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An urban legend falsely stating that government-sponsored refugees receive more monetary support from the government than a country's own pensioners originated in Canada in 2004 and has since spread to other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. ==Canadian origin== This urban myth has its origins in a 2004 ''Toronto Star'' article. On March 11, 2004, the ''Toronto Star'' published an article about the resettlement of a group of refugees from Somalia to Hamilton, Ontario. The article focused on the Canadian government's new strategy to divert immigrant and refugee settlement away from the most popular destinations of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The article also described the support that the Somali refugees would receive from the Government of Canada:
On March 12, the day following the publication of the article, Nicholas Keung, the reporter who wrote the original article, received a “polemic” e-mail from a reader.〔Sellar, D. (2004, Nov 27). Can we dispel this urban myth? Toronto Star, p. H.06.〕 The author of the e-mail mistakenly concluded that refugees receive a monthly allowance from the federal government greater than the monthly allowance received by pensioners. This e-mail was also copied to 100 other recipients. When the reporter tried to respond to the e-mail to correct the mistake, he found that the address no longer existed.〔Sellar, D. (2004, Nov 27). Can we dispel this urban myth? ''Toronto Star'', p. H.06.〕 On the same day, a letter to the editor appeared in the ''Toronto Star'' in response to Keung’s article. The letter stated:
The ''Toronto Star'' published this letter without checking the facts or the original article for clarification.〔 Following the publication of the letter to the editor and the distribution of the forwarded e-mail, the ''Toronto Star'' was bombarded with e-mails from readers who felt that something should be done to ensure that pensioners received their fair due by the government. After investigating the matter and realizing that a mistake had been made, the ombudsman of the paper published an article on November 27, 2004 correcting the conclusion that refugees received more than pensioners. “In hindsight, the ombud now wishes he’d issued a speedy clarification to help set the record straight,” he wrote. “But with information (and misinformation) moving at a warp speed on the Internet, I doubt there was a silver bullet for the problem”.〔 This apology and correction of the mistake had, however, very little impact on the circulation of the newly born urban myth. The same letter to the editor appeared with minor alterations in over 50 different newspapers, online newsletters, blogs, and discussion forums in the next three years. Six newspapers printed the same letter with slight alterations more than once on different dates and from different authors.〔The ''Alberni Valley Times'' printed the letter on Jan 13, 2006 and Jun 28, 2006. The ''Barrie Advance'', ''Midland-Penetanguishine Mirror'', and ''Orillia Today'' published the letter first on Feb 11, 2005 and again on Jul 7, 2006. The facts of the letter were corrected by another reader whose letter was published by all three newspapers on Jul 14, 2006. The ''Welland Tribute'' published the letter on Jan 28, 2005 and again on Aug 12, 2006. A local member of parliament corrected the facts in a letter which was published on Aug 18, 2006. The letter was published three times by the ''Windsor Star'': on Mar 20, 2004; Mar 24, 2006; and on Aug 18, 2006.〕 Ultimately; Citizenship and Immigration Canada published an online fact sheet on the issue in November 2006 to try to counter the spread of the false information.〔Citizenship and Immigration Canada. (2006, Nov 22, 2006). Just the facts: financial assistance for refugees from ()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Immigrant benefits urban legend」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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