Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Syrian Refugees

government decision: Private versus government-assisted refugees While Kwan does not take issue with the government decision to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by February 2016 rather than at the end of 2015, as promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2015 federal election campaign, she is concerned that this number now also includes privately sponsored refugees, according to Rabble. Whereas privately sponsored refugees enter Canada through the support of Canadian citizens, who provide them with financial and emotional support, government-assisted refugees are supported entirely by the Canadian government and are "convention-refugees" . Because privately sponsored refugees come at the behest of citizens, and not the government, they should not be included as part of tally of 25,000 Syrian refugees accepted by Canada. "The commitment made during the campaign was very clear -- there will be 25,000 government-sponsored refugees in addition to private refugees. While NDP Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship critic Jenny Kwan, Canadian Council for Refugees' Janet Dench, and University of Toronto PhD student Kiran Banerjee emphasize that Canada Syrian refugee initiative is laudable in its scope and ambition, they have many questions for McCallum. The distinction between private and government-sponsored refugees is very important. Banerjee adds that "it would best to push for supporting expansive, community-oriented refugee resettlement policies we need to also make sure to not treat this as a substitution for government resettlement." When asked for comment, Citizenship and Immigration Canada Remi Larivieri states, "The government is committed to resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees by February 2016. So we will be watching this closely to make sure that the government fulfills its promise," Kwan argues. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.