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THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK a Religion Refugee situation in Canada tragic By JIM RYAN 2nd Sunday In Lent Mark February We cant set up our tents without a Parks Canada Per mit The refugee situation in Canada Not pleasant Even if you can get here youll have to wait around Two Refugee Stories from Tuesday 19 1 The Globe and Mail page four above a onethird page ad for Royal Bank RSP loans printed a story Drowned man rejected at Border This is the full A twentyone year old Mex ican man who drowned in the icy waters of the Niagara River late Saturday night while trying to cross to Canada in a rubber raft had been refused entry on February Canadian immigra tion officials said yesterday A man from El Salvador who was also tossed from the raft swan to the Canadian shore at Witnesses said the twentyseven year old mans clothes were frozen from head to foot Religion and Reality VHlEMr by Jim Ryan The Salvadoran was treated in hospital and later transferred to a refugee centre in Fort Erie He is to be given another hearing on his application for refugee status Both men had been apprehend ed in the United States last week as illegal immigrants and were under orders to leave the US within seven days 2 The Toronto Stars lead editorial read Let refugees work and save money According to the Star one quarter of all Metro refugee claimants have been in Canada over one year Refugees number about 23400 in Metro Peel World Day of Prayer By NANCY THOMPSON St Andrews United Church World Day of Prayer March 1991 On the Journey Together is the theme of the World Day of Prayer service The women of Kenya invite us to come on a journey a safari with them in their country In preparing the service the writers travelled many miles to hear the stories of women and to reflect with them on their faith journeys They share with us their hopes and struggles As we gather on March for the 104th World Day of Prayer service we are invited to reflect on our own experiences and what it means for us as Christians in Canada to journey with our sisters and brothers in Kenya Each year the World Day of Prayer Service is written by women of a different country and distributed worldwide by the In ternational Committee for the World Day of Prayer which has representatives from 170 coun tries The International Commit tee had its quadrennial meeting in Jamaica in August 1990 to plan for the next four years and to select the themes and writer countries for the services In Canada the World Day of Prayer is sponsored by the Womens InterChurch Council of Canada a national council with representatives from eleven denominations Local services are organized by ecumenical groups across the country The offerings from the services are used to provide study and wor ship resources to cover costs of printing and distributing the ser vices and to support ecumenical projects in Canada and abroad Last year grants totalling were given to a variety of projects including education and skill development for low in come women in Montreal the set up of an ecumenical centre in Czechoslovakia and services to victims of wife abuse in Peru Belize Winnipeg and the eastern Arctic GEORGETOWN PHYSIOTHERAPY CENTRE SPORT INJURIES ORTHOPAEDICS GENERAL CONDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY HOURS MONDAYTHURSDAY 930730 FRIDAY ST UNIT GEORGETOWN Hwy 7 at A SUPER SPECIAL Hamburger Fries Pop Plus Applicable Taxes No Substitutes QUEENS PIZZA 8532530 294 Queen Street ACTON Durham and York Regions The federal goverment will pay welfare costs for claimants up to a year After that local municipal governments are responsible Peel Region has complained about this and sued the government to get its million welfare bill paid Ray general manager at Metro social services blames Barbara for turning motivated people into dependents and creating a backlash in the community against the able- bodied refugees who arent work ing The Backlog Barbara s system is called the Backlog Clearance Programme As of August 31 1990 the total Backlog in Canada was 063 These are people who have been waiting to have their refugee claims heard Some have been waiting for over four years They are not permit ted to be joined by their families until their claims have been ac cepted A report commissioned by the InterChurch Committee for Refugees has been sent to the United Nations Human Rights Committee complaining about the Backlog Programme and the physical mental and social toll it takes upon people Ironically the in Geneva which will receive the report entitled Civil Rights and the Refugee Claimant Backlog is the same interna tional body that awarded the Hansen Medal to Canada in The award was given in recogni tion of the major and sustained contribution made to the cause of refugees in their country and throughout the world over the years This was the first time the medal had been awarded to an entire nation It was a sym bol of how important the plight of refugees had become to Cana dians and in turn to government policy in the years since the early Bill C55 and Bill C84 passed by the Conservative government in the summer of and effective January 1 were designed to streamline the system Evidence suggests however that the delays are getting worse instead of bet ter Couple this with an increase in refugee claimants and you have a situation where refugees who are already suffering from the effects of natural disaster torture and rape now face a new terror an implacable sluggish bureaucracy Asfor the Gospel Mark asserts that there will be no glory without suffering Christ must undergo the passion of Good Friday before he can be resur rected on Easter Sunday The promise Mark makes to his readers is that those who have been disfigured by suffering and torture will be transfigured with Christ in glory Endnote Between War and Peace in Central America North Between the Lines 1990 Refugee Update Fall 1990 Issue No 8 SAME DAY TAX RETURNS 101 St Georgetown 8772217 8733050 232 Guelph St Sg Georgetown Contact Lenses hours Eye Examinations 232 Guelph St Arranged ELECTRONIC SERVICE GAMES COMPUTERS ETC 90 DAY GUARANTEE FREE ESTIMATES SERVICE PERFORMED ON PREMISES IED OR THE BEST SERVICE AT THE BEST CAU GEORGETOWN CUSTOM CAR SOUND q Retire a Millionaire Its easy Let show you how OPEN Extended Hours Saturday Feb 23 10 am3 pm Sunday Feb 24 10 am3 pm Tues Wed Thurs Feb 9 am9 pm Friday March 1 TILL MIDNIGHT 82 Main St S Georgetown 8772231 TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS Georgetown Market Place 8776963