On Monday, The Vancouver Sun print edition ran a front-page piece by reporter Tara Carman about elderly refugees receiving $11,000 annually as a “baseline entitlement” from the provincial government.

That money, directed only to those refugees in B.C. with no financial means of support, matches the provincial welfare rate of $906.42 a month.

Some of the refugees interviewed by Carman survived horrific experiences, including one Afghan woman who lost her husband and three brothers to the war. She was raising five children here — two of her own, the other three children of her brothers. Her husband was killed when she was two months pregnant.

Did the woman deserve our compassion?

One would think so.

But judging by the heavy email response the story generated, the answer to that question, Carman found, was overwhelmingly negative. Instead of compassion, there was anger.

One example out of many emails she received:

“I have a hard time finding any sympathy for this story if that is what it was intended to bring out in the reader. I am a former federal correctional officer who has been medically retired from my position and live on less than that, a pittance of a self-funded pension plan, and have been trying to be approved for disability benefits for years. I for one am infuriated that an immigrant or a refugee gets more assistance from the government then someone who served their country in one of the worst jobs this country has to offer.”

Even those emails that did show some empathy contained elements of resentment. Wrote one emailer:

“I understand it is difficult for new immigrants to transition into Canadian society but you should have also mentioned in your story that even if you were born in Canada and paid CPP your entire life you may or may not get that much money per month. I guess what I am saying is why do immigrants believe they should be or entitled to more than what the average person receives from the Government for free? And actually I am amazed that they are receiving that much to start with.”

Well, OK. There is — no secret this — a strong undercurrent of hostility against immigrants in Canada, a hostility that expresses itself in varying degrees depending on the subject.

There exists also — again, no secret this — the perception that Canadians are propping up a whole class of immigrants.

(And not without justification in some cases. According to data compiled by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and reported upon last week by Ian Young in the South China Morning Post, the wealthy immigrant investor class was reporting incomes far below the national average, and even below that of the refugee class, the members of which reported rising incomes over the years.)

Unfortunately, not mentioned in Carman’s story was the number of elderly refugees in B.C. receiving that $11,000 annually.

“They number less than 20 between 2010 to 2014,” said Chris Friesen, director of settlement services for the Immigrant Services Society of B.C.

“There is no floodgate. The numbers are statistically insignificant.”

Not what you would call a burden on the country’s balance of payments. So the question “Why are these refugees receiving this money?” isn’t really one of great import — so few of them do.

But there is a question that deserves asking, and some of the emailers did.

Why aren’t the most disadvantaged of resident Canadians receiving that kind of help?

One wrote of her mother, a veteran who never worked outside of the home, who received no Canadian Pension Plan. She lived below the poverty line.

Several wrote of disabled family members who had to live on less than the $11,000.

And one wrote:

“Why don’t you start looking around at all the seniors that have paid taxes all of their working lives and are trying to live on $1,300 a month on the GIS? There are thousands of us coming down the pike but I guess because we are not of a new immigrant group we do not count?”

Now there’s a question worth asking.

pmcmartin@vancouversun.com