Chris Alexander

: The announcement came Saturday afternoon from Chris Alexander, the minister of citizenship and immigration, in his east Toronto riding, according to Huffington Post Canada. Alexander said the government is "accelerating our existing commitment" to refugee resettlement, not increasing the actual target numbers. Syrians fleeing the civil war will no longer have to prove they are convention refugees under the United Nations Refugee Agency, but will be presumed to be refugees by Canadian authorities for the purposes of vetting their applications. The government will also appoint a special co-ordinator to handle the overall file of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, more than double the number of staff handling sponsorship applications and will expand the categories of refugees eligible for temporary government income assistance. "Security screening will remain the top priority," said Alexander, while assuring all medical screening and background screening will continue. The release from the prime minister says new Canadians are great ambassadors, while noting that one in five Canadians — some 6.8 million — are foreign born. Earlier Saturday, Stephen Harper announced in a press release that a re-elected Conservative government would create something called a "Maple Leaf" designation, to be awarded to no more than five to seven individuals per year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.