Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to return to Mr. Powell and Mr. Parsi.
First of all, I want to say thanks for the work that you and your organizations do every day.
As you do, I welcome the new government's statement that LGBTQ refugees would be a high priority, based on risk. I met immediately with the new immigration minister, and then I met with his successor, to ask what the government would do to make that promise a reality, to recognize that risk and make things happen. I cited both your organizations as examples of success, of how Canada might go about doing this.
I met with what I would call “institutional misunderstanding”, which was that LGBTQ refugees had the same access to the Canadian refugee system abroad as any other refugee would have. They could simply go into a camp and claim refugee status, as that would be easy, and if they were accepted and came here, they should get the same services and be settled with their community, just like any other refugee.
Maybe I'll start with Mr. Powell and ask him to talk about why that is or is not the case. I worry that the government will fold these pilots into general private sponsorship programs.