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.
Le Soleil – Un rapport recommande de faire payer davantage les étudiants étrangers
Les étudiants universitaires étrangers devraient payer davantage pour venir étudier au Québec, recommande un rapport sur le financement des universités. Ce rapport, signé par Hélène P. Tremblay et Pierre Roy, vient clore l’un des chantiers créés à la suite du Sommet sur l’enseignement supérieur. Ses auteurs recommandent notamment au gouvernement de hausser la facture des étudiants non québécois et de moduler leurs droits de scolarité en fonction de la discipline et du niveau d’études. Ainsi, pour un étudiant étranger inscrit au baccalauréat, les droits de scolarité minimum obligatoires seraient d’environ 14690 $ en moyenne, sans compter les sommes additionnelles réclamées selon le domaine d’étude. Selon le scénario proposé, les économies pour le gouvernement pourraient atteindre 95 millions $ en 2019-2020, soit à la fin de la période de transition. De leur côté, les universités récolteraient 5,8 millions $ additionnels d’ici cinq ans, sans compter les revenus additionnels provenant du déplafonnement des droits de scolarité pour les étudiants étrangers.
Le Devoir – Ottawa veut n’inviter que les minorités
Le gouvernement conservateur se défend de prendre du temps à accueillir des réfugiés syriens parce que ceux-ci sont musulmans. Mais le fédéral admet du même coup qu’il accordera la priorité aux réfugiés issus de minorités ethniques ou religieuses. Le Conseil canado-syrien s’est inquiété la semaine dernière du fait qu’Ottawa tarde à ouvrir ses portes aux réfugiés du pays parce qu’ils sont de confession musulmane. Archifaux, avaitrétorqué le gouvernement. Or, vendredi, le réseau CBC rapportait que le fédéral envisage de s’engager à accueillir davantage de réfugiés syriens, mais seulement ceux issus de minorités religieuses. « Les Canadiens ont entendu les histoires crève-coeur de minorités qui sont persécutées en Irak et en Syrie. Elles sont persécutées parce qu’elles représentent des minorités ethniques et religieuses. Suggérer que nous allons nous concentrer seulement sur un seul groupe de personnes est catégoriquement faux, a affirmé Costas Menegakis, le secrétaire parlementaire du ministre de l’Immigration […]. » La Syrie compte 17,95 millions d’habitants, dont 87 % sont de confession musulmane — 74 % sont sunnites et 13 % sont chiites, ismaïlis ou alaouites, selon la CIA. La minorité kurde (9 %) est à majorité sunnite. Par ailleurs, 10 % de la population syrienne est chrétienne — soit environ 1,795 million de personnes.
Reluctant witnesses, scant evidence, and limited time and resources pose serious challenges when it comes to investigating crooked immigration consultants, the Canada Border Services Agency says. Agency president Luc Portelance tells Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney in a newly disclosed memo that fraudulent activities involving unscrupulous consultants “threaten the integrity of Canada’s immigration program.” The correspondence highlights the latest headaches confronting federal officials in their long battle against criminals who take advantage of people desperate to come to Canada. The memo, released under the Access to Information Act, says the border agency has received more than 700 referrals of suspected consultant-related fraud for criminal investigation since 2008. About 140 of these have resulted in investigations. Over the last six years, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada has accepted 22 cases, with 13 resulting in guilty convictions and several others still making their way through the courts, the memo adds.
CBC – Canada Considers Prioritizing Religious Minorities in Syria Refugee Resettlement
The federal government is seeking to resettle more Syrian refugees, but only from the country’s religious minorities, according to sources close to discussions around Canada’s position on refugees from the war-torn nation. Canada has been struggling to meet an earlier commitment from July 2013 to resettle 1,300 Syrians by the end of this year. Statistics tabled in the House of Commons last week showed 457 refugees had arrived as of mid-November. On Tuesday, the government updated that number to 703. Kevin Menard, a spokesman for the immigration minister, wrote CBC News on Friday saying the numbers are “going up fairly quickly.”
CBC – No Easy Answers on ISIS Religious Persecution, MPs Learn
For the last three weeks, the foreign affairs committee has been studying Canada’s response to the “violence, religious persecution and dislocation” caused by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) throughout the Middle East, with particular emphasis on the situation in Iraq. So far, though, it’s fair to say the committee seems to be especially interested in the implications of the ongoing conflict for religious minorities — particularly, though not exclusively, Christians. Earlier this month, the committee heard from Rabeas Allos, an Iraqi-Canadian who has spent the last few years helping Iraqi Christians settle in Canada through a program run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. He told MPs that he’s seen people in churches “arguing about whether we should be sponsoring Muslim families.” “In one church in the Toronto area, for example, they sponsored a family,” he noted. “It turned out to be Muslim and people went berserk when they found out — and they are decent, good people.” Allos said representatives from his community have met with Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander “regarding Christians, basically,” as well as Yazidis. “They’re open for suggestions, especially if it’s not going to cost the taxpayers money,” he told the committee.
The Province – Government Faces Questions about Anti-Muslim Bias Over Syrian Refugees
The Conservative government is facing renewed questions about an alleged anti-Muslim bias following revelations it wants to cherry-pick which Syrian refugees will be accepted into Canada. Sources say the government wants to prioritize religious minorities as a condition for resettling thousands more Syrian refugees in Canada over the next two years. But the United Nations has resisted Canada’s request, as its policy is to help the most vulnerable, no matter their religious background. This includes families led by women, torture victims and those with serious medical conditions. […] The desire to accept only religious minorities has sparked fresh concerns the Conservative government’s refusal to do more in response to the Syrian refugee crisis is because the majority of those affected are Muslim. Sunni Muslims account for nearly three-quarters of all Syrians, according to the CIA Factbook, while other Muslim groups such as Shias, Alawis and Ismailis represent another 16 per cent of the population. Christians and a small number of Jews represent the remaining 10 per cent.
