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 Globe and Mail – Cambodia’s Refugee Deal with Australia Criticized as Danger to Asylum Seekers
Cambodia will resettle potentially hundreds of refugees intercepted trying to reach Australia in exchange for $35-million in aid, forging ahead on Friday with an opaque deal widely condemned as a threat to asylum seekers’ safety. Australia’s Immigration Minister Scott Morrison dismissed criticism that Cambodia, one of Asia’s poorest countries, was an unsuitable partner to take in refugees given its lack of humanitarian capacity and history of human rights abuses and corruption. […] Few details of the plan have been released, but it would initially apply to asylum seekers being processed on Australia’s offshore detention centre on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. It has a similar facility in Papua New Guinea under a policy criticized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. International rights groups and organizations from both countries condemned the deal, saying Cambodia was incapable of providing proper care for asylum seekers, who could face the same kind of oppression they were running from.
The Globe and Mail – Employers Say Temporary Foreign Worker Figures Are Not Accurate
More than 2,500 Canadian employers turned to temporary foreign labourers to fill one-third or more of their work force last year, government documents contend, from fish-processing plants on the East Coast and IT businesses in Ontario to hotels in Alberta – and even a cafeteria on a First Nation with eye-popping unemployment. The list of employers, produced by the federal Employment Department and released to The Globe and Mail through access-to-information legislation, includes some prominent business players, such as Calgary-based Shaw Cablesystems and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, State Street Trust Company Canada and the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee in Toronto, where the jobless rate was 10 per cent in December, 2013. But six employers contacted by The Globe on Thursday contended the information is inaccurate, raising questions about the accuracy of some of the data the government used to support its case for sweeping reforms to the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program. The federal list is set to become political fodder in Alberta on Friday, when the Alberta Federation of Labour plans to release a copy that it obtained through a separate information request.
The Globe and Mail – Labour Shortage Imperils LNG Projects, Chinese Partner Warns
Canada needs to open its oil and gas industry to skilled workers from China and elsewhere to address a labour crunch, says the Chinese partner of thePetronas-led consortium planning a liquefied natural gas export project in British Columbia. Without policy concessions from the Canadian government, “many projects will drop,” said Feng Zhiqiang, executive vice-president of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Co., a subsidiary of the Chinese oil and gas giant. […] Proposals to bring foreign workers to Canada are controversial. Criticism of Canada’s temporary foreign worker program prompted Ottawa to recently tighten rules. Efforts by a Chinese-backed mining company to run its northeast B.C. property with imported labour met fierce resistance last year. […] Jason Kenney, the federal Minister of Employment and Social Development, has said Ottawa expects LNG developers to use Canadian labour, resorting to temporary foreign workers only rarely to meet specific needs.
York Region – Newcomer Program Aims to Make Students Comfortable
The orientation workshop started eight years ago because it became apparent newcomers to Canada and York Region — parents and students — needed a bit of assistance maneuvering the school system, according to Agnes Manasan, program co-ordinator of settlement and education partnership in York Region. Seminars were offered in English, Chinese, Farsi and Korean. About 450 students and parents took part. Parents learn about school requirements and policies, such as the number of credits required to graduate, as well as how they can become more involved in their child’s school or education, according to Manasan. For students, it’s an opportunity to meet other newcomer students, as well as learn school policies and what is expected of them in the classroom. […] The workshop was presented by the Catholic Community Services of York Region and paid for by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communique – Edmonton accueille plus de 750 nouveaux Canadiens
Au cours des deux dernières semaines, Edmonton a accueilli plus de 750 nouveaux citoyens canadiens originaires de plus de 90 pays, lors de six cérémonies qui se sont déroulées à la bibliothèque Stanley A. Milner. Les cérémonies comme celles-ci mettent en évidence les efforts que déploie le gouvernement pour améliorer l’efficacité du programme de citoyenneté, et ainsi faire en sorte que les gens qui rêvent de devenir Canadiens soient plus nombreux à concrétiser ce rêve et y parviennent plus rapidement. Les récentes modifications apportées à la Loi sur la citoyenneté, qui ont reçu la sanction royale le 19 juin 2014, permettront d’accroître l’efficacité du programme de citoyenneté. Le nouveau modèle de prise de décision rationalisée et les autres changements apportés à la Loi sur la citoyenneté devraient ramener le délai de traitement des demandes de citoyenneté à moins d’un an et réduire l’arriéré de demandes de citoyenneté de plus de 80 p. 100 d’ici 2015-2016.
Toronto Star – Red Cross Uncovers Problems Facing Canadian Immigration Detainees
A confidential Red Cross investigation found numerous shortcomings at Canadian facilities for immigrant detainees including triple-bunked cells, lack of support for detained children and inadequate mental health care. In addition, because there are no dedicated immigration cells in many parts of the country, newcomers are often held in provincial jails or police facilities alongside suspected gang members and violent offenders, says the Canadian Red Cross Society’s inspection report. Through an agreement with the Canada Border Services Agency, the independent humanitarian organization monitors the treatment and conditions of people detained in Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. […] The Red Cross makes 28 recommendations to help close various “protection gaps” noted by inspectors during 63 visits to facilities in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. In many cases the problems constituted a failure to comply with national or international standards. The organization makes a confidential annual report to the border agency, which released the findings for 2012-13 under the Access to Information Act.
