Friday May 27, 2016
By Carol Sanders
Tom Denton with some of the 10 Somali orphans he helped rescued from Saudi Arabia in January. CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Thousands of refugees who have found a safe haven in Winnipeg have Tom Denton to thank.On Thursday night, some got a chance to do just that when Denton’s lifelong service and commitment to securing sanctuary for refugees from around the world was honoured.
The 81-year-old executive director of Hospitality House Refugee Ministry has been involved in roughly 8,000 refugee sponsorship applications in the last 40 years. With an average of 2.3 people per sponsorship, that works out to Denton helping 18,400 refugees get to Canada. Counting their children and grandchildren born here, tens of thousands of people have Denton to thank for growing up in a safe country.Most of the 10 at-risk Somali orphans whom Denton helped rescue from Saudi Arabia in January were there to see Denton receive the Ihsan Award from the Islamic Social Services Association at the Winnipeg Central Mosque. The elaborate and complex mission to get them out safely and resettled in Winnipeg was Denton’s finest "caper," he said at the time.
Thursday’s event was to thank volunteers and donors who support refugees coming to Manitoba — especially Denton, said ISSA president Shahina Siddiqui.
"Tom has for years been working selflessly not only advocating for refugees but also getting involved in removing barriers by speaking up, bringing them in and giving them sanctuary," Siddiqui said. "So many refugees talk about their experience with Tom — the way he raises their confidence. He shows the true face of Canada to newcomers — the compassionate face."
Denton’s first experience with sponsoring refugees was in 1979 with the Rotary Club of Selkirk and helping a family of five from Vietnam resettle. In Winnipeg, he was involved in sponsorships with the First Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada, along with the Citizenship Council of Manitoba that became the International Centre where Denton became executive director.
The International Centre in its day was the big resettlement agency in Manitoba for government-assisted refugees. Now it is Welcome Place. More than 11,000 government-assisted refugees were received and settled while Denton was there. They opened his eyes to the "echo effect" of government-assisted refugees who get here and want to bring their friends and relatives, too. Private sponsorship was the only way they could hope to join them here, said Denton. He managed to get the centre its own refugee-sponsorship agreement with the federal government.
When he joined Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, he was able to help with the sponsorship of even more refugees. He helped set up the Winnipeg Private Refugee Sponsorship Assurance Program in 2002.
Denton’s program is an insurance scheme that transferred the risk from Winnipeg sponsors to the city. That enabled more people to privately sponsor refugees, and the city assumed little risk, with an estimated one per cent of family-linked sponsors running into financial trouble.
Families have been reunified, and Manitoba’s population, economy and diversity have grown thanks in part to refugee resettlement. The assurance program set to expire at the end of 2016 is in the process of being renewed, said Denton who, in 2014 received the Order of Manitoba.