NEW What Canada is doing about the toxic forever chemicals in drinking water
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
As COVID-19 takes its toll around the world, it's only made life harder for the record number of refugees.
On Friday, a report from the United Nations refugee agency revealed that in 2020, there were 82.4 million people globally who were forcibly displaced from their homes. That's one out of every 95 people around the world.
This figure is up four per cent from 2019, when the refugee population was at 79.5 million, and has been increasing for the last nine consecutive years.
Filippo Grandi, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, sat down with CTV's Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme to discuss the worsening refugee crisis and how it's been affected by the pandemic ahead of World Refugee Day this Sunday.
Below is a transcript of the interview, edited for length and clarity:
Lisa LaFlamme: The global refugee crisis is just getting worse and worse. What are your projections going forward if something does not change?
Filippo Grandi: We'll have to continue to work, unfortunately, to address the humanitarian consequences of constantly rising displacement. This year, statistics are showing the for the ninth consecutive year an increase of several million. But we must restore the ability of the international community to deal with the root causes of these movement
LaFlamme: So, is there the political will to reverse this?
Grandi: I think there is a sense of interest. Forced migration has become such a global phenomenon. Unfortunately, the problem is that the "my country first" approach prevails look it's what's happening with the vaccines.
LaFlamme: World leaders, including Canada, have really been focused on protecting their own populations, as you say. Have they then just turned a blind eye to this growing refugee crisis?
Grandi: Canada has actually been one of the most coherent and consistent governments in trying to address every aspect of the human mobility crisis. Canada is also one of our largest donors.
LaFlamme: 160 countries closed their borders at the peak of this pandemic. So, what countries in your opinion did emerge as a sort of a model to follow on how to still ensure access to people seeking protection?
Grandi: Governments had to protect their communities, their population. But in that, I think that the countries that stood out, if I may say, are the countries that kept borders open in spite of that, or rather, that allowed asylum seekers refugees, pressing at their borders to come in. And this is essentially poor countries.
LaFlamme: The theme of this year's World Refugee Day is about the power of inclusion.
Grandi: I always say inclusion is the new protection for refugees. And this includes inclusion in vaccinations, for example. If you look at the COVID response, who was on the frontlines? Migrants and refugees were, with their knowledge, with their expertise, with their availability, when health staff was short everywhere. That's proof of how they can contribute.
LaFlamme: Inclusion is the new protection. Okay, much work could be done. Filippo Grandi, we thank you so much for your time tonight.
Grandi: Thank you very much.
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Calgary police have arrested a man and a charge is pending in connection with the death of a toddler in 2022.
Prince William will return to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Mainstream political parties failed to act on European farmers' complaints for decades, one farmer says. Now the radical right is stepping in.
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.