Immigration Department and Liberal Government

Syrian refugees: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Talks with the military to provide assistance in bringing thousands more Syrian refugees to Canada are under way as the Liberal government appears to be spooling up efforts to make good on a promise to private sponsorship groups, according to Brandon Sun. Existing and retired staff from the Immigration Department are set to head overseas this month to begin working through hundreds of applications submitted by private groups across the country, Immigration Minister John McCallum said Wednesday. "We're doing everything we can to honour our commitment to deliver the refugees who had been applied for by March 30," McCallum said. McCallum says talks are underway with the military about again helping with efforts to bring Syrian refugees to Canada. McCallum committed to private groups to bring as many as 10,000 Syrians by the end of this year or early next, a response to the outcry that erupted when the government massive Syrian refugee resettlement program ended and the processing of applications returned to a far slower pace. The fact it was now going to take more than a year to bring people over left many groups frustrated. Hundreds of groups protested, saying they'd raising thousands of dollars, rented apartments and lined up other supports for Syrians under the assumption that while the large-scale airlifts might be over, helping Syrians would remain a top priority for government. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.