Debates of Dec. 9th, 2015

Supplementary Estimates (B), 2015-16

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, the processing of private and government sponsorships are combined together. I do not have a breakdown for that.

However, I have somewhat better numbers for her first question, which includes both private and government. Processing costs overseas are $6.9 million. Travel costs for temporary duty and support staff are $6.4 million. Costs for logistical support for overseas operations are $1.3 million. Emergency locally engaged staff, meaning not Canadian, are $.9 million. Then there is a contingency of 20%. If we include all of that it comes to $19.1 million.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I just want to reiterate that when the questions are asked, the answers have to be about the same length as the questions. I want to remind the minister to try to stay within that timeline.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, will the government meet its target to have 2,000 government assisted refugees in Canada by December 31?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, that is certainly the objective which we are working very hard to achieve. We had good news yesterday about the exit visa issue being resolved in Lebanon.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, the minister has committed $14 million for personnel and $156 million for professional and special services. Could the minister explain if this means the department will be relying on consultants, rather than full-time staff?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, no, it does not mean that. The second item that the member has mentioned is not for consultants. We are relying on our own staff.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, what is the $156 million for, then?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, IOM. I guess we could call it a consultant, if we wished, but the International Organization for Migration is a wonderful organization whose director was just here. It is its responsibility to do all of the logistical work for us in lining refugees, arranging transport, and that kind of thing.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, the minister announced this morning that the interim federal health program is being restored for all Syrian refugees. Could the minister confirm whether the restored interim federal health program is available to all refugees?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, as of right now, it is available totally to Syrian refugees. Medical practitioners and provinces have been informed of that. In a very short time, the whole thing will be fully restored, but that second component of it has not yet been announced.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, does the minister have a timeline?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, clearly, in our platform, the judge said that it was “cruel and unusual” not to offer it, so we will do it as soon as we possibly can.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, is the funding for the interim federal health program included in the supplementary estimates? If so, how much?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, it is certainly included. I believe that it is about $6 million, but if that is wrong, I will let the member know in a future question.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, I assume that this is just for the Syrian refugees, then?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, yes.

Also, I was right. It is $6 million. That is the right answer.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, how much of the $11 million dollars for settlement will go to the municipalities to assist with settlement costs?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, the general procedure is that the costs borne by the federal government go to settlement agencies, which then provide that funding to the refugees themselves and for language training and things of that nature, and not to municipalities directly.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, assuming local governments will assume costs in welcoming the refugees, is there any amount allocated from the supplementary estimates that would be going to municipalities to support them in this work?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, no, not directly. As I said, this is a national project, so we expect all levels of government and all Canadians in all walks of life to do their part. Not every dollar spent by a municipality will be reimbursed by the federal government.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, how much of the $11 million for settlement services will go to the settlement agencies, then?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, the settlement and community integration is $108.2 million, which will go to resettlement assistance programs. That is a very major part of the expenditure. It is substantially more than $11 million.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, is the allocation based on the number of refugees that are assisted by the agency?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, not precisely, but by and large, yes. For example, every refugee family receives an income approximately equal to social assistance. Every refugee receives language training and health care, so that is pretty well proportional per capita to the number of refugees.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, do the supplementary estimates include the $3.6 million in additional funding announced this morning?