Canada is nowhere near to meeting its goal of welcoming 81,000 refugees by the end of 2021, according to numbers obtained by CBC News.
Figures provided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) show the department was about halfway to its refugee intake target on Oct. 31.
As of that date, Canada had welcomed more than 7,800 government-assisted refugees, well below the federal government’s target of 12,500. Canada had accepted just 4,500 privately sponsored refugees; the intake target for privately sponsored refugees was 22,500.
IRCC also recorded more than 32,000 refugees who qualified as “protected persons” — those who request asylum after entering the country — which was substantially below its target of 45,000.
In a media statement, IRCC said global migration “has been upended by the pandemic and the entire resettlement system is operating at reduced capacity.”
It said refugees now often face tougher travel restrictions in their home countries — making it harder for them to get out — while “international partners” like the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Refugee Agency lost time to pandemic-related shutdowns.
“In this era of upheaval, we continue to live up to our dedication, reputation and obligation by continuing to help the world’s most vulnerable find refuge,” IRCC said, adding that it had helped to resettle about a third of the global refugee population in 2020.
Precarious lives
For Bashar Jazmati — who has been waiting for permission to bring himself and his family to Canada as refugees since 2019 — the long wait has meant years of fear and uncertainty.
He escaped the everyday street violence of Syria and made it to Kuwait in 2015; his family joined him in 2017. He described what was like trying to raise a small child in the middle of a civil war in 2015 — like the daily walk with his toddler daughter that was interrupted by loud bursts of gunfire.
“It was surreal, the bullets in the neighbourhood, and I was singing [over it] to not give her consequences from the deafening sound of the bullets,” he said.
Jazmati and his family members live precarious lives in Kuwait. He has to periodically renew his work visa and said he fears that, as a non-citizen, he might lose the right to work. Key family decisions — such as whether to buy a new car or have another child — have been on hold for years, he said.
“I’m not criticizing. I’m just saying from my perspective it’s hard because you really need to have at least a secure job and know that you are staying here for two or three years,” he said.
The IRCC says successful refugee applications have ramped up again in recent months but the pandemic still has a lingering effect on processing numbers. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Jazmati had his last interview with IRCC on March 1 and has heard nothing from the department since.
The family’s sponsor is Heidi Honegger in Chelsea, Que. She said her efforts to get some news about the refugee application were sent sideways by the fall election.
“I know the wheels of government turn slowly,” she said. After first hearing from the office of her local Liberal MP, Will Amos, that it was seeking information, she said, she later learned that Amos would not be seeking re-election. She said she has heard nothing from his successor, Liberal MP Sophie Chatel.
Stagnant wait lists compound problem, groups warn
Refugee advocacy groups told CBC the glacial pace of application processing lengthens wait times for applicants who are not even on wait lists yet.
“Applications have continued to be submitted over the past few years while very few refugees have arrived,” said Kaylee Perez, chair of the Canadian Refugee Sponsorship Agreement Holders Association council, an umbrella group representing most of the 130 private groups that help Canadians sponsor refugee applicants.
She said the IRCC recently informed her group there are now more than 70,000 people on privately sponsored refugee wait lists — something she called a “historic backlog.”
“I think a lot of sponsorship agreement holders on the ground are doing their best to keep up with demand,” she said.
Perez said she does not think Ottawa should lower its intake targets for future years, despite the likelihood that it won’t meet its 2021 target.
A ‘political’ target
“There is a political aspect to this target,” Perez said, adding intake targets communicate “a strong commitment to the resettlement of refugees at a time where many countries around the world are not accepting refugees.”
She said IRCC told her it’s expecting to revive a semi-private program to cut applicants’ resettlement fees in “early 2022.”
The Blended Visa Office-Referred program (BVOR) sees refugee applicants’ resettlement fees split between Ottawa and private sponsors for a year. Although the BVOR has been suspended during the pandemic, it still had a target of 1,000 applications for 2021.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
The IRCC did not release any numbers to CBC about anybody coming into Canada under the BVOR program this year. It also did not make Immigration Minister Sean Fraser available for an interview.
“Insofar as it’s an opportunity for Canadians to respond to more refugees and to find solutions for more refugees, then of course we want to see [the BVOR program] back up and running and be successful,” said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
Both Perez and Dench are calling for better communication between the federal government and refugee applicants.
“There may be good reasons in some cases why things get moving and then stop,” Dench said, “but people don’t know and so people have just a lot of questions.
“At least if you get some sense of the reason for the wait and maybe when you can expect it to end, then it makes it that much easier to deal with.”
Jazmati said he’s clinging to hope — for himself and his family, still haunted by memories of war.
He said Honegger visited him in Kuwait in 2019. After Jazmati told her his daughter was still having nightmares about police checks back in Syria, Honegger brought the family a dreamcatcher.
“She was so excited by that,” Honegger recalled. “She was just like, ‘Oh I’m going to hang it up right now,’ and it was 4 p.m. in the afternoon and she goes, ‘I’m going to bed right now.'”
Jazmati said the dreamcatcher still hangs by his daughter’s bed today.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Nick Saban has a message for Tua Tagovailoa: Listen to experts, then decide what happens next.
Antonio Pierce had another message: It’s time to retire.
Saban, Pierce and countless others within the game were speaking out Friday about Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins quarterback who is now dealing with the third confirmed concussion of his NFL career — all coming within the last 24 months. He was hurt in the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, leaving the game after a scary and all-too-familiar on-field scene.
“This has to be a medical decision,” Saban said on ESPN, where the now-retired coach works as an analyst. “I mean, you have to let medical people who understand the circumstances around these injuries, these concussions — and when you have multiple concussions, that’s not a good sign.
“I think Tua and his family and everyone else should listen to all the medical evidence to make sure you’re not compromising your future health-wise by continuing to play football.”
That process — gathering the medical facts — was getting underway in earnest on Friday, when Tagovailoa was set to be further evaluated at the team’s facility. He was diagnosed with a concussion within minutes of sustaining the injury on Thursday and there is no timetable for his return.
“I’ll be honest: I’d just tell him to retire,” Pierce, the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, said Friday. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to play the game. I haven’t witnessed anything like I’ve seen that’s happened to him three times. Scary. You could see right away, the players’ faces on the field, you could see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua help. He’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football. Take care of your family.”
Concern — and opinions — have poured in from all across the football world ever since Tagovailoa got hurt. It is not a surprising topic — the questions of “should he? or shouldn’t he?” continue to play — nor is this the first time they have been asked. Tagovailoa himself said in April 2023 that he and his family weighed their options after he was diagnosed twice with concussions in the 2022 season.
But Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said it’s not his place, nor is it the time, to have discussions about whether Tagovailoa should play again.
“Those types of conversations, when you’re talking about somebody’s career, it probably is only fair that their career should be decided by them,” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins said Friday that they will bring in another quarterback, and for now are entrusting the starting job to Skylar Thompson. McDaniel said the team will not rush to any other judgments, that the only opinions that truly matter right now come from two sides — Tagovailoa and his family, and the medical experts who will monitor his recovery.
“The thing about it is everybody wants to play, and they love this game so much, and they give so much to it that when things like this happen, reality kind of hits a little bit,” Jacksonville coach Doug Pedersen said Friday. “It just shows the human nature, or the human side of our sport.”
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report.
BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.
Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.
Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.
Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.
Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Greg Harden, who counseled countless people at the University of Michigan from Tom Brady to Michael Phelps, and Desmond Howard to J.J. McCarthy, has died. He was 75.
Michigan athletics spokesman Dave Ablauf said the family informed the athletic department that Harden died Thursday due to complications from surgery.
The late Bo Schembechler, a College Football Hall of Fame coach, hired Harden in 1986 as a staff consultant and student-athlete personal development program counselor.
“He meant the world to me and I could never have had the success I had without the time, energy, love and support he had given me,” said Brady, a former Michigan quarterback who went on to win seven Super Bowls in a 22-year career.
Howard, who won the Hesiman Trophy in 1991, was part of the first wave of Wolverines to count Harden as a confidant, mentor and friend.
“Greg brought wisdom, joy and his calming nature to every encounter,” Howard said. “His presence will be missed by all of us.
“Although my family and I are heartbroken, we hold on to the lessons, guidance and memories that will forever be Greg’s legacy. We are blessed beyond measure to have had him in our lives.”
Harden, who was from Detroit, earned undergraduate and master’s degrees at Michigan.
Phelps lived and trained in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after emerging as swimming star at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and worked on his mental health with Harden.
Harden retired from his role as director of counseling for Michigan’s athletic department in 2020. He still continued to work, advising student-athletes at Michigan along with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the NHL team’s peak performance coach.
He published his first book, “Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive,” last year.
Michigan athletics announced Harden’s death, and shared statements from some of the many people who knew him.
McCarthy, a Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback, sent the school his thoughts in the form of a letter to Harden.
“You gave me the courage and belief as we fought hand and hand against the demons that I’ve spent my entire life fighting,” McCarthy wrote. “You have inspired me by your ability to unconditionally love everyone and everything.”
While many famous football players worked with Harden, he also was a trusted adviser for women and men in all sports and walks of life, including broadcaster Michelle McMahon, who played volleyball at Michigan.
“He poured his heart into thousands of students, athletes, and celebrities alike without any expectation of gaining anything in return,” McMahon said. “He dedicated his entire life to making a difference and investing in the growth of the young impressionable minds that were lucky enough to meet him.
“His captivating presence and charisma captured the rooms he walked in. Greg’s gift to the world was his unwavering ability to help people see themselves fully, in full acceptance of their flaws and their gifts. His relentless approach made it impossible for his mentees to give up on themselves.”
