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.
CTV News – New Brunswick Population Growth Strategy Seeks Big Boost in Immigration
New Brunswick is aiming to more than triple the number of immigrants to the province, hoping to reach 7,500 a year by 2024. The goal of bringing the annual immigration intake to about one per cent of the province’s population is included in a new five-year provincial government population growth strategy and action plan released today. In addition to attracting new immigrants, the strategy seeks to ensure newcomers remain in the province, targeting a one-year retention rate of 85 per cent by 2024.
The third-party advertising group behind billboards promoting Maxime Bernier and his stance on immigration is now distancing itself from the message, saying it never signed off on the controversial campaign. “We completely disavow any sympathy with or support for the views expressed by donors who paid for and selected the content of their advertising, which we were mistakenly not afforded an opportunity to first approve,” Frank Smeenk, the head of True North Strong & Free Advertising Corp., wrote in an email to The Canadian Press on Monday.
CBC News – Golden Ticket and Culture Shock: Refugee Students Start Over in Vancouver
World University Services Canada (WUSC) is a non-profit development organization with a focus on education. Its student refugee program — founded more than four decades ago — works with the federal department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to bring 130 students to Canada every year. Organizers of the scholarship program say they understand the transition is tough for students arriving at Canadian universities from refugee camps. But Christine Mylks, manager of overseas programming for WUSC, says the scholarship provides an opportunity for education and citizenship through a single channel, which is rare.
CBC News – Removing Anti-Immigration Billboards Is Censorship, Says Columnist
“It’s a disgusting message,” said Lise Ravary, a writer with the Montreal Gazette and broadcaster with Cogeco Media. However, she told The Current’s guest host Matt Galloway that “as long as a billboard advertising is, you know, within the limits of the law, I don’t see under what pretence we could say: ‘Take it down.'” “To me it’s censorship. He’s allowed to think what he thinks he’s allowed to say it to people.”
Winnipeg Free Press – Voting Information for Newcomers: Local Committee Issues Election Brochures in Multiple Languages
The Ethnocultural Council of Manitoba will help refugees and immigrants vote in the upcoming provincial election on Sept. 10. In partnership with Elections Manitoba, they launched the “Got Citizenship? Go Vote!” campaign on Aug. 20. The campaign printed election brochures in 10 different languages, including Swahili, Arabic, and Mandarin, and distributed them throughout Winnipeg via community ambassadors.
Reuters – Anti-Immigration Billboards Across Canada Taken Down After Backlash
Anti-immigrant ads on billboards across Canada are being taken down after a public outcry and multiple petitions against them, the company that owns the billboards said. The ads were launched in support of Maxime Bernier, leader of the small right-wing anti-immigration People’s Party of Canada, and called for a halt on mass immigration to Canada. They started appearing in several Canadian cities last week and were bought by True North Strong and Free Advertising Corp (TNSFAC).
