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Canada’s and Canadians’ humanitarian tradition

CIHS President Michael Molloy , Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Associate Assistant Deputy Minister Dawn Edlund, Naomi Alboim and Doctor Nhung Tran-Davies recently discussed Canada’s and Canadians’ humanitarian tradition. The panel was organized by the Canada School of Public Service which has made this video link accessible. The panel discussed their respective experiences with major refugee movements – Alboim on the ‘boat people’ and recent Syrian movement as a co-founder of Lifeline Syria, and Molloy on the Asian Ugandan exodus and ‘boat people’.  Dr, Tran-Davies recounted her experience as a five year old ‘boat person’ coming to Canada and her later drive to become a refugee sponsor.

See also

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    ‘Boat people’ stories

    Canadians who came here under the ‘boat people’ movement are now telling their stories. CIHS is partnering with the Southeast Asian Canadian community organizations, Carleton University and others to capture the stories – many of which are now on-line, through the ‘Hearts of Freedom’ project. The project will ensure that the settlement experience of these…

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    Vietnamese Boat People Museum Fundraising Banquet – March 28, 2026

    The Vietnamese Boat People Museum, a project aimed at commemorating the experiences of over 1.5 million refugees who fled Vietnam following the fall of Saigon in 1975, is holding a gala fundraising banquet on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The invitation is extended to all and there is a particular hope that former immigration officers who…

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    The Settlement of Indochinese Refugees

    The Settlement of Indochinese Refugees: A Preliminary Analysis based on Interviews with Officials of the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission This 1981 report by Meyer Burstein, led the late Kirk Bell, then Immigration Director General of Policy at Employment and Immigration Canada, to call Meyer in for a chat. This work was Meyer’s introduction to immigration matters….

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    Speech by Mr. Raph Girard

    Extracts from a speech delivered by Mr. Raph Girard At the conference of the Association of Canadian Studies Gatineau, Quebec October 2, 2023 Canada has a well-established record of aid and advocacy internationally on behalf of refugees but the activities most visible to the public are those related to immigration.  In my remarks, I will…

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    French text in “Running on Empty”

    Running on Empty’, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press, includes texts written in French by officers of the Quebec immigration department and then translated. We are pleased to present these two original versions written by Florent Fortin and by Lucile Horner, both Quebec immigration department officers assigned to the Indochinese refuge camps.