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.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communiqué – Le gouvernement du Canada et la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada célèbrent ensemble la Semaine nationale de l’immigration francophone
Pour la deuxième année consécutive, le ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration du Canada, Chris Alexander, et la présidente de la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada, Marie-France Kenny, ont souligné ensemble la Semaine nationale de l’immigration francophone, au collège La Cité, à Ottawa. La Semaine nationale de l’immigration francophone vise à célébrer la contribution des nouveaux arrivants à l’épanouissement de communautés francophones et acadienne ouvertes, inclusives et diversifiées, et à mettre en valeur tout ce que ces communautés ont à offrir aux immigrants et à leurs familles. Près d’une centaine d’activités sont prévues à cet effet du 2 au 8 novembre dans des communautés de langue française partout au pays. Lors de la réception de ce matin, le ministre Alexander et Mme Kenny ont eu l’occasion d’échanger avec de nombreux représentants des communautés francophones de l’Est de l’Ontario. Les participants ont également pu visionner des témoignages vidéo d’immigrants recueillis par la Coopérative d’intégration francophone de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard (CIFIPÉ), l’émission TFO 24.7 et l’Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta (ACFA).
Le Franco – Journée d’accueil des nouveaux arrivants : « Nous avons besoin de vous » [avec diaporama]
Samedi 1er novembre, dans le cadre de la Semaine nationale de l’immigration francophone, la Journée d’accueil des nouveaux arrivants s’est tenue à la Cité francophone d’Edmonton. Au programme : des ateliers, des stands, des spectacles et des discours enthousiastes. Plusieurs ateliers étaient organisés dès la fin de la matinée, notamment un consacré à l’habillement hivernal. De nombreuses familles ont ainsi pu récupérer gratuitement des manteaux, gants et autres vêtements chauds issus d’une précédente collecte auprès de la communauté. Des stands disposés autour de la rotonde de la Cité francophone permettaient de découvrir des produits d’origines variées ou tout simplement de s’acheter à manger à l’heure du midi. La première partie de l’après-midi était consacrée aux discours de bienvenue, avec Arsène Muamba de l’Institut Guy-Lacombe de la famille en maître de cérémonie, comme en août dernier à la fin de la Semaine d’orientation des nouveaux arrivants précédant la rentrée scolaire. Paul Dubé, le président du Centre d’accueil et d’établissement (CAE), a mis en avant l’enrichissement par le contact entre les différentes communautés” qui se rencontrent en Alberta.
Al Jazeera English – Canada’s Closed-Door Policy for Syrian Refugees
A strange, ominous silence has engulfed Canadian refugee policy in the Middle East. After three and a half years of bloody civil war in Syria, Canadian reaction to the conflict’s refugee crisis remains virtually inaudible, despite increasingly desperate pleas for help and a growing sense of urgency. This week, Germany and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, held an emergency conference in Berlin to discuss the plight of nearly 10 million Syrian war victims. Canada joined 40 countries and organisations – including Syrian neighbours, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq, who are reluctant hosts to 3.5 million Syrian refugees – to discuss what Guterres termed “the most dramatic humanitarian crisis the world has faced in a very long time”. […] Syrian-Canadians complain of being unable to rescue their family or friends from a horrible civil war and Canadian refugee advocates insist their government is restricting the number of Syrians it will help as part of a comprehensive plan to transform Canadian refugee policy. A year after sweeping reforms imposed new restrictions and costs on refugees and asylum seekers, Canada is sheltering and resettling its lowest number of refugees in two decades. In 1990, Canada resettled 15,485 government-assisted refugees. Last year, the figure was 5,781.
Toronto Star – Ex-CBSA Officer Wants Top Officials to Review Agency
A former senior official with the Canada Border Services Agency is calling on the Auditor General’s office to conduct an independent assessment of the CBSA’s immigration enforcement program, examining detentions and removals. Reg Williams, the onetime director of the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre, has requested that the Auditor General carry out “an independent objective and systematic assessment” of how well CBSA has managed its responsibilities in relation to the enforcement program. He also wants a review of the way guard contracts are monitored at the B.C. Immigration Holding Centre, following the December 2013 suicide of Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez. As well, he has written to the Clerk of the Privy Council — the head of the federal public service — about his concerns. Williams says in letters to both the Auditor General and Privy Council that he will lodge a complaint under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act against the CBSA’s president for “misuse of public funds” and “gross mismanagement in the public sector.”
Ipsos North America – Canadians Fail on Every Perception Versus Fact About Their Country in Unique Socio-Demographic Knowledge Test
A new Ipsos Reid global survey highlights how wrong the public across 14 countries are about the basic make-up of their populations with Canada clocking in at eight out of 14 for accuracy (seventh out of 14 for ignorance). Of all of the socio-demographic facts guestimated, Canadians got all of them either wrong or without a majority finding the given fact to be true. Simply put, the perceptions of their country on these nine measures versus the realities just don’t add up—and that can cause many societal issues in what the public surmises or advocates on various topics or issues. […] Canadians over-estimate that 34.6% of the population are immigrants while the real figure is 21%– a perception gap of -13.6 points. […] Across the 14 countries, the public think immigration is over twice the actual level – the average guess is that 24% of the population was born abroad, when the actual figure is 11%. This includes some massive overestimates: the US public think 32% of the population are immigrants when the actual is 13%; in Italy the public think 30% are immigrants when it’s actually 7%; and in Belgium the public think it’s 29% when it’s actually 10%.
The Guardian – There is Shock and Dismay on the Sicilian Coast as the Italian Government Ends its Mediterranean Rescue Mission
People will die because Italy is ending its sea rescue mission in the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe is refusing to pay for a full replacement, warn officials, lawyers and aid groups working with more than 150,000 refugees who landed on Italian shores this year. Most took to sea in rickety vessels, operated by unscrupulous smugglers unconcerned by the dangers to those packed on board. One particularly grim accident last year, in which more than 300 people were drowned, forced Rome into action, and the navy launched Mare Nostrum, a €29m (£22.7m) a month humanitarian operation that patrolled to the borders of Libyan territorial waters looking for ships in distress. From Saturday that operation was officially wrapping up, replaced by Triton, a cheaper, far less ambitious European Union border patrol that people on the frontline of the refugee crisis say will cost lives. “I am very worried, it’s clear that with the end of Mare Nostrum there will be more deaths in the Mediterranean,” said Luigi Ammatuna, the mayor of Pozzallo, where about 23,000 refugees came ashore in the first nine months of this year.
