As vulnerable refugees arrive in Canada, they carry the weight of war and persecution. Arriving in a new country, they put their trust and safety into the hands of the Canadian government and the organizations hired by Ottawa to help them resettle and navigate their new homeland.
A CTV National News investigation has uncovered that one refugee organization in the Toronto area has been sending unsuspecting families out to find their first home with a real estate agent who鈥檚 currently facing a sexual assault charge.
Ghassan Alsouki, who also works as a driving instructor, by a female student in January. His criminal case is still before the courts.
featured Abdul Basir Talash, a father of six children. The family fled Kabul for Canadian soil 10 months ago. They鈥檝e been living in what some call a refugee 鈥済host hotel鈥� west of Toronto for nearly a year. After we took their story public, they were told they鈥檇 be moved out of the hotel and into a home while they await confirmation on their long overdue refugee status.
When it comes to expecting to be placed in a safe situation, Talash tells CTV National News: 鈥渆very family that comes to Canada, not just my family, they're all expecting that.鈥�
However, the organization hired by the Trudeau government, called Polycultural, who are paid to help resettle hundreds of refugees in Ontario, connected the Talash family and multiple other refugee families with Alsouki, while he faces a criminal charge.
Refugee advocate Mona Elshayal says she鈥檚 鈥渟hocked鈥� that 鈥渧ulnerable鈥� members of our community are being put in this situation.
鈥淗ow did they (Polycultural) not get police checks done for people who have direct access outside of the hotel, in houses?鈥�
Alsouki鈥檚 criminal charge , though when Marwan Ismail, the executive director of Polycultural spoke with CTV National News, he said he and his staff had no idea about the sexual assault charge.
鈥淣o. No way. We didn't know about this," Ismail told CTV National News by phone.
The organization now says Alsouki won't be taking anymore refugee families out to look at homes.
Talash, who鈥檚 yet to find a home suitable for his family, says the federal government is dropping the ball when it comes to overseeing the operations of the refugee and immigrant service companies who鈥檝e been awarded large contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
鈥淧olycultural should be stopped and immediately terminated or this contract should be given to any other organization," Talash says.
CTV National News spoke with Alsouki by phone. He said he doesn鈥檛 believe he informed Polycultural about his sexual assault charges. He also said he hasn鈥檛 taken any refugees out recently, though the Talash family say he drove them himself to view a home just two weeks ago.
CTV National News requested an on camera interview with Canada鈥檚 minister of immigration refugees and citizenship, but we were told he was unavailable. Our request for written answers to our multiple questions weren鈥檛 provided before our deadline.
