It has been four weeks since the photograph appeared. The lifeless body of the Syrian toddler named Alan Kurdi prompted an outpouring of compassion that had not been seen in sa国际传媒 in decades. For a week, refugee issues took over the federal election campaign. Provincial premiers wept on TV and promised support. And ordinary Canadians asked: 鈥淲hat can I do?鈥�
So where are we now? Locally, we are doing well and should have more than 120 refugees arrived or about to come to Vancouver Island by mid-2016.
There are two locally based sponsorship-agreement holders. An agreement-holder is an organization preapproved by Citizenship and Immigration sa国际传媒 to sponsor refugees. There are 95 holders across the country. One of the local ones is the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia, which operates on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The other is the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria.
As an agreement-holder, we work through constituent groups. Each constituent group works with one individual or family at a time. In the Diocese of sa国际传媒, groups are based in parishes. On Sept. 3, we already had a dozen constituent groups at various stages of the settlement process. Five of those cases involved Syrian nationals 鈥� 27 men, women and children.
Before refugees arrive, members of the group must have criminal record checks, be screened and participate in workshops on working with vulnerable populations. As an agreement-holder, we train the members of the groups in the basics of newcomer settlement. Budgets are prepared, housing is located, schooling looked into and so forth.
Then the happy day arrives when we meet the refugees at the airport, take them to their new home and then support them over the next 12 months as they learn English, figure out how sa国际传媒 works and settle in.
I am aware of at least 13 new constituent groups that are forming under the supervision of the Anglican Diocese. We had a public information session at St. Matthias Anglican Church 鈥� the parish where I work 鈥� on Sept. 9, and collected more than 274 volunteer sheets.
I expect that out of these, we will be able to form at least another six groups here in Victoria. That makes a total of about 30 constituent groups. The ICA will also form several new groups.
This is amazing. These groups will bring more than 120 refugees to the Island by the middle of next year.
Meanwhile, at the national level, not very much has changed.
Citizenship and Immigration has tinkered with some of the mechanisms of sponsorship, but the application process remains slow and complicated. A few years ago, it introduced blended-visa office referrals, who are supposed to be refugees who are pre-approved and fast-tracked for settlement.
On Sept. 3, there were exactly nine Syrian blended-visa referrals available. Since then, the number has gone up to three dozen. While this will speed up the arrival of refugees, it does nothing to add to the previously announced numbers of Syrian refugees that the government will accept. The Harper government is offering to match donations by Canadians to refugee assistance overseas, but that, obviously, does nothing to help bring them here.
I have yet to hear Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau suggest that they will change the current system. At best, the NDP and Liberals have said they would double or triple the numbers coming in. This still falls far short of the standard set in the late 1970s, when sa国际传媒 took in more than 60,000 Vietnamese refugees.
None of the potential prime ministers has taken up the suggestion of Gen. Rick Hillier that, with the assistance of the Canadian Armed Forces, we could have 50,000 refugees here in sa国际传媒, being processed on military bases, by Christmas. Now that would be a bold response, and more in line with what we did in the late 鈥�70s. But there is no political will to do so.
Our government has responded to a massive humanitarian crisis by treating it as one small aspect of immigration policy. Rather than asking: 鈥淲hat more can we do?鈥� the attitude seems to be: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the least we can get away with?鈥� Ordinary Canadians should rightly be frustrated with the lack of constructive response.
So where are we? On the local level, we are a lot further than we used to be. But on the national level, not far enough.
Bruce Bryant-Scott is the priest at St. Matthias Anglican Church in Victoria, and the refugee co-ordinator for the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia.
