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In their letter, the family outlined how it was trying to get Alan Kurdi’s uncle and his family out of Turkey, but could not since they had not registered as refugees by either the UN or the Turkish government. Canadian requirements were slowing things down, they wrote.

Alexander would not see that letter for another few months.

He chose not to approve the policy because he wanted to make things faster – and was running up against politics, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details had not been previously disclosed.

At the time the memo was written, the government had only just belatedly reached its original 2013 target of bringing 1,300 Syrians to Canada in the space of a year.

Alexander had already promised that January to admit a further 10,000 refugees – a promise that took more than a year to get cleared by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The memo pointed out how instrumental groups of five were in meeting previous refugee settlement commitments and that they continued to express interest in sponsorship, often being referred to the formal sponsorship groups instead, who had more latitude in selecting refugees.

Alexander had some power, it noted.

“Section 25.2 authorizes the minister of (immigration) to grant permanent resident status, or an exemption from any criteria or obligations of (the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act), based on public policy considerations,” it said.

The Conservative promise to resettle 10,000 refugees came with a catch, however – they had to meet at least one of a specific list of criteria, like being a member of a vulnerable minority or survivor of sexual violence. Screening non-official refugees against that list would be difficult, and only slow things down.