John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote imagine
there’s no countries it’s not a hard
thing to do
except it’s pretty hard to do at least
for me it’s a very hard thing to do
every day I focus on the invisible lines
that divide people around the world the
laws and regulations that keep families
apart and our national immigration
system that manages the movement of
people from one jurisdiction to another
there are currently more than 22 million
registered refugees around the world if
we include those people who do not have
the means to register meaning the people
who are forcibly displaced the number
increases to 65 million people this is
roughly the entire population of Great
Britain or the combined populations of
Buenos Aires Istanbul Lagos Manila and
Paris in my office I help a lot of these
people and I have seen them in their
journeys sure we read we watch the news
and what we see is a glimpse and often
that glimpse is that one of the most
precarious points in their journey when
they are trying to find a safe border
crossing occasionally the news captures
some of the tragedy that can occur
during these life-threatening journeys
I’m not going to show you the body of
three year old Alan Kurdi a Syrian boy
who fled trying to make his way to be
with his relatives in Vancouver these
are some British activists who were
trying to raise awareness
on the risks that people face during
these journeys in my office I see
firsthand how borders entrenched in
history have a significant impact on
people’s lives these people have a
genuine fear that they will never find a
safe and secure place to live
borders and security we put these two
words together based on some real but
unlocked a safari Oda said fear leads to
anger anger leads to hate and hate leads
to suffering in my office I see a lot of
suffering I see the suffering of people
who have fled civil wars domestic issues
political strife persecution and
sometimes torture I’ve seen this the
suffering of people who have a genuine
fear that they will never find a safe
place to live yeah we go through a lot
of tissue in my office I recently had a
conversation with a school principal
about a family from Venezuela he was
concerned that their documents were not
genuine and he could not imagine that
Venezuelans may need refugee protection
in this case they left behind a house a
business and many loved ones they may
never be able to return but they were
targeted by the Venezuelan government
for writing political songs with an
anti-government message
yes they are genuine refugees now I
don’t blame the school principal social
media is clogged with misinformation and
misconceptions about those people who
are crossing our borders one of the
misconceptions that I see is that
refugees are a security risk every
refugee claimant is vetted and every one
of them must pass a thorough background
check another misconception that I see
is that all refugees are uneducated some
have never had access to formal
education others come with degrees and a
wealth of experience
finally a misconception that I hear all
too often is that refugees are a drain
on our social assistance notwithstanding
the moral and humanitarian reasons for
accepting refugees long-term studies
show that refugees pay more in taxes
than immigrants who come through the
investor stream now I believe that part
of the reason for these misconceptions
is a lack of personal connections so I
want to share with you a couple stories
today Matilde fled her country of
Burundi during period of civil war at
the time she was a university student
with a bright future but her people were
persecuted and suffered mass killings
she did not want to leave but she had to
escape she now works at a national
airline and she has helped dozens of
people settle in Winnipeg
Rosalinda and her family fled Chile in
the 1970s the Pinochet regime was brutal
at around that time more than 200,000
Chileans left their country and many
thousands came to Canada Rosalinda works
as a community legal worker
Toronto and she has helped literally
thousands of people with their legal
issues now these are exceptional people
but they’re not the exceptions they are
reflective of the positive social
cultural and economic impact that
refugees have on our country let’s
imagine there’s no countries how can we
break down the barriers we’ve talked
about the misconceptions and we’ve
talked about the positive impacts that
refugees have but what can we do when
refugees make it through the refugee
determination system they need to build
connections they need to build personal
connections with members of the
community and this I believe will get us
closer to realizing John Lennon and Yoko
Ono’s vision my story begins in the
1960s a young graduate student at the
University of Chicago disagreed with the
policies of her government she had to do
something about it
so she joined the set the so-called
second Underground Railroad and she
helped American men avoid the draft
during the Vietnam War estimates show
that between 30,000 and 100,000 American
men came to Canada under the radar while
she was at the University of Chicago she
met a Canadian PhD student these are my
parents
my mom’s passion for justice is one of
the reasons why I’m standing before you
today she understood the power of
connecting people from different
backgrounds while I was growing up she
was an enthusiastic host to exchange
students from around the world
I became an immigration lawyer to help
people realize their dreams and overcome
border issues now your mission should
you choose to accept it is to connect
with a refugee and to learn their story
our country is built on personal
connections between people
our communities are built on these
connections and this is how we share our
culture to break down the barriers we
need to forge strong personal
connections with people around the world
so that those invisible lines become
obsolete this is not an easy thing to do
but I fundamentally believe that we’re
up to the challenge thank you very much [Applause]
there’s no countries it’s not a hard
thing to do
except it’s pretty hard to do at least
for me it’s a very hard thing to do
every day I focus on the invisible lines
that divide people around the world the
laws and regulations that keep families
apart and our national immigration
system that manages the movement of
people from one jurisdiction to another
there are currently more than 22 million
registered refugees around the world if
we include those people who do not have
the means to register meaning the people
who are forcibly displaced the number
increases to 65 million people this is
roughly the entire population of Great
Britain or the combined populations of
Buenos Aires Istanbul Lagos Manila and
Paris in my office I help a lot of these
people and I have seen them in their
journeys sure we read we watch the news
and what we see is a glimpse and often
that glimpse is that one of the most
precarious points in their journey when
they are trying to find a safe border
crossing occasionally the news captures
some of the tragedy that can occur
during these life-threatening journeys
I’m not going to show you the body of
three year old Alan Kurdi a Syrian boy
who fled trying to make his way to be
with his relatives in Vancouver these
are some British activists who were
trying to raise awareness
on the risks that people face during
these journeys in my office I see
firsthand how borders entrenched in
history have a significant impact on
people’s lives these people have a
genuine fear that they will never find a
safe and secure place to live
borders and security we put these two
words together based on some real but
unlocked a safari Oda said fear leads to
anger anger leads to hate and hate leads
to suffering in my office I see a lot of
suffering I see the suffering of people
who have fled civil wars domestic issues
political strife persecution and
sometimes torture I’ve seen this the
suffering of people who have a genuine
fear that they will never find a safe
place to live yeah we go through a lot
of tissue in my office I recently had a
conversation with a school principal
about a family from Venezuela he was
concerned that their documents were not
genuine and he could not imagine that
Venezuelans may need refugee protection
in this case they left behind a house a
business and many loved ones they may
never be able to return but they were
targeted by the Venezuelan government
for writing political songs with an
anti-government message
yes they are genuine refugees now I
don’t blame the school principal social
media is clogged with misinformation and
misconceptions about those people who
are crossing our borders one of the
misconceptions that I see is that
refugees are a security risk every
refugee claimant is vetted and every one
of them must pass a thorough background
check another misconception that I see
is that all refugees are uneducated some
have never had access to formal
education others come with degrees and a
wealth of experience
finally a misconception that I hear all
too often is that refugees are a drain
on our social assistance notwithstanding
the moral and humanitarian reasons for
accepting refugees long-term studies
show that refugees pay more in taxes
than immigrants who come through the
investor stream now I believe that part
of the reason for these misconceptions
is a lack of personal connections so I
want to share with you a couple stories
today Matilde fled her country of
Burundi during period of civil war at
the time she was a university student
with a bright future but her people were
persecuted and suffered mass killings
she did not want to leave but she had to
escape she now works at a national
airline and she has helped dozens of
people settle in Winnipeg
Rosalinda and her family fled Chile in
the 1970s the Pinochet regime was brutal
at around that time more than 200,000
Chileans left their country and many
thousands came to Canada Rosalinda works
as a community legal worker
Toronto and she has helped literally
thousands of people with their legal
issues now these are exceptional people
but they’re not the exceptions they are
reflective of the positive social
cultural and economic impact that
refugees have on our country let’s
imagine there’s no countries how can we
break down the barriers we’ve talked
about the misconceptions and we’ve
talked about the positive impacts that
refugees have but what can we do when
refugees make it through the refugee
determination system they need to build
connections they need to build personal
connections with members of the
community and this I believe will get us
closer to realizing John Lennon and Yoko
Ono’s vision my story begins in the
1960s a young graduate student at the
University of Chicago disagreed with the
policies of her government she had to do
something about it
so she joined the set the so-called
second Underground Railroad and she
helped American men avoid the draft
during the Vietnam War estimates show
that between 30,000 and 100,000 American
men came to Canada under the radar while
she was at the University of Chicago she
met a Canadian PhD student these are my
parents
my mom’s passion for justice is one of
the reasons why I’m standing before you
today she understood the power of
connecting people from different
backgrounds while I was growing up she
was an enthusiastic host to exchange
students from around the world
I became an immigration lawyer to help
people realize their dreams and overcome
border issues now your mission should
you choose to accept it is to connect
with a refugee and to learn their story
our country is built on personal
connections between people
our communities are built on these
connections and this is how we share our
culture to break down the barriers we
need to forge strong personal
connections with people around the world
so that those invisible lines become
obsolete this is not an easy thing to do
but I fundamentally believe that we’re
up to the challenge thank you very much [Applause]
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