Syrian Refugee Crisis

To: Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair, Justin Trudeau, Elizabeth May and Gilles Duceppe:

I am calling on you to set politics and campaigning aside to urgently address the mounting Syrian refugee crisis. Immediate, concrete and generous steps must be made to significantly increase Canada’s contribution both to resettling refugees and international efforts to resolve the conflict and human rights crisis in Syria. 

I am urgently calling on the government to: 

• Announce a program to immediately resettle a minimum of 10,000 Syrians through government sponsorship and provide support for generous levels of private sponsorship of Syrian refugees.

• Lift obstacles to speedy family reunification and allow refugee cases to be processed within Canada.

• Launch an immediate review of Aylan Kurdi’s uncle’s case to identify any obstacles that stood in the way of approval of his family’s application for resettlement to Canada.

• Intensify Canada’s efforts to ensure more effective international action to resolve the conflict and human rights crisis in Syria, including increased humanitarian aid and pressing for a comprehensive arms embargo.

All parties should articulate a concrete policy for Canada's response to refugees, including this current crisis.