing other Yazidis here to Canada under the refugee program, I and others have advocated for it to be a special measure. That is to say, out of the government's allotted refugee number—which is 7,500 by the way—for the upcoming 2018 numbers I and others are advocating for the Yazidi program to come above and beyond the 7,500, so we don't displace other refugees who are in need as well.

I'm wondering whether or not you would agree with this being a special measure. I had always envisioned that even the 1,200 the government committed to was supposed to be a special measure, but it turned out it wasn't. It took away the existing numbers of refugees that we were accepting in Canada. Would you agree that this should be a special measure?

I'm going to start with the folks who are here, and then we'll go to the folks on the—

[Omar Khoudeida]

Yes, we need to bring more, because our communities suffered the most, and most of the people are displaced. It's been three years, and they still live in refugee camps. The ones who come here always ask if the government is going to bring more. They say they need their family members to come here too, because they are free here. They go to school. They have access to services like education.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

To that question, would you agree that there should be a special measure above and beyond the 7,500 refugees that we currently target to bring in out of our 2018 level numbers?

[Omar Khoudeida]

Yes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

I don't know if our other two witnesses would have an opinion on this question.

[Benjamin Chacon]

Probably it's—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay, interpretation is your thing.

We'll go to the folks on the screen. Ms. Smith, we'll start with you.

[Shannon Smith]

Absolutely. These are genocide victims. As part of the world community, we can't in good conscience turn them away. Yes, we need to be able to look back at this and say that we did everything we could, that we gave it our best and we cared.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay.

Mr. Al-Adeimi.

[Mohamed Al-Adeimi]

That is absolutely correct. With what the Yazidi families have undergone in 2016 and 2017, and there are still others who are suffering, the humanitarian aspect that the Government of Canada has committed to the United Nations is absolutely something that can reflect the values that our citizens and country have shown to the international community.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you. I'm afraid I need to cut you off once again. Sorry about that. We're at eight minutes.

Ms. Zahid.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thanks to all of you for coming today.

Mr. Khoudeida, based on the work you have done with the Yazidi communities, we heard some testimony about the difficulty of access to interpretation services for the newly arrived Yazidi refugees. To the best of your knowledge, how many qualified Yazidi interpreters are there in Canada?

[Omar Khoudeida]

I can't give you a number for Canada, because I work only in London. I'm based in London. We have certified 10 of us, working for the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre. We took the training in the centre and we work with the ladies and all the newcomers. We have girls specially trained to work with the women, for family doctors, for referrals, because they feel more comfortable with the ladies.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Could you discuss what role settlement agencies and other organizations are playing to help connect Yazidi newcomers with the existing Yazidi communities in London? You mentioned that there are about 500 people in London. What types of things do you do to connect the communities?

[Omar Khoudeida]

As soon as the announcement was made this year, London Cross Cultural Learner Centre connected with us right away. They came to us and asked for our help. We answered and got involved. We got trained for interpretation. We took the courses there, and since that day, we've been involved with them. We connect families to other agencies. We connect them to anything they need.