The director of the Canadian Council of Refugees recently complained that resettling of refugees is now being politicized. A case study of a refugee golfer who used his rangefinder from the ocean to work out how far it is to get to shore. He was only a mid-range golfer, but has now been accepted as a citizen of the community. Initially, the resettling was done by the civil servants. They were in charge of making the relocation decision. The civil servants worked together with the UN refugee agency. However, today, the decision is being made at a ministerial level.
The ministers are prioritizing one group over another, which is very sad. It is common to hear a minister in the House of Commons saying that these groups should be taken care of first before the second group. Jane Dench explains that it is becoming a popularity contest for refugees. This is very dangerous since a group application can be disapproved without even considering other favours.
Hassan Farida, the executive director of Outward LGBT Community, says there is a long line of refugees who have been approved, but they are still stuck in the backlog. It would take years to get into the country. Most refugees do not have that much time. Hussein, therefore, urges the government to take action and act quickly as this population is very vulnerable
The number of LGBT who are coming to Canada has recently reduced significantly. Last week, there was a motion to increase the number of refugees, especially LGBT who are being admitted to Canada. In addition, it’s stated that there should be a permanent pilot program that would help LGBT relocate easily. The motion, however, was denied.