Clinton News Record, 2016-12-28, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, December 28, 2016
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Refugees deserve extended federal aid
The deadline known as
"Month 13" is coming -- or
has already -- for some of the
Syrian refugees now in
Canada.
The expression refers to the
date when federal govern-
ment support, which lasts 12
months, runs out for many of
the 17,627 government-spon-
sored refugees who were wel-
comed into Canada in 2015
and 2016.
Though provincial govern-
ments will provide help for
those unable to support
themselves, in many cases it's
not as generous. The City of
Ottawa estimates that 40 per
cent of government-spon-
sored refugees there will end
up on social assistance.
Privately sponsored refu-
gees have done better, but
they could face a rockytransi-
tion, as their sponsors' obliga-
tion to help ends once the ref-
ugees have been here a year.
Sen. Jim Munson, who
AFP PHOTO / Catherine LEGAULT
Sparta (L) and her brother Adeeb Fattouh, play Battleship in
their apartment in Laval, Canada, on November 30, 2016. The
children, with their mother and father, fled the war -battered
city of Aleppo to Beirut in 2012. They made it to Canada on
an airlift organized by the government in December 2015.
Welcomed with open arms -- some even received coats from
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself -- the Syrian refugees
who arrived in Canada a year ago are now facing their share
of difficulties.
chaired the Senate committee
lookinginto resettlement, said
not everyone can spend thou-
sands year over year on the
Syrians they supported. "You
will find people moving
towards the social -welfare
system in each province," he
predicts.
For Ottawa's 1,998 Syrian
refugees, for example, the big-
gest worry is housing, says
Louisa Taylor, director of Otta-
wa's Refugee613. If the lower
rental rates negotiated with
landlords when refugees
arrived are no longer availa-
ble, or if refugees suddenly
see a drop in income, families
may have to move.
In a report released last
week, the Standing Senate
Committee on Human Rights
said the federal government
must continue to support ref-
ugees as they integrate.
Government -assisted refu-
gees are the most vulnerable;
for example, 60 per cent of
privately sponsored refugees
have English-language skills,
compared to just 10 per cent
among govemment refugees.
The committee wasn't
assured the money from the
provinces will match what
the federal government has
given. Social assistance
rates, Taylor notes, are lower
than sponsorship funding
has been.
It was the federal Liberals'
idea to bring in almost
36,000 Syrians in a short
time period. Laudable as
that was, they can't justify
offloading so much respon-
sibility to the provinces at
Month 13. "The majority of
refugees are not ready to be
financially independent
after one year" says Taylor.
Housing subsidies would
be one way to keep helping,
alongside extending federal
assistance on a case-by-case
basis.
The Senate report makes
a dozen recommendations,
on everything from domes-
tic violence education to
family reunification to more
language training.
Canada did the right thing
opening its arms to the refu-
gees; let's keep it up for
longer than a year.
- Postmedia Network
It's about time we gave federal scientists back their voice
In an era when basic facts
and objective research have
come under renewed siege,
the Professional Institute of
the Public Service of Canada
(PIPSC) may have just struck
a significant blow for truth.
The union says the federal
government and the union
representing many Canadian
government scientists have
struck a contract deal that,
among other things, gives
back to federal researchers
the right to speak directly to
the public about their work
Embedding scientific
integrity in govemment con-
tracts should be entirely
unnecessary, of course. But in
modern times, politicians
obsessed with spin and
message control - and this
predates Donald Trump by
decades - have clamped
down on the basic duty of tax
payer -funded public servants:
to serve the public. Service
starts with information, and
the research government
experts conduct is informa-
tion we are all entitled to see.
The practice, more and
more, however, has been to
"muzzle" the scientists: not
permit them to present their
research in public talks, or
speak to journalists who want
to cover their findings, or even
be interviewed when their
work appears in scientific
journals, for instance. Activist
groups say federal scientists
have been "muzzled" on
everything from oilsands
research to science on polar
bears to observations about
shorebirds.
In a survey done a few
years back for PIPSC by
Environics Research
Group, 90 per cent of par-
ticipating federal scientists
said they felt they couldn't
speak freely to the media.
Half claimed the health of
Canadians, or environ-
mental sustainability, had
been tainted by political
interference.
When the research being
compromised is on topics
such as these, "muzzling"
can have grave conse-
quences. Instead of truth,
boilerplate press releases
and clumsy canned state-
ments spew from depart-
ment spokespersons,
replacing the voices of sci-
entists. Scientific announce-
ments are choreographed by
political aides with their min-
isters' electoral interests at
heart, not those of the public.
Justin Trudeau's govern-
ment, however, campaigned
in 2015 on a pledge of free-
ing up scientific voices and
setting data -driven policy. If
the PIPSC contract carries,
scientists reportedly will be
able to talk about their
research even if they aren't
officially designated depart-
mental spokespeople.
That's coming not a
moment too soon. The
Citizen's Tom Spears has
reported extensively on fake
science journals and com-
panies that are trying to gob-
ble up reputable ones. One
way to help out the fraud-
sters is to allow genuine sci-
entists to speak.
Permitting scientists to
describe their work is the
bare minimum of what citi-
zens should be able to
expect in a healthy society.
The best answer to a "post -
truth" world is to unfetter
facts, allow evidence, shine a
light on methodology.
Debate based on fact is
the best defence of liberal
democracy.
- Postmedia Network
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