During a meeting Wednesday, February 10, the Hon. John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, stated that the issue of waiving the airline tickets loan for the Syrian refugees, who arrived in Canada before November 4, is on the government agenda.

He further stated that he is “actively considering, actively reviewing this.” The minister was responding to retired Citizenship Judge Aris Babikian’s question as to whether the minister was planning to waive the loan for refugees who arrived before November 4 . The date was an arbitrary one and was set to coincide with the formation and swearing of the current government.

The two-tier policy has created huge stress for refugees who arrived before Nov. 4. They find the policy unfair because they have come from the same war-torn country, have experienced the same anguish, and finally, they were counted towered the Liberal Party election promise to settle 25,000 in Canada by the end of 2015.

During the meeting the Minister elaborated his government's plan to resettle the Syrian refugees, the challenges his department faces, and the overwhelming generosity of Canadians who welcomed the refugees.