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 – Health Workers March Against Refugee Health Care Cuts
Around 80 to 90 health care workers and concerned citizens met today in Kiwanis Park and marched across the University Bridge to the Royal University Hospital to protest refugee health care cuts. […] They joined health care professionals in 19 cities from over 20 health care organizations across Canada that held demonstrations today. […] Mahli Brindamour is a physician working for the Immigrant and Refugee Health Committee at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine. Brindamour organized the Saskatoon march because she believes the federal government’s cuts put the lives of vulnerable refugees at risk. […]The Saskatoon march was a part of the Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care’s second National Day of Action. Their aim is to put pressure on the federal government to reverse the cuts to refugee health care.
The Record – School Program Helps Young Refugees Get Up to Speed
The students in this classroom at Forest Hill Public School in Kitchener are all refugees who recently immigrated to Canada from war-ravaged countries. Understanding Canada and fitting in here can be a difficult task. Burjoski makes it easier for them. She allows the students to feel like experts by teaching the lesson using something they are familiar with. She ties in their homeland with their new home. The students are part of a board-run program called Accelerated Basic Literacy Education, or ABLE. The program is for students, ages nine to 13 who have recently arrived in Canada and have limited prior schooling. There are three school sites: Forest Hill, A.R. Kaufman in Kitchener and MacGregor in Waterloo. At the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, students attend the Newcomer Reception Centre where settlement workers assist with integration into neighbourhood schools. Many of the students lived in refugee camps. Some went to school in the camps, others did not. In Burjoski’s classroom, the students are comfortable and eager to learn. They feel safe here.
National Post – Deaf Russian Painter Refused Permanent Residency in Canada Because He Failed Verbal Language Tests
A Russian painter, deaf since birth, has been refused permanent residency in Canada because he did not meet the language proficiency requirement when tested verbally, despite getting near perfect scores when tested using sign language. The decision to reject Dmitri Smirnov’s bid to remain in Canada because he did not meet listening and speaking language requirements angered deaf advocates who blasted it as discriminatory and called for American Sign Language to be seen as equivalent to English and French for immigration purposes. […] Mr. Smirnov appealed to the Federal Court of Canada, arguing the sign language marks should have been taken into account and claiming the rules discriminate against the deaf. Mr. Smirnov’s Ottawa lawyer, Peter Stieda, argued the requirements to read, listen, speak and write in English or French violate Mr. Smirnov’s Charter rights, which guarantee the law will apply equally to all without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
The Chronicle Herald – Border services: Dartmouth business exploited foreign workers
A Dartmouth businessman whose employees once cleaned Halifax Regional Municipality facilities faces dozens of counts of immigration fraud after a Canada Border Services Agency investigation. The agency believes 28 people were victims of the fraud.
Radio-Canada International – Le Canada pratiquerait l’esclavage de ses travailleurs domestiques internationaux
Depuis que l’Organisation internationale du travail (OIT) a adopté la convention 189 sur le travail décent pour les travailleuses et les travailleurs domestiques, le 16 juin 2011, dix pays seulement l’ont ratifiée dont le Canada. Mais, le Canada aurait-il abdiqué ses responsabilités envers cette main-d’oeuvre étrangère? La question devient brûlante d’actualité alors que des syndicats et des bureaux d’avocats canadiens proposaient cette semaine de traîner en cour les gouvernements du Canada et du Québec. On leur reproche d’avoir abdiqué leurs responsabilités à l’endroit de travailleurs souvent sans défense. En fait, le Canada entretiendrait un régime qui favorise l’esclavage de cette catégorie de travailleurs.
Reuters – EU Lawmaker to Canada Asylum Seeker: A Roma’s Long Trek
As a political asylum seeker, [Viktoria Mohácsi] hopes to convince Canada that the life of a former member of the European Parliament could be in danger in a democratic country like Hungary. […] In a test case for the Canadian government’s new immigration policy that considers nearly all EU countries “safe”, Mohácsi, a Roma, claims she would be in danger of violence from hate groups and persecution by authorities if she went home to Hungary. If she loses, she will be deported home. If she wins, her case could give hope to other Central and East European asylum seekers from the Roma community who at present are considered by some in Canada to be economic migrants or worse – criminals trying to abuse a generous immigration system.
