Liberal Government

Canada: Bureaucrats in Canada and abroad have been working nearly around the clock in recent weeks to get the Liberal government as close to its goal as possible but McCallum moved to lower expectations last week that the target would be met, saying a host of factors, including possible weather delays, meant it wasn’t a guarantee, according to Globe and Mail. Storms did delay at least two government flights this week. There were seven government flights expected to arrive in the final two days of the year, carrying around 1,900 people; the government does not provide details on refugees travelling commercially. It was unclear from data available Wednesday whether the government would meet another revised goal — how many refugees would be approved to come to Canada by year end. As of Dec. 29, 8,593 Syrians in total have passed through the expedited screening programs set up in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon in recent weeks that included interviews, security checks and medical exams. In November, they had said all 25,000 would be chosen by Dec. 31, but last week the government said they were now aiming to have at least the 10,000 applications approved by that date. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.