XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, sk.politics   
   XPost: man.politics, mtl.general   
   From: Raisa@nyet.ca   
      
   The incompetents we know as the Harper Cons couldn't get failed refugees out of   
   the country by legal means, so they decided to use our tax dollars to bribe   
   these people to leave.   
   Take a look at the results of this project:   
      
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     — The Canadian Press — Jan 22 2015   
      
      
   Feds axe failed refugee return program   
      
      
      
   OTTAWA - A controversial government program which tried to get failed refugee   
   claimants out of the country faster by essentially paying them to leave won't   
   be renewed after a scathing internal evaluation.   
      
   The Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration pilot program, or AVRR, was   
   supposed to save time and money by getting low-risk failed claimants to leave   
   on their own instead of having border agents enforce deportation orders.   
      
   But an evaluation by Canada Border Services Agency found that's not what   
   happened.   
      
   "The need for the AVRR as currently designed is questionable in that removals   
   take longer and cost more compared to other low-risk removals since the refugee   
   reform came into effect," the evaluation found.   
      
   The controversial program was part of the Conservative government's overhaul of   
   the refugee system, launched in a bid to crack down on people making unfounded   
   refugee claims and tying up government resources.   
      
   Critics said the changes were made without considering the implications, a   
   point echoed by the government's own evaluation of the return project.   
      
   "Like many aspects of the refugee reform, the pilot program was designed based   
   on a set of assumptions that could not be validated prior to launch, some of   
   which proved not to be accurate," the evaluation said.   
      
   Among them: the idea that giving people money to help them resettle in their   
   home countries would convince them to stop trying to appeal negative decisions.   
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   "Since the assistance received decreases with each additional appeal made, it   
   was expected that more failed refugee claimants would choose to leave instead   
   of filing an appeal," the evaluation report said.   
      
   "The assistance paid so far shows this was not the case as more participants   
   made two appeals in 2013-2014 than in 2012-2013."   
      
   Those making claims from so-called safe countries, known as DCOs, were offered   
   $500 and those from elsewhere were eligible for up to $2,000.   
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   That didn't work as planned either.   
      
   "The Immigration and Refugee Board databases did not initially include a marker   
   to indicate which failed refugee claimants were from a DCO," the report said.   
      
   As a result,142 pilot program participants received about $234,000 they weren't   
   actually entitled to.   
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   About a third of the people in the program eventually withdrew.  That, along   
   with the fact the government wasn't able to recoup the cost of airfare as   
   planned, increased the operating costs.   
      
   Those who did leave, however, stayed away and the evaluation also found the   
   program was most successful when people registered on their own, rather than   
   after being contacted by border officials.   
      
   A copy of the report was posted online by the government this week.   
      
   The pilot program started in Toronto in 2012 with a $31.9 million budget and   
   was to run until this March of this year.   
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   "Since the comprehensive reforms to Canada's asylum system took effect, the   
   number of new asylum claims has decreased to historic lows, suggesting that the   
   reforms are successfully deterring unfounded claims," Wendy Atkin, a   
   spokesperson for the CBSA, said in an e-mail.   
      
   "The CBSA is committed to finding new ways of delivering its removals program   
   in a cost-effective manner while optimizing enforcement outcomes."   
      
      
      
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            Loyalty to the country always.   Loyalty to the government when it   
   deserves it.    ~   Mark Twain   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)