Syrian Refuges and the Cost of Travel

It came as a shock to me last week when I read that refuges have traditionally had to pay their own airfare when coming to Canada. This rule has been temporarily waived since the election of the Liberal government in terms of Syrian refuges. There are however, no indications that the government sees something intrinsically wrong with refuges being placed in debt even before they arrive.

By the very definition of a refuge, one should assume that these individual are not wealthy people, that they have lost everything and have a legitimate fear that if they remain where they are, their very lives are at risk.  Because they arrive with almost nothing in terms of personal possessions, because their only access to housing, to food, to education and to jobs comes through either the largess of the state or private groups, they need time and space to establish themselves. In fact the Canadian government recognizes that each refugee needs to be supported for a year before they can start to be self-sufficient. But we, the Canadian people who with such great fanfare and much slapping of our own backs when they arrive, start to charge them interest on the "loans" for airfare as soon as they arrive!

According the CBC only two other countries charge refuges for airfare and only Canada charges interest on that loan. Really? I find inconceivable that anyone, anywhere in the world would think this is okay. I am embarrassed that I live in the only country in the entire world that places such a burden upon those who we say we want to help.

We want (I assume) these new Canadians to feel like they have a shot of making it, that there is some sort of level playing field, that they have some control over their destiny. We need them (and their children) to understand that because of our belief in fair play, that we will do nothing to sabotage their potential success.  I think we are a long way from proving that.

There is some research that suggest that the rise of gangs that are comprised mainly of kids whose parents are immigrants/refuges is in part due to the fact that those children and young adults see their parents (sometimes qualified for jobs they can't apply for) struggling and not getting ahead. Certainly in Europe, links are being made between individuals who feel separate from/disenfranchised from their society and the rise in home grown terrorism. While these links may be tenuous, we need to ensure that as a society we empower people to be in charge of their lives, not make them feel like they are already in debt before they buy their first piece of fruit or loaf of bread.

We need to help people get out of debt - not to ensure that they are in debt from their very first breath of Canadian air.

Come on Canada - we can do better than this.

Final Move

The last three or so weeks have be strange to say the least. In spite of the fact that I had lots of works to do, a warm place to sleep and grandchildren to play with, I have felt somewhat disconnected to the world around me. I don't yet feel as if I belong anywhere. Part of that disconnection was because my possessions took so long to get here. I spent almost a month living out of a suitcase at either my daughter's or my son's house. I appreciate their generosity and openness but what I really wanted to do was to sleep in my own bed. It was an unusual feeling to get up at my son's house, walk to my new place and working. I did that almost every day.

I dislike painting. I am not very good at it and I find the whole business boring. Perhaps if I were more interested in it, I would find the act of colouring a wall more exciting and therefore do a better job.  I like the results - I just don't like the process. I did find a great paint store and in spite of the fact that good paint is really, really expensive - I got some good deals and some even better advice.  At the end of the two weeks, all of the rooms were done. I guess I am reasonably satisfied with the colour of the walls. I would like to say that the whole place is finished - but that would be untrue. There are a few more window mouldings to be done and most of the hallway still needs a coat. There are a few more shelves to be built in cupboards and or course, a book case needs to be designed and built. It was a tiring process. Some days I was done by 4:00 but on a few nights I stayed until 8:00 or so.  I never felt as if I had accomplished very much. My back was frequently sire from all of the bending and squatting.

I had rented a car for the first few days but it was expensive and not a particularly good use of my money. Having a car made it easier to shop for paint and the bits and pieces that I needed but I was not using it enough to warrant the cost. So for the next 10 days I walked everywhere. Walking to and from my new place, or downtown did take a fair amount of time but the walking give me a chance to become reacquainted with Duncan. Somewhat paradoxically, not having a car made it much harder to buy a car. Most car lots/dealerships are located away from the downtown core. Which I suppose makes sense in terms of the amount of space they require. But it meant that I had to walk a fair distance to see what was available. After considering a number of choices, I did buy a 2007 Hyundai Accent hatchback. I would have liked a slightly larger car but this one will suit my needs just fine. As I was struggling with the decision as to what to buy, I constantly reminded myself that one should consume what one needs - not what one wants. It is tough some days to practice what we preach.

"My" truck arrived exactly when I was told. The driver decided that he could not navigate the big truck through what in his mind were the far too narrow streets and sharp corners of the park. I think another driver would have tried but as he drives for a living - I was forced to trust his judgement. They had to rent a smaller truck from the local U-Haul folks and transfer the load. I was not happy about the extra cost.

I have spent the last five days un-packing. I have enough coat hangers to overwhelm a family of five, but I can't find my kitchen scissors. I have spent hours looking for cables for the stereo system and even more time looking for the bits and pieces required to make my computer work. There are still piles of boxes of books scattered about the place and my weaving room has become the holding tank for everything that I don't know what to do with. This place while it might be about the same size as my old apartment, has far less inside storage. I am having some trouble finding places to put away things that I think I need but don't use very often. To make things more complicated, I have no living room furniture - or rather I have lots of stuff for the living room but I am still looking for a couch and chair. It is hard to know where to put the bookshelves or the guitar stand or my grandmother's wicker trunk until I know what kind of furniture I am going to get. But I have my own bed, I have all of my music around me, access to a real telephone (as opposed to a cell phone), a computer with internet, Netflix to watch at night and all of my other stuff (even if I can't find it quickly or easily).

I guess I can declare that the move is finally done. It has been a long almost six months from the time I decided to buy something in Duncan until today. I think the cost and the hassle and the emotional and sometime physical pain has been worth it. But only time will tell.