Editor:
Re: A journey from persecuion to peace, Feb. 19, 2016.
Two years ago you ran a feel-good cover story about a “refugee” family of man, wife, and and their five children, and their local church sponsors.
I was particularly interested, and wrote you a letter remarking on it.
I myself sponsored an immigrant, and paid out of my own pocket every last dollar of support until that person was English-competent, working and self-sufficient.
Just a simple, immigrant-friendly, Canadian working guy, I am curious to how things worked out for this family. Below are my questions. In brackets are my guesses.
• After two years, is the family self-supporting? (No).
• Is the sponsoring church still paying for the family’s support? (No).
• Do members of the family occasionally vacation in their home country…the one from which they fled in order to claim “refugee” status? (Yes)
• Is the Canadian taxpayer paying for their support? (Yes).
• Are the adults working-competent in English or French? (No).
• Are the adults being administratively groomed to be able to vote for one particular party in the next federal election? (Yes).
As a taxpayer, I sure hope I am wrong on all counts. But inquiring minds want to know. A journalist’s inquiry, follow-up, and reporting would be great.
David Danylyshyn, Surrey