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Montreal’s Syrian refugee co-ordinator earns $1,800 a day

Montreal’s Syrian refugee co-ordinator earns $1,800 a day

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre has appointed one of his former colleagues to an $1,800-per-day job as special co-ordinator for Syrian refugees – a move one critic called “ridiculous.”

Following a closed-door meeting with his executive council, Coderre announced that Michel Dorais will be paid $110,000 over three months to head the city’s refugee welcoming and resettlement efforts.

Dorais served as deputy minister of immigration and citizenship from 1998 to 2004, some of that time under Coderre, who was a federal Liberal MP for 16 years, and served as the immigration minister from January 2002 to December 2003.

Coderre’s executive committee approved the terms of the appointment last Wednesday, retroactive to Nov. 19, and said the hefty salary includes vacation pay and compensation for not being part of the city’s pension plan, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Montreal is preparing to receive some of the 25,000 Syrian refugees the federal government has pledged to bring here by the end of February 2016.

The Feds have said they will be responsible for identifying refugees, processing their visas and transporting them to this country. Once here, the newcomers’ identities will be verified and they will be screened for any health issues before being transported to various communities around the country.

Co-ordinating the effort nationally is Deborah Tunis, a senior bureaucrat who was appointed to the role under the previous Conservative government.

Many provinces and cities have appointed special co-ordinators of their own to receive the refugees expected to settle in their jurisdictions.

The Alberta government has put aside $1.25 million toward the resettlement of between 2,500 and 3,000 refugees.

Lori Sigurdson, Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour, named deputy minister Andre Corbould last week as provincial refugee co-ordinator to make sure short- and long-term supports are in place for individuals and families coming from the war-torn country.

Corbould will not receive any additional pay.

“There is no defined timeline as for how long his job is expected to take, and he continues to receive his regular salary,” spokeswoman Leah Holoiday told Yahoo Canada News.

Ontario has promised $10.5 million over two years to expand services for refugees, who are going to need housing, language training, health care and trauma counselling, among many other needs. Some of the funding will go to organizations and groups that are privately sponsoring refugees.

Premier Kathleen Wynne established a Ministers’ Ad Hoc Committee on Refugees and appointed the province’s former deputy minister of citizenship and immigration, Joan Andrew, as executive lead.

Wynne’s office said Andrew has been retained until March 21, 2016, at a per diem rate of $400.

Ontario’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Michael Chan, who co-chairs the cross-government committee, had nothing to say about “municipalities in other provinces and their choices of public appointments,” spokesman Cecil Fong said.

The federal government’s map of “destination communities” is keeping track of the number and locations of sponsorship applications. Of the first 10,000 refugees who will settle here by year’s end, the majority will end up in the Montreal or Toronto area.

Toronto City Council approved $600,000 to fund a task force and the resettlement efforts of various city departments and agencies. A spokesperson told Yahoo Canada News that the city has not hired an external co-ordinator.

“One of the existing staff in (the) Toronto Newcomer Office has been redirected to focus on the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program, in addition to the management involvement,” Jennifer Wing said in an email.

Toronto Mayor John Tory declined to comment on Coderre’s appointment of Dorais.

Coderre’s opposition didn’t hold back.

Guillaume Lavoie, a city councillor with Projet Montreal and the party’s finance critic, said on Twitter on Monda, “We have thousands of employees at the City of Mtl. The idea that no one is qualified is ridiculous.”

“Coderre is asking people to give their time, but he is paying a co-ordinator $1,800 a day. It sends the wrong message,” Lavoie said.

Catherine Maurice, a spokesperson for Coderre, told the Montreal Gazette that Dorais has extensive expertise working with refugees and is the best person for the job.