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.
The Manitoban – Adapting to Winnipeg with Art
The University of Manitoba wants to help international students ease their adjustment to our frigid city through a group workshop series titled Creative Group Workshop for International Students Adapting to Winnipeg and University Life. […] The U of M is a home away from home for over 2,600 international students from more than 90 countries from around the world. […] The Student Counselling and Career Centre at the U of M has designed a free program to help ease this adjustment. This program, facilitated by Tuula Heinonen and Marlene Pomrenke, is designed to help international students share ways of thriving in Winnipeg, along with expressing any goals and challenges they may have in their transition. These four sessions will combine the use of art methods—such as collage and other forms of artwork that might help students understand their ideas and needs—and group discussion in order to learn from other international students and to share ideas within the group.
Georgia Straight – Red Cross Raised Concerns about Vancouver Detention Centre Where Mexican Woman Died
A Red Cross report on Canada’s immigration detention centres raises specific concerns about a B.C. facility where a Mexican woman named Lucia Vega Jiménez reportedly attempted suicide. She died in hospital days later. “In the BC IHC [Immigration Holding Centre] there are no mental health services on hand,” the document states. “Instead persons are sent to other facilities to receive care. This determination is made by a CBSA [Canada Border Service Agency] officer. The lack of regular mental health professionals at this facility is a concern particularly for persons who remain detained in the BC IHC for long periods.” In December 2013, Vega Jiménez was apprehended by Transit Police for failing to produce a TransLink ticket. She was turned over to the CBSA and detained at the B.C. Immigration Holding Centre at Vancouver International Airport. There, awaiting deportation, Vega Jiménez reportedly hung herself in a shower stall. She later died at Mount St. Joseph Hospital on December 28, 2013. According to the Red Cross report, which is dated 2012-13, the organization’s monitoring of CBSA detention facilities across Canada included six visits to the holding centre at Vancouver International Airport. The document describes “mental health in detention” as an area where “protection gaps were present”.
Maclean’s – As Inquest Begins, Another Death in Immigration Custody
A Georgia man charged with child cruelty in connection with the death of his one-year-old foster son—and who recently fled to Ontario and filed a refugee claim—died on the weekend while in custody of the Canada Border Services Agency, Maclean’s has learned. Niagara Regional Police issued a short press release Sunday afternoon, announcing that Ontario’s chief coroner is investigating the case of an inmate who sustained a “serious injury” Sept. 22 and died in hospital five days later. […] News of his death comes as the border agency faces increasing criticism over its handling of immigrant detainees who are locked up pending deportation. By chance, the British Columbia Coroners Service will begin a much-anticipated public inquest Monday morning into a similar case: the death of Lucia Vega Jimenez, a 42-year-old failed refugee claimant from Mexico who hanged herself last December inside a CBSA holding centre at Vancouver International Airport. She died in hospital eight days later. Her death triggered an outcry in B.C., galvanizing advocates who have long demanded independent civilian oversight for an agency with such broad powers of arrest and detention. Many were especially upset that her case was first publicized by a journalist, not the CBSA.
Radio-Canada – Travailleurs étrangers temporaires : Jason Kenney défend la réforme
Le ministre de l’Emploi et du Développement social, Jason Kenney, a défendu la réforme du programme d’embauche de travailleurs étrangers temporaires devant près de 200 entrepreneurs à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Le ministre Kenney était à une réunion de la Chambre de commerce du Canada, à Charlottetown, dimanche matin, où il a prononcé un discours. Des entrepreneurs en ont profité pour exprimer leurs inquiétudes quant à la réforme. Après le discours du ministre, presque toutes les questions qui lui ont été adressées portaient sur cette réforme qui va réduire le nombre de travailleurs étrangers qui pourront être embauchés par une entreprise au Canada. Des entrepreneurs des quatre coins du pays ont souligné que la réforme va faire très mal à leur entreprise. Les contrats des travailleurs étrangers arrivent à échéance, et les employeurs estiment qu’il n’y a pas assez de travailleurs canadiens pour les remplacer.
CBC – Jason Kenney Defends Temporary Foreign Worker Program Reforms
The federal minister of employment is, once again, defending recent reforms to the temporary foreign worker program. Jason Kenney was the keynote speaker at the opening breakfast of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s annual general meeting in Charlottetown this weekend. He says the reforms are positive in every region “because they ensure that Canadians come first to access available jobs.” The minister spent several minutes on the topic and took questions from delegates, many of whom voiced concern. Kathy Hambly, executive director of the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce, says hearing the status quo from Kenney isn’t encouraging and that industry needs more time to transition. “It has really left our employers in a very dire situation particularly in seafood processing, where many don’t know how they’re going to be able to open next year,” she says. […] But Kenney says data indicates there is no labour shortage, that there are Islanders to do the work.
Times Colonist – Refugee Farm Programs in US Offer a Taste of Home, Sense of Settlement – and Extra Cash
The rapidly rising demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has created a robust new market for refugees who fled violence in their home countries and found peace in farming small plots of land in several U.S. cities. With help from a federal grant program and local charities, refugees like Angelique Hakuzimana in Des Moines, Iowa, are now harvesting crops — some of which are native to their home countries — to meet local demand. They’re also finding their place in new communities through an activity many are accustomed to, the federal program director said. […] 11 organizations [received] grants this year through the federal Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program, which started in 2003 and provides about $1 million a year, said Ron Munia, director of the Division of Community Development in the Office of Refugee Services. The program also has funded plots in New York City; Buffalo, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Honolulu, Hawaii; Nashville, Tennessee; Providence, Rhode Island; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Tampa, Florida.
