Finance committee  It could happen that in the middle of a recession, just when the government needs to borrow the most, the bond markets could stand back and say, “Whoa, we're not giving you any more money.” At that point, governments are going to be in a very difficult situation, as Greece found itself in 2015.

Finance committee  You're going to hear a lot about social policy this morning, which is all well and good, but it is worth remembering that during financial crises such as in 2008 or government fiscal crises such as gripped Greece in 2015, social policy was quickly put aside for the larger imperatives of stabilizing the economy and government finances. We cannot take the latter goals for granted, but we must always keep in mind the need to create the conditions where growth and prosperity can flourish.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Those asylum seekers, plus all the refugees resettled under formal processes, amount to a very small per capita number when set against the large flows seen recently in countries like Germany or Greece, let alone countries like Lebanon or Turkey. There are three big things that I think we know about how policy can shape public debates around immigration. First, events and particular policy failures matter.

Human Resources committee  Currently, there are 45 countries whose governments have recognized their national sign languages, including Ireland, Greece, Scotland, Italy, Mexico and New Zealand. Canada is not on this list. Such recognition in Canada would ensure the removal of barriers and ensure equal access, which is an important step towards becoming an inclusive, accessible Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It reminds me of the migrants that come across the Mediterranean, particularly to Italy and Greece, where the issue was that the Italians and the Greeks would say, “The cost to us is awful compared to what it is in Sweden or other countries.” That issue was raised a number of years ago.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It is the agreement between EU member states on proportionally how many migrants they would take from those countries that are the most exposed, namely Italy and Greece. Of course, there are a number of member states who successfully implemented what they promised. There are others who unsuccessfully performed. There are others who actually brought the European Union member states as institutions to the European Court of Justice, saying it was illegal.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Otherwise, if those fingerprints weren't taken, they would not be stored, and then the asylum shopping might start. Now it is addressed in a far more comprehensive way. It is done in Greece and done in Italy for all who arrive. Then it is just the agreements between EU member states that make sure that the migrants actually move around in internal resettlement. Concerning the interest of Canada to participate, that definitely would be a sovereign decision of Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  First of all, if we look at the eastern Mediterranean route, which is the link between Turkey and Greece, either the land border or the sea border, we see that most probably the highest number of people come from Syria. That was the case in 2015 and in 2016. Nowadays there is a certain shift in nationalities coming to Europe via that route, but the main reason was the ongoing war in Syria, which sparked a high increase in the numbers of people.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The countries that do this, just to give people some reassurance that it functions in functioning democracies, are Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and a whole bunch of others. I don't know if Samara, which we have all referenced and used quite a bit, have testified on Bill C-76.

International Trade  The Liberals also sold us out on our exchange rate policy, on our central bank policy. As Greece has found out, if we do not control our central bank, we do not have a sovereign state. If Washington does not like our exchange rate, chapter 33 forces us into consultations to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I believe some of the families that are in Canada, some of whom arrived through sponsorships and some whom arrived through UNHCR from Turkey and Greece, are not all included in that program, the 1,200. That being said, yes, there are about 3,000 survivors in IDP camps and in Sinjar who are seeking asylum outside of Iraq. We have been able to resettle some in Australia, over 1,000.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Those are the ones in northern Iraq, but the ones in Turkey or Greece are UNHCR refugees, if I understand.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As I mentioned, about 350,000 Yazidis are in IDP camps. Only about 6,000 Yazidis are in Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Jordan, as refugees. On your other question, especially for the Yazidi survivors—the women who survived ISIS captivity, some of whom were in captivity for over two years and survived—now, they have to go back and live in a tent, in that camp where they don't feel safe and where they faced brutal acts by ISIS.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Today, about 350,000 Yazidis remain in the IDP camps in northern Iraq, and about 67,000 in Greece and Turkey. Of those Yazidis who were taken into captivity by ISIS in 2014—mostly women and some children—1,200 to 1,300 remain in captivity, mostly in Syria. We believe some of them are also in Turkey.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We work all around the displacement cycle, from internally displaced to near areas, to programs in Greece, to supporting asylum, to a volunteer program in Denmark, to integration activities from language to family support, to diaspora programs supporting the diaspora to work and create projects back home, and to return to repatriation.