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.
CBC – Nova Scotia Announces New Immigration Advisory Council
Premier Stephen McNeil announced the creation of an advisory council Tuesday to help increase immigration in Nova Scotia. Prominent immigrants Colin Dodds and Wadih Fares are co-chairing the Premier’s Immigration Advisory Council. Dodds, who immigrated to Canada from the U.K. 32 years ago will advise the premier on attracting and retaining international students. Dodds is the president and vice-chancellor at Saint Mary’s University, an institution where one in four students comes from outside of the country. […] Currently, there is a cap of 150 on Nova Scotia’s nominee program, which is a stream by which immigrants can apply for a permanent resident visa to Canada. Fares will try to convince Ottawa to increase that cap. […] The province also announced some changes to services which help immigrants settle here. It is giving YMCAs outside Halifax $470,000 to offer child care and other services to help immigrants settle. Newcomers looking for jobs in Halifax will still rely on ISIS (Immigration Settlement and Integration Services) for training. In total, the province gives $3.65 million to settlement service providers.
Montreal Gazette – Several Thousand Children Deprived of Schooling Because of Immigration Status
With classes set to resume this week and next, a group is calling for Quebec to allow free public education for children who have no legal status in the province. Several thousand children are being deprived of schooling because they or their parents aren’t permanent residents or Canadian citizens, estimates the Collectif éducation sans frontières. Many of the parents are living in Canada illegally. Some are asylum seekers or refugee claimants whose applications have been rejected, others are temporary workers who stay after their work visas expire or people on tourist visas who fail to return home, claiming their country’s poor economy prevents them from finding employment. Quebec’s Education Act says that only legal residents and certain categories of immigrants can receive free public education. However, students without legal papers can be admitted to public schools if their parents pay $5,000 to $6,000 in school frees, a sum of money that is out of reach for most of the families, said Linda Guerry, a spokesperson for the Collectif.
CBC – Kelly Regan Appeals for Temporary Foreign Worker Exceptions
Nova Scotia’s Labour and Advanced Education minister is appealing to the federal government to allow exceptions to recent changes in the temporary foreign worker program. Some Maritime fish processors have expressed concerns they won’t be able to hire temporary foreign workers. The federal government has imposed restrictions on the program to curtail alleged abuses that left Canadian workers jobless. Processors say changes to federal rules could make it difficult for fish plants in this region to stay in business. Owners of lobster plants and a smoked salmon business in Guysborough County employ hundreds of temporary foreign workers from Asia, a practice that will soon be discontinued unless the area has unemployment below six per cent. Proposed changes would also restrict businesses from employing more than 10 per cent of a workforce with foreign workers by 2016. However Kelly Regan, the provincial minister in charge of labour, is asking Ottawa for flexibility.
CBC – Halifax Refugee Families Farming in the Heart of the City
Refugees accustomed to growing their own food in their home countries are finding garden space in their newly adopted Halifax neighbourhood. This summer, Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services is helping seed the fourth garden in four years. The Mosaic Ministries, an independent church on Willett Street in Halifax, donated the land in Fairview. Many of the gardeners are from the South Asian country Bhutan, a Buddhist nation where prosperity is measured by the happiness of its people. The Bhutanese were the driving force behind the first garden on city land next to a bus stop. […] About 80 refugee families are now buying their own seeds and growing their own food, a help with the grocery bill.
CNW Telbec – Conseil de la fédération : la FCEI formule des demandes importantes aux premiers ministres provincial
Alors que les premiers ministres des provinces canadiennes doivent se rencontrer à Charlottetown cette semaine, la Fédération canadienne de l’entreprise indépendante (FCEI) a tenu à leur faire part de diverses préoccupations importantes des chefs de PME des quatre coins du pays, notamment en ce qui a trait au commerce interprovincial, au Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires (PTET) et aux régimes de retraite. Ces demandes ont été formulées dans une lettre transmise par la FCEI à l’ensemble des premiers ministres des provinces et territoires canadiens. Favoriser le commerce intérieur : assouplir les barrières interprovinciales Le Canada a récemment signé des accords commerciaux historiques pour encourager l’ouverture des marchés internationaux. La FCEI estime qu’il est temps à présent de s’inspirer de certains accords internationaux, tels que l’accord commercial Canada-Union européenne, pour moderniser les règles du commerce interprovincial et en lever les obstacles.
Radio-Canada – Une Mexicaine menacée d’expulsion à cause d’un ex-conjoint violent
Une mère de famille d’origine mexicaine, qui habite à Montréal depuis 2005, pourrait être expulsée du pays dans moins d’une semaine sans ses deux filles âgées de 5 et 8 ans. La femme, dont le nom ne peut être dévoilé pour assurer l’anonymat de ses enfants, n’a pas réussi à obtenir le statut de résidente permanente, car sa demande de parrainage aurait échoué en raison d’un ex-conjoint violent. Ce dernier a été reconnu coupable d’avoir blessé le nourrisson de la famille en 2008. Il a hérité d’un casier judiciaire, ce qui a fait déraper la demande de parrainage. Une situation que juge absurde l’avocate de la dame, Angela Potvin. « Si elle n’avait pas dit aux autorités qu’il y avait eu violence contre ses enfants, elle serait résidente permanente aujourd’hui. ». La jeune femme de 27 ans craint pour sa sécurité si elle retourne au Mexique. Elle dit avoir épuisé toutes ses économies dans la bataille judiciaire qu’elle mène contre Immigration Canada depuis le mois de mai.
