Questions on Kenney's Refugee Plan

The government's recent reform of Canada's refugee system presents great challenges with regard to fairness and accessibility.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has finally initiated his long-expected reform of Canada’s refugee system. Most of the changes are directed at the in-Canada asylum scheme, creating a tiered system by shifting initial decision-making to bureaucrats and designating certain countries as presumptively safe. These reforms are problematic on a number of levels and present great challenges with regard to fairness and accessibility.

Also included in the reform package are changes to Canada’s resettlement program for overseas refugees. While the in-Canada reforms aim to limit access and reduce false claims, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)’s March 29 news release announced an expansion of Canada’s resettlement program to bring over more needy refugees from camps and urban slums. According to CIC, the expansion amounts to a potential increase of 2,500 resettlement places per year.

This sounds like good news, and the government announced it quite intentionally in advance of the inland reforms. It’s hard to complain about increased numbers. Refugees themselves cheered at the announcement. Yet, while I’m an advocate for increased resettlement – currently less than one per cent of the refugee population is resettled globally each year – I have some questions for Minister Kenney about the reality of these increases.

The announcement reads that the government-assisted refugee program would be expanded “over time by up to 500 places.” What does “over time” mean, Minister Kenney? Can I expect to see this expansion in 2011? And is it the number of resettled refugees that will increase, or simply the resettlement ranges?

Every year the government announces a numeric range for resettlement and aims to resettle within that range. For 2010, the range given in the 2009 Annual Report to Parliament for government-assisted refugees was 7,300 to 8,000. The lower number of 7,300 has been maintained since 2005. The 2010 range does mark a significant increase to the upper number, which previously sat at 7,500. Yet there is no guarantee of actual increased resettlement without an increase to the lower end. Even then, the government failed to meet the lower threshold of 7,300 in 2008. So, Minister Kenney, do you intend to raise the upper threshold further? Will you aim to resettle the maximum number rather than the minimum? Will you at least raise the lower threshold as well? Without an increase to the lower threshold, any increase is rendered meaningless.

The remaining 2,000 resettlement places would be added to the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. The 2010 range for private sponsorship was 3,300 to 6,000. While there was no change from the two previous years in the lower end of this range, the upper end marked an increase from the limit of 4,500 of the last three years. It’s unclear what difference this increase will make. Despite the previous 4,500 upper range, only 3,512 refugees came to Canada under the private sponsorship program in 2008. The government cannot simply increase private sponsorships by fiat; citizens are required to take on the obligations and expenses.

Private sponsorship enables groups of individuals and private organizations to sponsor refugees for resettlement. The sponsorship group takes on the responsibility of providing assistance, accommodation, and support for up to one year. While the Canadian government covers the administrative costs of the program, it is private individuals who provide the financial support attached to settling the refugee.

In 2006, the Canadian Council for Refugees assessed the annual financial costs of private sponsorship at $79 million, with an additional volunteer contribution of more than 1,600 hours per refugee family. It’s questionable for the government to boast of intending to accomplish a task it has left to private citizens. It’s also questionable whether such a promise can actually be fulfilled. How will you encourage private sponsors to take on more sponsorships, Minister Kenney?

While Minister Kenney is quite capable of changing the in-Canada system though legislative reform, I am not convinced he is making promises he can or intends to keep when it comes to resettlement. Promises to increase resettlement may soften the blow of the in-Canada reforms, but not if the increases come only as ranges and not actual refugees. Moreover, if increased refugee resettlement occurs, it will be mainly due to the efforts and financial support of private Canadians and not the government. Let’s ask for answers and be cautious before we cheer.