Evidence of meeting #89 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 help.
A video is available from Parliament.
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Interpreter, Cultural Interpretation Services for Our Communities
CISOC contacted me and sent me. This is the second time I've been here.
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Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
We'll have to end there.
Ms. Rempel, Mr. Maguire, you have five minutes.
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Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Ms. Sadrehashemi, we're beating around the bush on an issue here, which is that the UNHCR failed to recommend Yazidi genocide survivors to Canada through the Syrian refugee initiative and, frankly, through the GAR program after the Sinjar massacre.
You can get into the partisan politics of it. There was an audit issued. It became a campaign issue. There were failed allegations of racism. We've gone through two years of fighting on whether or not this should happen. The UN criteria always comes down; it's always used as a wedge.
I agree that there need to be objective criteria; however, in this instance, it is very clear that the list of GARs referred to Canada did not include Yazidi genocide survivors.
We've also had testimony in front of committee from Yazidis who have advocated for the program and whatnot and who are showing appointments well into the future in terms of selection process. I can't reconcile this. I don't want to make proclamations that a system isn't working writ large, but clearly the system didn't work in this situation.
Is there something this committee can recommend in terms of reforming that system so that it's still doing what it's supposed to do in terms of objective criteria, but is also being cognizant of the fact that these women can't get to camps and get on these lists, and if they did, they can't stay there. How does that system work?
This is why we advocated for a stand-alone system: we weren't getting these people into Canada. What can the UN do? What should we be advocating for in terms of the UN to reform the system so that in an emergent situation like this our asylum system is responsive to a genocide?
10:05 a.m.
Lawyer, As an Individual
That's a very good question. I find it difficult to comment on the very specific situation, but I could say in general that I agree that there are problems with the UN system. There are problems here for the Yazidi refugees and there are problems all over the world for people who cannot get to camps that are not identified by the UNHCR. That I for sure agree with, and that is something that needs further study and detailed recommendations that I can't give you.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Okay.
I'll pass the microphone over to Mr. Maguire.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Thanks to my colleague and to you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the witnesses for being here today.
Mr. Clifford, what is your budget for training?
10:05 a.m.
Director, Master of Conference Interpreting, Glendon College, York University, As an Individual
What is my budget? I'm not sure that I'm at liberty to discuss that in such an open forum.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Okay. I guess I'm just saying that there's a huge need from your end, from what you see, to train more people.
10:05 a.m.
Director, Master of Conference Interpreting, Glendon College, York University, As an Individual
Yes, I could give you a couple of numbers, for example, that might put things into perspective. For example, the financial people here at my faculty tell me that a classroom needs to have a minimum of 40 students in it before the university breaks even.
December 5th, 2017 / 10:05 a.m.
Director, Master of Conference Interpreting, Glendon College, York University, As an Individual
With all of my languages combined, I would never have in the classroom more than 15 people and, with a specific language pair, usually no more than five. I consistently operate at a loss.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
What would it take to find a classroom of 40 to do the job that is before you with the Yazidi people?
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Director, Master of Conference Interpreting, Glendon College, York University, As an Individual
It would take the sort of system that I was talking about before, whereby a number of institutions decide to pool their resources and, over a remote platform, decide to share classes. That's being done on an ad hoc basis, with a little bit here and a little bit there.
It's mostly being guided by the European institutions—the European Commission, the European Parliament—but that's operating at the level of conference interpreter training rather than community interpreter training, and it's a sporadic here-and-there. We do one or two classes a year with the European Parliament, and one or two classes a year with the European Commission, and that brings together maybe two or three universities at a time.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I saw a lot of millions of dollars given away last summer in one particular case. Just to use a number, how far would $10 million go in your effort?
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Director, Master of Conference Interpreting, Glendon College, York University, As an Individual
We're talking about $10 million invested within a broader area and divvied up among universities and institutions. That would certainly help.
One thing we are trying to do as well is figure out what are the mechanisms by which we can help graduates bridge from training to actual work and have meaningful work opportunities. That's an area we need to explore, because I think that would also help to allay some of the problems we have with costs.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thanks to all of you for coming today.
Special thanks to Nadre Atto for sharing her story.
My first question is for Ms. Sadrehashemi. I know that, with the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, you have worked with refugees from around the world who have faced, or are facing, unimaginable violence and persecution and are seeking to escape from extremely dire circumstances.
Could you discuss some of the vulnerable groups you have worked with and the help they need from the international community, including Canada?
10:10 a.m.
Lawyer, As an Individual
Yes, of course.
I've worked with refugees all over the world. I've worked with refugees from Iraq, Namibia, Sudan, Eritrea, China. I've worked with refugees all over the world, and first and foremost they need to get to a safe place. Once they're here, they need supports. Many of them have suffered extreme violence, and it is a long process for them to feel safe and be able to resettle. Also, part of that resettlement is being able to quickly reunify with family members.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
My colleague Marwan also mentioned that there are about 22.5 million refugees right now. What would you suggest to us as a committee? How should we structure our refugee system to ensure that the most vulnerable are prioritized for resettlement here in Canada? Should this be done on an individual or group basis, or should it be done based on their needs?
10:10 a.m.
Lawyer, As an Individual
In general I would suggest it should be based on need, but of course there are always situations where Canada may decide to do a special program or respond to an urgent need.
I think the main thing when you look at those numbers is that we need to increase our number of refugees. We need to increase the number of government-assisted refugees. The 7,500 is not enough.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
How do we make sure that the most vulnerable are prioritized?
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Lawyer, As an Individual
As I've said, that's a very difficult task, and I recommend communicating with experts on the ground and using objective criteria.
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Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Do you think Canada has done a good job as compared to the rest of the world?
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Lawyer, As an Individual
To be honest, most refugees are resettled in neighbouring countries, in some of the poorest countries in the world, and it is the wealthier countries that are not, in fact, doing their fair share.
