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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.
Radio-Canada- Pénurie de main-d’oeuvre pour les PME canadiennes (audio)
La Fédération canadienne de l’entreprise indépendante estime que 312-mille postes n’ont pas trouvé preneur dans les petites et moyennes entreprises canadiennes au cours des trois premiers mois de l’année. Les secteurs les plus touchés par cette pénurie de main-d’oeuvre sont le commerce de détail, l’hôtellerie, la fabrication et la construction. L’organisation estime que les augmentations de salaire ne suffisent pas à attirer des candidats. Il demande au gouvernement fédéral de revoir le Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires, dont les critères ont récemment été resserrés
South China Morning Post – Canadian Court Rejects Migrants’ Compensation Claim Over Defunct Visa Scheme
Canada’s Federal Court has slapped down a bid by about 1,500 rich would-be immigrants, most of them Chinese millionaires, to force the government to process their visa applications under the defunct Immigrant Investor Programme, or pay them C$5 million (HK$36 million) each. In a strongly worded ruling, Justice Mary Gleason said “would-be immigrants have no right to force the Minister [of immigration] to set any particular quota for any economic [immigration] class. This determination is in keeping with long-established principles, which hold that no one possesses a right to immigrate”. The ruling was dated Monday, but only made public on Thursday. Its release came one week after the controversial Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) was formally shut down, with the passage of legislation in Canada’s parliament. The applications of about 60,000 would-be immigrants – about 80 per cent of whom were mainland Chinese who filed their applications in Hong Kong – have now been formally scrapped.
Al Jazeera English – African Refugees in Berlin School Standoff
Hundreds of police officers have surrounded a former school in Berlin which has been occupied by refugees who refuse to leave. The predominantly African refugees are demanding the right to stay in Germany, even though most of their asylum applications have been rejected. Adam, a Sudanese refugee who only gave his first name, told reporters on Friday that many of the migrants had climbed onto the roof and were ready to jump off the building if police entered it. The tense stand-off involved 40 to 80 refugees and supporters who stayed in the building after police earlier this week evicted the majority of the roughly 200 who had occupied it since 2012.
Georgia Straight – Bill C-24 Lawsuit Claims No Legislation Can Strip Canadians of Citizenship
A Toronto Lawyer has launched a court challenge against controversial changes to the Canada’s Citizenship Act. On June 25, Rocco Galati filed documents in a federal court that argue Parliament and the Governor General surpassed their constitutional authorities in approving certain aspects of Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act. The lawsuit primarily targets provisions in the bill that allow for the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to revoke the citizenship of a Canadian-born citizen and deport them from the country. […] It states that citizenship is “inalienable, and cannot be ‘revoked’ under any circumstance by Federal Parliament”, and that citizenship is a “fundamental constitutional protection, outside of the legislative competence of the Federal Parliament”. Galati’s lawsuit, which he filed on behalf of lawyers with the Constitutional Rights Centre, might only be the first of multiple court proceedings challenging the constitutionality of the Conservative government’s new citizenship laws, which have already passed through the House of Commons and the Senate and received royal assent.
CBC – Syrian Refugees and Canada: The Lessons of the Boat People
Between 1979 and 1980, the Progressive Conservative government of Joe Clark resettled nearly 60,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees in Canada. In 1979 there were about 350,000 “boat people” scattered across the countries of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. They were forced out of their countries for political reasons. […] In Syria today, there are 6.5 million internally displaced people and another three million refugees living in camps or with relatives in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. They fled a repressive and brutal dictatorship on one side of the civil war and violent extremists on the other. Three years into the conflict, the Canadian government said it is on track to admit 1,300 Syrian refugees this year. The contrast in numbers is stark. And for a government that regularly urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, a little puzzling.
Globe and Mail – Provinces Keep Ottawa in the Dark on Foreign Workers Violations
For employers of temporary foreign workers, there is supposed to be a price for breaking provincial labour laws: blacklisting from the federal program that allows businesses to hire outside the country. In reality, the flow of information on wayward employers is scant between provinces and the federal government. Ontario, one of the largest users of temporary foreign workers (TFWs), doesn’t have an information-sharing deal with Employment and Social Development Canada. The province also does not keep track of whether TFW employers have broken labour laws. Even where agreements exist (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan), Ottawa isn’t told about every violation. […] Mr. Kenney said he will raise the issue with his provincial and territorial counterparts next month at a job skills forum in Charlottetown. He also plans to urge them to regulate labour recruiters. Many provinces don’t.
