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.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
TORSBY, Sweden (AP) — David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the soccer dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager’s small hometown of Torsby.
Eriksson’s wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.
“It is a day of grief but also a day of thankfulness,” the priest, Ingela Älvskog, told those in attendance.
Beckham, who arrived by private jet on Thursday, greeted Eriksson’s 95-year-old father Sven and other family members with hugs inside the church before the funeral started.
Eriksson became England’s first foreign-born coach when he led the national team from 2001-06, and made Beckham his captain.
Eriksson, who also won trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Aug. 26 at the age of 76, eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent. The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson’s wish, with a big screen set up outside the church where hundreds more gathered to watch the ceremony. The funeral was also broadcast live on some Swedish media websites.
The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church Friday morning as fog wrapped Torsby — a town of about 4,000 people located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) west of Stockholm. Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by FIFA and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000.
The ceremony began with somber piano and organ music, but later took on a more upbeat note with Swedish singer Charlotta Birgersson performing Elton John’s song “Candle In The Wind” and then “My Way” in a duet with Johan Birgersson, who later intoned the popular Italian song “Volare” after the family had gathered around the casket to lay flowers.
Beckham also visited Eriksson in Sweden in June to say goodbye. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach’s longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Eriksson’s agent had said that guests from England, Italy and Spain were expected.
After the funeral, the casket was carried out of the church by eight men to the hearse. The guests then walked in a procession accompanying the coffin to a nearby museum where speeches and eulogies to the coach fondly known as “Svennis” were planned on an outdoor stage. A brass band played during the procession through Torsby, including the tune “You never walk alone” from the musical “Carousel” which has become the anthem of Liverpool, the club Eriksson supported since childhood.
The local soccer club Torsby IF, where Eriksson started his career in the 1960s, wrote on its webpage that “you also showed your greatness by always being yourself, the caring Svennis who talked to everyone and took the time, for big and small, asking how things were and how the football was going. We will miss you.”
