an alliance of university, community, and government partners dedicated to fostering welcoming communities and promoting the integration of immigrants and minorities across Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
Share News – Migrant Workers with Expired Permits Living in Fear of CBSA
The profiling of migrant workers in Toronto for deportation by border officials has fanned out from traffic stops to arrests at Dufferin Mall and area coffee shops, warns an irate MP whose residents are complaining. NDP Andrew Cash has been receiving calls from social agencies about residents in his Davenport riding who have been targeted for checks near Dufferin Mall and area cafes and bakeries by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Cash said he’s concerned about the street checks in light of the August 14 arrests of 21 mostly Hispanic migrant workers by the CBSA and OPP during a series of traffic checks in the Jane and Finch area. […] The NDP was joined by the Ontario Federation of Labour that called for an investigation into racial profiling by the CBSA, the OPP and Ontario Ministry of Transportation for their roles in the arrests. “This is completely unacceptable,” the OFL said in a release. “The actions of the CBSA bear all the distinctions of “raids” targeted towards people of colour who have been racially profiled.” The federation is demanding to know why the deportations were fast-tracked and the men allegedly coerced into signing papers that were not adequately translated.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communiqué – Le ministre Kenney souhaite la bienvenue au Canada au pape copte Tawadros II
Au nom du premier ministre Stephen Harper et du gouvernement du Canada, Jason Kenney, ministre du Multiculturalisme, a accueilli aujourd’hui le leader de l’Église orthodoxe copte lors de son arrivée à Toronto. Le pape Tawadros II, qui est devenu le 118e chef de l’Église copte orthodoxe le 19 novembre 2012, est arrivé ce soir à Toronto, entamant officiellement une visite d’un mois au Canada. Son premier voyage au Canada comprendra la consécration de la première cathédrale copte en Amérique du Nord, soit l’église copte orthodoxe St. Mark de Markham, la visite d’autres paroisses du Canada, plusieurs réunions avec des chefs religieux ainsi qu’une conférence à l’Université Queen’s à Kingston, en Ontario. Andrew Bennett, ambassadeur du Canada pour la liberté de religion, s’est joint au ministre Kenney à Toronto pour accueillir le pape Tawadros.
New Canadian Media – Canada Inspires Scandinavian Policy Rethink
Dr. Trygve Ugland, professor at Bishop’s University in Quebec, recently published a paper titled “Canada as an Inspirational Model: Reforming Scandinavian Immigration and Integration Policies,” in the Nordic Journal of Migration Research. New Canadian Media interviewed him on his study: the first systematic study of the international relevance of the Canadian immigration system. (Please also read relevant abstracts provided below in support of his responses to our questions). […] “My article deals with the international relevance and reputation of the Canadian immigration and integration policy model. A key finding here is that Canada served as an important inspirational model for the Scandinavian countries during the 2000-2012 period. In particular, Canada has a strong reputation in Scandinavia as a country that views immigration and immigrants as a resource. In this respect, the transnational inspiration from Canada contributed significantly to the rediscovery of labour immigration in Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the 2000s.”
Business Vancouver – Immigrant Entrepreneurs Missing Out on Valuable Help
Government aid for small businesses is being underutilized by the immigrant community in Surrey, says one entrepreneur who got valuable help from the province while building his successful company. Ankit Sharma, founder of Kitply Industries, a cabinet hardwood distributor, started his business back in 2009 out of his home. Now he has five full-time staff members and 10,000 square feet of warehouse space, and he has regularly tapped multiple government programs such as Small Business BC and the Industrial Research Assistance Program at every step of his company’s expansion. But Sharma said his story is not the norm in Surrey; in fact, he is an anomaly. He said the city has a high number of immigrants running small businesses (more than 30% of the population is of South Asian descent), but they’re unaware of the government programs available. “A lot of immigrants come from countries where there isn’t a lot of support from the government. So they don’t naturally think of the Canadian government of being supportive of small businesses when the opposite is true. There’s a lot of support there.”
Al Jazeera – Australia’s Asylum-Seeker Policy in the Dock
Australia’s controversial policy of locking up asylum seekers is back in the spotlight with a six-year-old girl suing the government for negligence after being detained for more than a year at a remote detention centre. The class-action lawsuit was filed in the Victorian Supreme Court on behalf of the girl known only as “AS”, who can’t be named for legal reasons. Maurice Blackburn, the legal firm representing the child, alleged the government failed to provide an adequate standard of medical and general care to AS and other detainees at the centre on Christmas Island – an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean about 2,500km from the continent. It is seeking compensation as well as a court directive ordering the government to give proper care. […] As a class-action lawsuit, the case is open to any asylum seeker who claims to have suffered injury or had an injury exacerbated by the authorities’ failure to provide adequate care at the Christmas Island detention centre over the last three years, potentially opening up the government to thousands of compensation claims.
La raison évoquée par le Canada pour placer des personnes en détention est de «veiller à la santé et à la sécurité des Canadiens et à l’intégrité de la frontière».Pour être incarcérée, un individu doit avoir commis une infraction par rapport à la Loi sur l’immigration et la protection des réfugiés (LIPR), en plus de présenter un risque de fuite (l’ASFC juge qu’il ne se présentera pas à une audience sur son admissibilité ou renvoi) ou un problème de preuve d’identité (déclarations qui soulèvent un doute chez un agent). De façon moins courante, il a commis des actes criminels sérieux et devra être transférée dans un centre de détention provincial. Le Canada se sert aussi parfois de la détention avant de renvoyer quelqu’un du pays, parce qu’il s’agit du stade où le risque que la personne se cache est le plus élevé, juge l’ASFC. Les détentions sont révisées par un tribunal de la Commission d’immigration du statut de réfugiés (CISR) et tiennent compte de toute nouvelle information.
