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.
Toronto Star – Home Care Personal Support Workers Used as Cheap Labour
Like many home care personal support workers, I came from another land. In my case, it’s Jamaica. Others come from Russia, the Philippines, Latin America and Africa. From all over the world, really. Home care agency employers like this because we can speak to our mostly elderly clients in their native languages. Almost all of us are women and many, like me, are single moms. Some of us were nurses or midwives back home. Here, our qualifications don’t count for much. We usually have to work as housekeepers while taking the personal support worker course. Some of us are still paying off our education loans. […] The average personal support worker at my agency makes $18,423 a year. On that wage, there is no room to put aside anything for extra savings or a pension. We are unionized and even though our wages would be considered poverty-level by many people we make a lot more than most other personal support workers.
Vancouver Sun – International Students Flocking to British Columbia
Wijaya is one of more than 100,000 international students studying in B.C., part of a trend that is growing both in terms of numbers and in economic impact, new reports show. There has been a 13-per-cent increase in international students in B.C. since 2010 and a 17-per-cent increase in spending by international students, the government said in a news release. […] Spending by international students supported more than 23,400 jobs, the report says. […] The number of international students might dip in 2014 because Citizenship and Immigration Canada has proposed regulatory reforms to the sector. The reforms mean that each provincial government will create a list of approved schools that can offer study permits. Initially, these reforms were to be in place by this past Wednesday but that date has been extended until summer 2014.
«Le Québec, au travers de cette loi, réussit le coup de force d’exclure des femmes de l’espace public au nom de l’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes.» La Charte des valeurs du Parti québécois et le projet de loi 60 qui en découle ont fait couler beaucoup d’encre depuis leur dévoilement. Voilà que 66 professeurs et chargés de cours de l’Université de Sherbrooke ajoutent leur voix dans ce débat, en signant un mémoire attaquant vertement le projet.
The Guardian – [UK] Bulgarian and Romanian Immigration Hysteria “Fanned by Far-Right”
Nikolay Mladenov, who was Bulgaria’s foreign affairs minister until last spring, said claims of a sudden influx of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants to Britain in 2014 were “politically motivated”. Mladenov, who is now the UN Special Representative for Iraq, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme that the media had done well to try to set right such suggestions, which “show that this whole mass hysteria, which has been fanned out by some media outlets in the UK, has been purely politically motivated and that there is no reason to believe that the UK will be swarmed by waves of immigrants from Bulgaria”. He added: “I think it’s been entirely driven by the far-right political agenda.”
The Guardian – A Step for Justice: An Undocumented Immigrant Now Has a US Law License
On Thursday, the California supreme court ruled that Sergio C Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, could receive an official license to practice law in the state. Garcia came to the US at age 17 and has been waiting for an informal immigration visa for nearly 20 years. Immigration law expert Shamaine Daniels and Stanford University law student Michael Ramos-Lynch explain what it means for America’s immigration laws and debate. […] After a strenuous legal battle, the California supreme court issued its opinion on Sergio Garcia. The case is important, not because it will change the way law is practiced in the United States, nor because it will change anyone’s immigration status, but because it illustrates the untenability of our current immigration laws, and the need of a truly comprehensive immigration bill.
Toronto Star – Immigration Minister Chris Alexander Forges Ahead with Reform
When Chris Alexander took over the immigration portfolio in a cabinet shuffle last summer, it was seen as a major vote of confidence in the rookie MP and a move by Stephen Harper to infuse some fresh young talent into cabinet. The move surprised many at the time, leaving some wondering whether Alexander would be able to handle the portfolio as adeptly as his predecessor, Jason Kenney, who has been credited with wooing the ethnic vote for the Conservatives in the GTA and helping lock up a Conservative majority in the last election. […] Maintaining a firm hand on the department hasn’t been easy. The reforms to immigration and refugee policy have triggered not only criticism from advocacy groups and opposition politicians, but also a federal court challenge on health care cuts to refugees.
