The Canadian Press requested all emails dealing with the subject Syrian refugees that were received and obtained by David Hickey, then-director general of communications for the federal Immigration department, for the three days following the death of Alan Kurdi. On the morning of Sept. 3, 2015, the photo of Alan lying dead on the beach appeared in newspapers around the world. “I need urgent responsive lines,” a staffer at the Canadian embassy in Beirut asked of the Immigration department. “Doesn’t matter how many thousands, a three (year-old) boy is dead,” wrote Jean-Bruno Villeneuve, assistant director of media relations for Immigration. Finally, at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 3, the much-discussed, three-line government response was posted to the Immigration Department’s website.

Source: thestar April 29, 2018 18:11 UTC