Roundup: A hedge on refugees?

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It looks like the new Liberal government may be walking back a little on their first election promise, around the 25,000 Syrian refugees. Initially the promise was 25,000 government-assisted refugees with additional privately sponsored refugees on top of that figure. Yesterday, it sounded like the 25,000 will be a combination of the two based on comments by the minister, but Trudeau seemed to contradict that in his press conference while the minister’s spokesperson was hedging somewhere around the fact that there may be some privately sponsored among the 25,000 this year with more to come in 2016, but I’m not sure that the privately sponsored numbers will be that significant in the short timeframe that it would be too much of a difference for that 25,000 target. Meanwhile, it sounds like plans are being developed to fly a thousand Syrian refugees per day out of Aman, Jordan, while temporary lodgings are currently being worked out. No doubt we’ll hear more details in the coming days.

Good reads:

  • Prime Minister Trudeau heads off today for the G20 meeting in Turkey and the APEC Summit in the Philippines. There, he’ll meet with Barack Obama.
  • Trudeau also announced that there will be a First Ministers Meeting on November 23rd, in advance of the Paris climate conference.
  • On his way to the Paris conference, by way of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Trudeau will meet with the Queen.
  • Also before the end of the year, Trudeau plans to meet with the leaders of the five major Aboriginal organisations.
  • Heritage minister Mélanie Joly said she will consult more before making a “prompt” decision on the Victims of Communism Memorial.
  • The NDP named their critics yesterday, erroneously dubbing it the “shadow cabinet” (a term for the official opposition), and hey, everybody gets a portfolio!
  • Stéphane Dion talks Iran, Russia and Israel.
  • Harjit Sajjan says that training Iraqi troops is in the long-term interest, and insists he’s not a badass.
  • Here’s an evaluation of Trudeau’s decision to head the cabinet committee on national security, and what its priorities need to be.
  • Here’s a preview of the changes coming to the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct.
  • Susan Delacourt previews the mandate letters from the new cabinet, which among other things reminds the new ministers that they need to engage with reporters.

Odds and ends:

Scott Brison confirms that the brand is once again “Government of Canada,” and won’t be Trudeau Government™.

The government is expected to drop their appeal of the niqab ban court decision today.

3 thoughts on “Roundup: A hedge on refugees?”

  1. The number 25,000 is not overly large if compared with much smaller countries in terms of territory and populations who accept more than Canada, Sweden per example. However any refugee program is very expensive from A to Z when one thinks of all the elements involved. Many of those refugees arriving in Canada, will not have language skills or work skills compatible with the Canadian market place. Not to mention the psychological issues of what they went through. Private sponsorship requires a lot of ressources from the folks who want to get involved. AMMAN, Jordan is a good choice to bring people to Canada given the airport and the good relations Canada has enjoyed for years with the Hashemite Kingdom. With the PBO today stating that the previous government mislead Canadians on the budget and the huge deficit looming, I understand why the PM is rethinking the scope of government refugee intake vs private, hopefully the terrible events in Paris and the hysterical response of the Right in Canada will not force a new approach, despite fact that all governments are always keeping an eye on public sentiment.

      • Despite Sweden’s generosity integration is a problem and has been for years. I remember refugees who had been resettled in Scandinavian countries, lived there for years and then decided that they wanted to come to Canada which offered them better chances of integration.

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