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 Trucking Company OK’d to Hire Temporary Foreign Workers
A two-month federal investigation has concluded the owners of Eassons Transport Ltd., a trucking company in Berwick, N.S., did not abuse the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. […] Eassons Transport’s name was removed from the government’s so-called blacklist on July 1, after inspectors found no rules were broken, an official in the department of Employment and Social Development Canada told CBC News on Wednesday. […] Kenney said the government will increase the number and scope of inspections going forward. Under the new rules, one in four employers will be inspected each year. While the government has not been able to say exactly how many inspectors are currently tasked with conducting spot checks, officials told reporters in June the number is in the range of 40 and that the department expects to hire approximately 20 more. Employers who have been found to have broken the rules could face fines of up to $100,000.
The Tyee – When a Criminal Past Becomes a Stateless Future
Depending who you ask, [Deepan] Budlakoti was either issued citizenship documents in error or is being exiled from his birth country for having a criminal record. Though far from innocent, Budlakoti’s case foreshadows what power Bill C-24 will have over dual citizens. […] Declared a Canadian citizen because he was born in Canada, Budlakoti says he had a Canadian passport on two separate occasions. […] This changed in 2009 when he was convicted of a break-and-entry charge, following several run-ins with the law. While being held in prison, Budlakoti was informed by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) that a mistake had been made in issuing him citizenship. According to Budlakoti, all of his citizenship documents were taken away from him, save his birth certificate. Classified as a long-term permanent resident and gradually downgraded through the ranks as his prison sentence was confirmed, Budlakoti was eventually declared stateless and the legal process to deport him began.
CBC – 5 Arrested for Immigration Scam Using Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Five people in the Toronto area have been arrested for an alleged scam in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. A year-long investigation, dubbed O-Nanny, began after the RCMP found that individuals at Platinum Care, a foreign worker recruitment and placement agency, were using falsified documents to create employment offers for foreign workers. The accused were said to steal personal identification information from Canadians and use that information to create fictitious employment offers to foreign workers, allowing them into the country under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. […] It is alleged that the accused are responsible for bringing 53 people into Canada under fraudulent means. The investigation included information from Employment and Social Development Canada, the National Job Bank for Employers and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Radio-Canada – Les provinces comptent interpeller à nouveau Ottawa au sujet des travailleurs étrangers
Les ministres provinciaux responsables de l’éducation et du marché du travail tiennent leur réunion annuelle à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard à partir de mercredi, et plusieurs d’entre eux comptent demander à leur homologue fédéral Jason Kenney de revoir sa réforme du programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires. La réforme, annoncée par le ministre Kenney le 20 juin, a pour but d’éviter le recours abusif aux travailleurs étrangers temporaires. Ainsi, à partir de juillet 2016, les entreprises ne pourront embaucher plus de 10 % de travailleurs étrangers temporaires à faible salaire. Autre changement, ces travailleurs étrangers ne pourront rester au pays plus de deux ans, et leurs employeurs devront payer au gouvernement des frais de 1000 $ par employé, par année, sans compter les frais de voyage et de logement.
Toronto Star – Knowledge of Hockey Ticket to Belonging for New Canadians
“New citizens quickly recognize how difficult social interactions can be without having some hockey sense,” states a report released by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Sport can be a unifying force, helping to break the ice between strangers and providing a shortcut to learning about Canadian culture, jargon and humour, according to the report’s first-hand accounts from 4,000 new citizens across Canada. […] Nearly half of the survey respondents have children who play sports but practically none of them play traditional Canadian sports. Only 1 per cent play hockey — that’s the same number as play field hockey — and only 2 per cent play baseball and football. Some barriers to playing an organized sport like hockey are universal for all Canadians, such as the high cost and time commitment. Others were unique to new citizens, including unfamiliarity with registration and organized pay-to-play models rather than the pickup games they are used to.
Quelques heures après avoir essuyé un autre échec retentissant devant les tribunaux, Ottawa annonçait déjà son intention d’en appeler d’une décision de la Cour fédérale qui déclare inconstitutionnelles les coupes de soins de santé décrétées pour plusieurs catégories de demandeurs d’asile. Il aurait mieux valu attendre et prendre le temps de lire attentivement ce long jugement, dans lequel la juge Anne L. Mactavish a des mots très durs à l’endroit d’un politique qui fait honte au pays. Les coupes au Programme fédéral de santé intérimaire (PFSI), imposées à l’origine par le ministre Jason Kenney, «mettent en danger la santé, voire la vie même d’enfants innocents et vulnérables, d’une façon qui choque les consciences et constitue un affront à la dignité humaine», écrit-elle […]
