Christine Boyle and Thi Vu: Vancouver should accept thousands of refugees

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      By Christine Boyle and Thi Vu

      The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean has moved us all. The stories, images, and sounds of people trying to find passage to safer lands has struck a personal chord with many of us living in Canada, and has hit particularly close to home in Metro Vancouver, where Ghalib, Alan, and Reham Kurdi should have been living.

      From neighbourhood to neighbourhood, and across the web, people are asking one another what they can do. The urge to respond is real. Yet people’s desire to help is being met by regressive immigration and refugee policies of the current federal government. It’s an important moment to be reminded that we’ve done this before.

      In 1979, moved by images of hundreds of thousands of refugees attempting to escape Vietnam through dangerous and deadly boat journeys, then Ottawa mayor Marion Dewar rose to the challenge. And she brought a willing and compassionate country with her.

      At the time Canada had an annual quota of 8,000 Southeast Asian refugees, and half those spots had already been claimed. And so, the federal government, in response to an international call for help, offered to take 4,000 Vietnamese boat people. Mayor Dewar’s response? “We’ll take them.” She meant that Ottawa, on its own, would resettle 4,000 Vietnamese refugees, and she challenged other cities to match her.

      Ottawa at the time had a population of 400,000, so it seemed reasonable, Dewar reflected, that they could easily welcome 4,000 refugees. With that goal publicly set, faith communities, the media, and the general public stepped up the the plate, fundraising and signing up to privately sponsor refugees. The initiative became known as Project 4000, and it shifted the role the country would play in welcoming and resettling refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

      Following Dewar’s example, leaders across the country stepped up too, so much so that Canada eventually resettled 60,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees. And we are a better country because of them.

      For thousands of Vietnamese refugee families this groundswell of compassion was life-saving. Vietnamese "boat people" were driven by the same desperation as Syrian refugees today. Vietnamese parents uneasily decided to take their families and loved ones through risky journeys, many on makeshift boats, in order to have a chance at living and raising their children. Their stories were no different from the millions of Syrian refugees today who have come to the difficult decision that their country, their community, and their home, is no longer livable. The result of the compassion and leadership from Mayor Dewar and many others, is that since 1979 Vietnamese refugees have become a part of Canada’s social fabric.

      And now, as a region of roughly 2 million immigrants living on the territory of the Squamish, Musqueam, Tsleil-waututh, Tsawwassen, Semiahmoo, Qayqayt, Kwikwetlem, Katzie, and Kwantlen First Nations, we have history we can look to for inspiration. Leadership matters, at every level. It matters to have a vision, to set clear targets, and to create the space and the supports for people to rise to the occasion.

      People are seeking leadership on this issue. Canadians want their willingness to help to be mirrored in their leaders’ actions. According to the federal government, in 2014 Canada accepted 12,300 resettled refugees. The Conservatives have pledged to accept 20,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees over the next three years, of which they say 2,500 have already arrived.

      In contrast, Germany expects to welcome 800,000 this year. The Mayor of Munich said on Sunday that they aren’t asking how many refugees they can afford to resettle, but how the city can make the new arrivals feel safe at last.

      We hope that we will elect a more compassionate government in Ottawa come October 19, one that will act to increase the number of refugees settled in Canada. But until that day comes, we need strong leadership elsewhere, starting in our cities. Toronto mayor John Tory has said that the issue of refugee resettlement will be on the agenda of the next Big City Mayors meeting. Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi has been highly critical of the federal inaction. Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson hosted a public forum on the Syrian refugee crisis on Tuesday and is asking the federal government to increase its targets. OneCity is calling on Mayor Robertson, as the chair of the Big City Mayors, to do more, to set a bold target for Vancouver that publicly declares in no uncertain terms, “Refugees are welcome in Vancouver”.

      The UN Human Rights Council has asked Canada to welcome 10,000 refugees. OneCity believes Metro Vancouver should seek to welcome that many, and that we should set the bar for what other regions across the country can do.

      With a deepening affordable housing crisis, this won’t be an easy task for Vancouver. But the failure of all levels of government over the past three decades to create adequate housing should not be an excuse for avoiding other crises. In fact, perhaps this crisis can be yet another catalyst to move beyond ‘market mechanisms’ and finally get real about affordability in Vancouver and neighbouring municipalities.

      It’s also an opportunity for Vancouver to stop dragging its heels and join Toronto and Hamilton in becoming a Sanctuary City. Local activists and immigrant and refugee serving community organizations have been tirelessly advocating for more supportive and welcoming policies at the local level for years, including pushing for Vancouver to formally state its support as a Sanctuary City. Robertson and Vision have spent the last year and a half talking about and studying the initiative. It’s time to make it happen.

      To be fair, this is not just a challenge for our local government. It is a task for all of us lucky enough, by birth or by circumstance, to live here. The challenge isn’t just to open our pocketbooks, but to open our hearts and our doors. Vancouverites, moved immensely by this crisis, certainly seem willing. What we need now is leadership to set a vision, and to assist in tackling the bureaucratic hurdles.

      Vancouver is a better city because of the thousands of immigrants and refugees who now call it home. We can be a better city still. As author and journalist Eduardo Galeano wrote, "the world was born yearning to be a home for everyone." Let’s make that so in Vancouver.

      Christine Boyle is a founding member of OneCity Vancouver. She is a local community organizer and parent.

      Thi Vu is a founding member of OneCity Vancouver. She and her family were government-sponsored refugees from Vietnam in 1979, part of that year’s wave of “boat people” who were welcomed to Canada.

      Comments

      10 Comments

      jim Anon

      Sep 9, 2015 at 5:03pm

      the feds. just not wanting muslims, beating around the bush is dishonest.

      Sam-Ottawa

      Sep 9, 2015 at 5:55pm

      Have you forgotten Howard Adelman's Operation Lifeline, started in Toronto slightly ahead of Project 4000, that stirred up the whole country as well?
      Many groups in Vietnamese communities in Canada have already started to respond by forming private sponsorship groups - Group of Five. They don't forget the safe haven they were given... some 40 years ago after the fall of Saigon.

      Natty

      Sep 9, 2015 at 9:18pm

      1- It's poor writing to presume how others feel. You don't get to decide that.
      2- It's been reiterated again and again that there were no attempts to bring the Kurdistan family to Vancouver despite early media attempts. People need to stop manipulating that boy's death for their own purposes.
      3- The Vietnam War brought refugees to Canada only at war's end. People fleeing for their safety. Many Syrian refugees get to safety and then decide they'd rather be somewhere else. Kind of looks like an economical choice rather than a practical one.
      4- What's the ultimate plan here? Empty out Syria and leave it for ISIS?

      Jane

      Sep 9, 2015 at 10:23pm

      When did Canadians feel they could choose to give up their humanity?? Why doesn't helping others, who are genuine in need, fleeing from a war torn country make an impression on so many Canadians? I feel Canada's policy needs to shift to helping genuine refugees and not just economic immigrants who mostly park their money here, leave & contribute nothing 2 this community. When there is so much humanitarian suffering we should open our doors 2 help others ( like Germany & progressive countries) I know that newcomers are always the hardest working people willing 2 support their family & do hard labour, construction, cleaning jobs, fast food, crappy low paying jobs 2 support their family. They have so much courage than Canadians feeling entitled & not willing to work hard jobs with low pay .. I'm saddened to hear right wing ideologies have conscripted the short sighted: "We can't afford it, they might be jihadists, (Extremist make up 0.003% of the worlds Muslim community) they want our stuff, take care of our own first, they want to impose their religion, (please! No one is going to force your girlfriend to wear a Burka)"

      I challenge every single one of you who says no to refugees. Go back and check how many generations between you and the the first of your family who migrated here. Then imagine where would you be if standing at the border was someone like you.

      Dante Freidman

      Sep 9, 2015 at 10:42pm

      Qayqayt does not hold any traditional territory. Traditional territory is based on strength of claim and acknowledged by the crown based on proof of ethnographical and historical documentation. The province of BC correctly does not acknowledge the Qayqayt First Nation and defers consultation matters to the Kwantlen First Nation. Kikait is a well documented known fishing village in Surrey which belonged to the Kwantlen people. Know your history before you quote incorrect information.

      Silo

      Sep 9, 2015 at 11:59pm

      NO!

      Bill

      Sep 10, 2015 at 2:00pm

      The average working person cannot afford rent in Vancouver. The refugees will have to get free housing, medical assistance, and money because they have no money and no jobs. The taxpayer will be supporting many of them for decades. How generous do you want to be? What sacrifice are you willing to make?

      @Natty

      Sep 11, 2015 at 8:18am

      "Many Syrian refugees get to safety and then decide they'd rather be somewhere else. Kind of looks like an economical choice rather than a practical one."

      Many Syrians get as far as a refugee camp, or a quasi- or illegal entry to a country that wants them to leave as soon as possible. Though they may be safe, or at least safer than staying in Syria, neither of these circumstances is particularly secure in the long term, or often in the short, so it's not only natural but sensible that these Syrians should want to move on.

      Like you, refugees cannot begin to (re)build a life without some kind of economic security - what you call an "economical choice" to try to immigrate is, in fact, a practical one.

      These people are not only fleeing their homes but their entire built lives and communities. The fear and desperation is unimaginable to anyone who has not been forced to do the same. The lack of compassion we are showing is astounding.

      No

      Sep 13, 2015 at 3:05pm

      I wish people would stop mistaking this for the Vietnam war.
      What does this attitude do to help the twenty million people stuck in Syria?
      It doesn't help them. It hurts them more.
      You want us to leave them to deal with the murderous Assad and the Jihadi nutjobs. "To hell with them" you say?
      Personally, I think that makes you sound like bad people to me.

      We aren't Germany. Germany can do whatever it wants but we don't have unlimited housing, jobs or money, or a collective guilt complex over a Nazi past.

      And let's not forget

      Sep 13, 2015 at 3:38pm

      That the refugees are paying thousands and thousands of dollars to smugglers. Money that most of us do not have. Assuming that people won't lie about their resources is racist.
      There's some reports that the father of the drowned boy (the image being used to provoke a knee jerk and inherently stupid response) was himself a smuggler.
      If you want to deal with reality in archetypes and images, That's your prerogative. The rest of us are still entitled to deal with the world in terms of factual reality.