igloo

Wednesday November 25, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday November 25, 2015 10,000 Syrian refugees to be resettled by yearÕs end, 15,000 more by February The Liberal government will not meet its Dec. 31 deadline to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees and now says it aims to complete the program by February. The new target is to bring 10,000 people to Canada by year's end and the remainder in the first two months of 2016. The group will be a mix of government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees, all of whom will be identified by the end of next month. The Canadian government is working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as the Turkish government to find suitable candidates. Priority for government refugees will be given to complete families, women at risk, members of sexual minorities and single men only if they are identified as gay, bisexual or transgender or are travelling as part of a family. Private sponsors have no restrictions on whom they can bring over and the majority of refugees expected to arrive by the end of the year will be coming via private groups. All health and security screening will take place overseas and once that's complete, refugees will be flown to Toronto and Montreal, largely on chartered aircraft. From there, they will be spread across 36 different destination cities which already have resettlement programs in place. Temporary accommodation will be provided by the military if required, but the government aims to have lodging in place in the host cities and towns. The federal government cost for the program is an estimated $678 million over the next six years but doesn't include additional funding that could be necessary for provinces and territories. More than 500 officials have been assigned to work on the massive resettlement program, one of the largest of its kind in the world as it relates to the Syrian refugee crisis. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-s

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 25, 2015

10,000 Syrian refugees to be resettled by year’s end, 15,000 more by February

The Liberal government will not meet its Dec. 31 deadline to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees and now says it aims to complete the program by February.

The new target is to bring 10,000 people to Canada by year’s end and the remainder in the first two months of 2016.

The group will be a mix of government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees, all of whom will be identified by the end of next month.

The Canadian government is working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as the Turkish government to find suitable candidates.

Priority for government refugees will be given to complete families, women at risk, members of sexual minorities and single men only if they are identified as gay, bisexual or transgender or are travelling as part of a family.

Private sponsors have no restrictions on whom they can bring over and the majority of refugees expected to arrive by the end of the year will be coming via private groups.

All health and security screening will take place overseas and once that’s complete, refugees will be flown to Toronto and Montreal, largely on chartered aircraft.

From there, they will be spread across 36 different destination cities which already have resettlement programs in place.

Temporary accommodation will be provided by the military if required, but the government aims to have lodging in place in the host cities and towns.

The federal government cost for the program is an estimated $678 million over the next six years but doesn’t include additional funding that could be necessary for provinces and territories.

More than 500 officials have been assigned to work on the massive resettlement program, one of the largest of its kind in the world as it relates to the Syrian refugee crisis. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday February 20, 2004

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 20, 2004

Cutting back on the GG’s exces

The federal government has frozen the circum- polar travels of Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, just days after the Star revealed it cost taxpayers $5.3 million for her northern trip last fall.The decision, announced yesterday by Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, was explained in diplomatic terms.

“The first trip was a huge success,” Graham told reporters. “We don’t need to replicate that at this time, and we’ll be looking at future trips for the GG in the light of what we can do with the GG, but at this particular time we don’t intend to pursue anything to do with the Nordic trip.”

The first “circumpolar” tour last fall by Clarkson — with her husband John Ralston Saul, 22 staffers, and 59 “prominent Canadians” — racked up bills of $5.3 million.

It burned up nearly a third of the $16 million annual foreign travel budget for the GG, Prime Minister and foreign affairs minister combined.

When the bill came in the total exceeded even the government’s own projections, which were around $4.5 million. Coming in the midst of the sponsorship scandal over wasted taxpayer dollars, the tab embarrassed an already embattled government.

The second leg of the trip, to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Greenland that Clarkson was slated to conduct later this year, is now off. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

SaveSave