The Denton Effect

The city of Winnipeg is famous for its chilling weather and flat prairie land, but one man’s work in sponsoring refugees is turning Winnipeg into a welcoming and safe haven for newcomers. This man is Tom Denton, an elder at First, Winnipeg, and executive director at Hospitality House, a non-profit organization that has for many years been Winnipeg’s leading sponsor of refugees. Among other jobs, Denton has been a respected corporate lawyer, run a dinner theatre and published the Winnipeg Sun. “I’ve held about 10 jobs in my life and none of them just superficially or for a short time,” he explained.

In the 1980s, Denton was asked to become the executive director of the International Centre, which, a year after his retirement in 2000, split into Welcome Place and the Immigrant Centre.

“They said it would be for about six months and so I stayed for 16 years,” said Denton.

While the International Centre worked on resettling government-sponsored refugees from around the world, Denton “soon began to realize that the clients coming into the International Centre who were
government-sponsored had left family behind.”

“What were we to do? It was clearly a need and so I thought well, the Presbyterian Church in Canada has a sponsorship agreement, so maybe I could get First Presbyterian to start sponsoring refugees under that agreement, so we did.” Because of his passion and initiative, his congregation has opened its doors to welcome many refugees over the years.

“First Presbyterian Church did [sponsor refugees]. I think I counted once something between 400 or 500 cases privately sponsored this way, this family-linked stuff,” Denton explained.

Later, Denton played a key role in establishing an agreement with the International Centre and the Canadian government, which gave the International Centre the ability to sponsor refugees. That agreement was later inherited by Welcome Place, which makes them one of the biggest sponsors of refugees in Canada today.

When asked what inspires his work, he replied, “It’s my faith more than anything, doing all that I can and God’s work.

“I think Canada’s self-interest requires a larger immigration pool than we are currently permitting because of the aging population and the declining birth rate,” said Denton.

Cuts to healthcare funding for refugees and limits on age and the total number of immigrants allowed to settle in Canada, give the Canadian immigration policy an undercurrent of mean-spiritedness.

“The people are vulnerable and they need help. I mean it’s as simple as that, and it’s an obvious need and it’s staring us in the face,” he said.

“The sponsoring cases where I have personally signed the sponsoring papers would by now encompass something in the order of 8,000-plus refugees, I would guess, but I feel good about the fact that, in total, the seeds I planted have produced well over 20,000 sponsorships.”

“Tom has done tremendous work on both the practical and promotional levels for the cause of settlement of refugees in Winnipeg and Canada, and in making this an integral part of the life of our congregation at First Presbyterian Church,” said Rev. Kevin MacDonald, minister at First. “This is just one expression of optimistic spirit and passionate faith.”

When June Denton was asked about her husband’s work, she replied: “He’s changing the face of Winnipeg. He really is.”