Date: February 17, 1993
Author: Dave Cumming, Acting Area Manager, Canada Immigration Centre
Addressed to: Valentina Krčmar, Mothers for Peace – Bedem Ljubavi (Toronto Chapter)
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 2_Part59_Part2.pdf
About This Letter
This February 1993 correspondence from the Canada Immigration Centre responds to a prior letter written by Valentina Krčmar on behalf of Mothers for Peace concerning the handling of Bosnian refugees arriving in Canada.
In his reply, Dave Cumming, Acting Area Manager at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson Airport Immigration Centre, confirms that approximately 500 Bosnian refugees had recently arrived in Canada and that interpreters were employed to assist them through the immigration process. He emphasizes that these interpreters were selected for language proficiency only, not for their ethnic background, in accordance with Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Interpreters were brought in to assist us in dealing with the refugees in an expeditious manner. They were hired on the basis of their knowledge of the language. They were not screened on the basis of their ethnic origin, as this would be contrary to the Charter of Rights.”
Cumming’s letter also assures that Canada Immigration recognizes the “special needs and feelings of refugees from the former Yugoslavia” and that efforts were ongoing to support their settlement and integration in collaboration with the Bosnian-Canadian community.
Although polite and administrative in tone, the response reflects the bureaucratic distance between grassroots humanitarian advocates like Krčmar and governmental institutions — acknowledging her concerns without directly addressing the deeper emotional and cultural implications behind her advocacy.
