Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't actually say for certain, but I hear from other connections I have made in the community that there are about seven families. I asked Gule if she's been in touch with any of them. She said she has talked with them on the phone a bit, but no, she has not had the opportunit

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, that will be made a little simpler now that I have identified a woman in the community who speaks Kermanji. I really hope to be able to facilitate that. Having said that, I work full time and am a mother of five children myself. It's difficult sometimes, but it's something I

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As I mentioned before, we cannot treat this community as we have been treating other newcomers. There are some very unique needs that we need to acknowledge. As Omar said, it might take a bit longer, but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. Interpretation services might need

Citizenship and Immigration committee  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.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would absolutely agree with that. They need to be made a priority. Their needs are great, but their contributions are amazing too. They're going to make our country richer and better.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would definitely agree with that. I'm going to broach a controversial subject here, because I feel it's very important. Dunia, the 13-year-old daughter, told me that she feels she hasn't made a single friend in school, even though she is a friendly, outgoing girl. She said th

Citizenship and Immigration committee  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 p

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The case I'm involved with is a bit different because there's an adult with a severe disability, which also hampers their ability to leave the home and to connect with other families, so that's an issue. I feel a little uncomfortable actually saying where I think they should be

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, absolutely. I'm very encouraged to hear how well some of the other cities are doing, because I would like to be clear that I am in no way saying that I don't think the Yazidi population should be here or that we shouldn't bring more of these vulnerable women to our country.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It has been a real challenge to find translation. As an individual, I've been scouring my networks to find translation. I was a journalist for 20 years. I worked with refugees for five years. I've worked for international NGOs. I have many contacts. It has been extremely challen

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, and I think that's very evident in what I was telling you about the language they're using. They're saying, “I'm crazy. My daughter is crazy.” These are harmful things, but you can feel her desperation in that she doesn't know how to express their deep needs and her daughter'

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, thank you for asking that, Mr. Sarai. I taught English for many years as a volunteer, and I was actually really involved with helping the pre-beginner Syrian refugees who came a year and a half ago, developing classes for them. This is just a challenge that's very unique. I

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a fantastic question and a really interesting one because I, myself, have a deep Christian faith. Because that's part of my life, I've asked if I could pray with them, which they were very excited about because prayer is part of their culture as well. We were able to do th

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay. One of their sources of help is a very elderly neighbour, who is really ill-equipped to help them. I have so many questions. Why have they had no opportunity to gather with other Yazidi families? Why are mental health needs not being met? Why is this home not wheelchair