Citizenship and Immigration committee  In terms of exact numbers, that's why I went to Statistics Canada--to give you numbers--but I couldn't, because when I saw the numbers, they were not good numbers. But if we look at Statistics Canada and talk about Montreal only and say there are 1,000 Iraqi people living in Montreal, most of them--I wouldn't say all of them--have a minimum of one family member to come here, so we're talking about 2,000 people if everyone brings one person only--a mother, a father, a sister.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Really? That's good. It's good to hear that, because people are desperate. Every day I see it, especially now when we have had the Canadian coalition group. They have 50 churches sponsoring every year, they told us. They came to present, and since then we receive calls every day.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Unlike the Lebanese and Moroccans, Iraqis speak English and not French, in general. I learned French in Iraq, where there is a French cultural centre. Iraqis have a gift for languages; that is why many of them speak several languages. It is not a problem for them. Things changed during the 1980s.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think so. It is difficult for me to answer questions like that. I am new to the refugee and immigration issue myself. Personally, I am involved in a different issue. But because I am Iraqi and there is a lot of need, I have got involved in this issue. I am learning, as everyone is.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much. I have given copies of my presentation for everybody. I want to give you an idea about what the Iraqi Community Centre is and what we do. The Iraqi Community Centre was started in 1986. With the coming of the first group of Iraqi immigrants in the 1980s, we saw that there was no organization to take care of them, so a group of Iraqi families grouped together to start this community centre.