As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau races to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in Canada by New Year’s, and Alberta’s Premier Rachel Notley winds up her efforts to welcome some 1,000 to Edmonton alone, I think it’s time we stopped sipping the kool-aid and smelled the coffee. I believe it’s our moral duty to help those in need, and I recognize that most Syrian refugees are good people deserving of sanctuary. Most will integrate peacefully into Canadian society. Few among them pose legitimate security threats. Yet for humanity’s sake we must admit no refugees.

Pollution in Canada

Holland College students build recycling bins for Charlottetown park

1) Poorer health There have been strides made on the part of many Aboriginal communities to improve education around health issues, but despite these improvements, Aboriginal people remain at higher risk for illness and earlier death non-Aboriginal people. Chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are on the increase. There are definite links between income, social factors and health. There is a higher rate of respiratory problems and other infectious diseases among Aboriginal children than among non-Aboriginal children - inadequate housing and crowded living conditions are contributing factors.   2) Lower levels of education Colonialism accounts for many bitter, demoralizing legacies, the most pervasive of which is education - the root of this particular legacy is that ultimate national experiment in assimilation - the Indian Residential School system. According to Statics Canada's 2011 Aboriginal Survey, 22.8% of Aboriginal Peoples had completed high school and post-secondary education.    3) Inadequate housing and crowded living conditions Three words - Attawapiskat First Nation. The conditions in this community drew national and international media attention to a housing situation that far too many Aboriginal communities struggle with. Attawapiskat drew the attention of the United Nations.   4) Lower income levels In 2010, the median income for Aboriginal peoples was $20,701, whereas the median income for non-Aboriginal people was $30,195. The earning gap between Aboriginal workers and non-Aboriginal workers shrank between 1996 and 2006 but, according to The Income Gap Between Aboriginal Peoples and the Rest of Canada, if the gap continued to close at the current rate it would take 63 years for it to be erased.   5) Higher rates of unemployment Aboriginal peoples have historically faced higher unemployment rates than non-Aboriginal people. The unemployment rate for the Aboriginal working-age population is 15% which is double the 7.5% rate for the non-Aboriginal individuals. [1]   6) Higher levels of incarceration The proportion of the prison population of Aboriginal background increased to 20.9 per cent between 2009-10 and 2013-14, rising from 4,019 to 4,860. Aboriginal women represent 34.5 per cent of all women in prison, while aboriginal men represent 22.6 per cent of male prisoners. Aboriginal adults represent about three per cent of the total Canadian population. [2] 7) Higher death rate amongst children and youth due unintentional injuries Children in Aboriginal families also have high rates of unintentional injuries and early deaths from drowning and other causes. According to Health Canada statistics, Aboriginal children are three to four times more likely to die from unintentional injury than non-Aboriginal children of the same age.   8) Higher rates of suicide And the most tragic of all is the higher rate of suicide among First Nation, Métis and Inuit youth. A 2016 Statistics Canada report found that more than one in five off-reserve First Nations, Métis and Inuit adults reported having suicidal thoughts at some point in their lives. Suicide rates are five to seven times higher for First Nations youth than for non-Aboriginal youth, and for Inuit youth, the rate is among the highest in the world - 11 times the national average. “Suicide and self-inflicted injuries are the leading causes of death for First Nations youth and adults up to 44 years of age.” (A Statistical Profile on the Health of First Nations in Canada for the Year 2000, Health Canada, 2003)

The committee was moved by the willingness of Canadians to welcome Syrian refugees and the eagerness of Syrian refugees to become contributing members of Canadian society. It was concerned, however, that the Government of Canada is not allocating enough resources to help them integrate

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Historically, legislation governing the registration of Indians treated women and men differently. Before 1985, if a status woman married a non-status man, her status was automatically removed and any children produced from the union were likewise ineligible. However, when a man with Indian status married a non-status woman, she was automatically granted status. In 1985, Bill C-31 amended the Indian Act, allowing many women and their children to reclaim their status. (See also Indigenous Women and the Franchise).

Here are organizations helping the homeless survive winter

Syrian refugees who receive a 1 rating will be on a list of as many as 10,000 names that the UNHCR office in Jordan will offer to the Canadian government.  (Annie Sakkab for The Globe and Mail) Let’s help our own without forgetting to help the refugees

“Indigenous families, women and girls cannot afford a ‘pause’ in your process. We have heard directly from families of (missing and murdered indigenous women) they are quickly losing hope that your inquiry will actually be relevant to them,” states the letter, dated last Wednesday.

The First Nations youth from one of the most remote communities in B.C. are learning to express themselves through music as part of a collaboration initiative that brings a mobile recording studio and video production team into schools and youth centres in native communities across Canada.

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Second-degree murder charges have been laid against a father and his girlfriend after the badly bruised body of a toddler was found outside a church in Edmonton.

How Religion Strengthens Community

working to support solidarity and justice-based relationships​with Indigenous peoples