Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
Councillor Villeneuve, first off, thank you very much for your years of advocacy in both economic and social justice. I've known you in your work in your community for a long time.
I'm particularly interested in the city of Surrey. You mentioned that some 44% of GARs from the Syrian refugee crisis are settling now in Surrey. Based on the numbers the officials have given us, that's about 700 GARs, approximately, for the numbers who have settled in Vancouver.
To that end, there are two areas I want to explore, one of which you spoke about, and that's the transportation loan question and the impact on the Syrian refugees who are saddled with the burden of carrying this loan. Those who came before November 4 are carrying this loan, and I would also argue it's not just Syrian refugees but other refugees as well.
Given your vast experience and knowledge base in your community, can you speak about the real impacts for them in terms of people's ability to pay for rent, particularly after the twelve-month sponsorship period, and the ability for the children to engage in the broader community's activities that may require costs and all those kinds of burdens? Can you give us some examples of what that's been like for the refugee community saddled with this burden?