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.
Montreal Gazette – Family That Lost Refugee Bid Will be Deported to Cameroon
A family of five — including two Canadian-born children — will be deported to Cameroon this weekend despite fears they could face persecution there for their Catholic faith. In a ruling Thursday, Federal Court Justice Simon Noël turned down the Fuh-Cham family’s last-ditch bid to avoid deportation. […] Father Hilary Fuh-Cham arrived in Canada in 2007 and applied for refugee status, saying his wife and daughter would be subject to genital mutilation in their native land. Fuh-Cham said he declined to become chief of his village because his Christian values clashed with tribal traditions in his village. In 2010, the Immigration and Refugee Board turned down his application, saying his story was not credible, and two subsequent applications by the family to be allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds were also rejected. About 50 members of the family’s church community attended Tuesday’s court hearing to offer support. Fuh-Cham works as a manager at UPS, leads his church choir and is an active volunteer.
Inside Toronto – Public Support Needed by Scarborough Health Clinic for Refugees, Uninsured
There’s a “medical insurance limbo” awaiting many newcomers to Toronto, and most Canadians are surprised to hear how many people fall into it, says the director of a Scarborough medical clinic for the uninsured. Dr. Paul Caulford said the Community Volunteer Clinic on Markham Road isn’t as jammed as it was before last December, when the province stepped in to cover health coverage for refugee claimants the federal government cut in 2012. But it’s still a very busy place, staffed two days a week by nurses, doctors and dentists who believe treating some of the tens of thousands living in Toronto without health insurance is both the ethical and the smart thing to do. […] The Ontario refugee health program doesn’t cover refugee claimants appealing to stay in Canada on humanitarian grounds – such as one patient under Caulford’s care, a woman pregnant with twins – or temporary foreign workers who lose their jobs and then become ill,. And yes, some of the clinic’s patients are in Toronto without legal status, but Caulford said the vast majority were invited to come to Canada. Started as a temporary fix at another location in 2000, the clinic has been visited by 20,000 patients since, but rising operating costs threaten its future.
Toronto Star – HIPPY Moms Help Newcomers Teach Their Kids
No relation to long-haired flower children, it’s an acronym for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters and offers parents the tools to prepare their kids for school, said Sylvie Charliekaram, HIPPY Toronto program manager. Research shows the ideal time for children to start learning is before kindergarten. The program at the Working Women Community Centre, at the community Hub on Victoria Park Ave., also helps newcomer parents transition to life in Canada. The free home-based program recognizes that parents are the best teachers, said Charliekaram. […] Home visitors are HIPPY moms hired to work with families in their homes. They bring instructional materials and use role-play to teach parents during the one-hour weekly sessions. Parents pass on what they’ve learned to their child during daily 15-minute play sessions that enhance bonding time. Children may learn such things as how to handle scissors properly or learn the alphabet by tracing letters with their fingers. Parents get a better understanding of the education system which may be foreign to newcomers.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is set to lobby the federal government to scrap changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program that make it harder to hire employees from other countries. The organization approved a package of recommendations related to the program put forward by the Alberta delegation at its annual general meeting in Charlottetown, Sept. 27 to 29. […] The policy calls for regional flexibility in the program, where economic conditions like provincial unemployment rates would factor into how readily a business could access temporary foreign workers (TFWs). It also recommends improving labour mobility within Canada, introducing incentives for retaining apprentices and implementing an appeal process for TFW applications that are denied.
Times Colonist – Feds Add Romania, Four Other Countries to So-Called Safe Countries List
Refugee claimants from another five countries will find it more difficult to find haven in Canada after the federal government extended its list of so-called safe countries. Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Romania and San Marino are now considered designated countries of origin, bringing the total number of safe countries on the list to 42. The designation means the Canadian government considers a country respectful of human rights, able to offer state protection and not normally a source of refugees. People who do make refugee claims from those designated safe countries are processed more quickly and lose certain avenues of appeal available to other refugee claimants.
CBC – Ontario Won’t Work with Border Services Agency on Safety Blitzes After Arrests
The Ontario government is immediately ending joint road safety blitzes with the Canada Border Services Agency because the feds used one to arrest undocumented workers. Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca has written the federal government to say that partnering with the agency “does not align” with the ministry’s mandate to make roads as safe as possible. […] Ontario’s Liberal government ordered the review after a joint commercial vehicle roadside blitz in Toronto in mid-August, following a CBC investigation that uncovered 21 people arrested in a blitz because of immigration violations. […] Del Duca’s letter to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says the ministry will only partner with groups that have a shared objective to make roads safer and ensure commercial vehicles comply with all the regulations. He says Ontario will keep inspecting commercial vehicles at border entry points because “they do not involve CBSA resources.”
