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Today on the Hill: Time running out for Tories to implement new refugee policy

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Nov, 2014 10:47 AM

OTTAWA — The Harper government has until today to revamp health coverage for people who are in Canada as refugees.

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the government will act "soon," but has not indicated whether Ottawa will implement a new health care policy for refugee claimants.

Last Friday the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the Conservative government's efforts to buy more time to deal with the issue.

The Tories implemented a new refugee health-care program in 2012 which critics say drastically reduced coverage, basing it not on need but rather on the nature of the refugee claim itself.

Liberal MP John McCallum has called a news conference today to talk about the issue.

Here are some other happenings expected today on and around Parliament Hill:

— As Canadian fighter jets take part in a bombing campaign in northern Iraq against Islamic extremists, senior defence officials will tell a Commons committee about the effectiveness of the mission so far;

— The Commons finance committee will hear from Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz and deputy governor Carolyn Wilkins about the central bank's monetary policy report;

— And the group Food Banks Canada releases its annual HungerCount study, which looks at the extent of food bank usage across the country in 2014.

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