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.
City News – N.S. Appeal Court Overturns Sex Assault Conviction of Canada Border Services Agent
Nova Scotia’s highest court has ordered a new trial for a former Canada Border Services agent who was found guilty last year of sexually assaulting and extorting a woman facing deportation. Chief Justice Michael Wood of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal wrote in the decision released Wednesday that trial judge Suzanne Hood of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court made several errors in law in the original conviction of Carie Dexter Willis. Willis launched an appeal last year of his conviction and six-year prison sentence.
CBC News – N.L. Working to Ease Application Backlog as Immigration Interest Increases
The Ball administration has stressed the importance of immigration to Newfoundland and Labrador’s future, but people trying to come to the province through two key programs have recently faced longer waits in having their applications processed. That’s according to internal provincial briefing materials obtained through access to information. The minister in charge of the immigration portfolio says there is a good-news reason behind the bad-news backlog — a big bump in the number of people seeking to come to the province.
Global News – B.C. Woman Blames Provincial Red Tape for Trouble Getting Afghan Refugee to Canada
A B.C. woman says provincial regulations are keeping a refugee from coming to Canada, even though he has sponsors and a job waiting for him upon arrival. Sayed Ahmadzia Ebrahimi has spent the last 18 months in Lesbos, Greece, living in a refugee camp after fleeing Afghanistan. His wife and three children are still in their home country, while he left to seek a better life for all of them. He’s desperately trying to get out of the camp, known for its deplorable conditions.
National Post – Canada ‘Concerned’ by Allegations of Misconduct at UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees
The Canadian government is “concerned” by allegations of wrongdoing at a controversial United Nations agency that administers humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees, but officials have fallen short of saying whether or not future funding will be suspended. Serious allegations including sexual misconduct and nepotism have been directed at top officials at the UN’s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). After international news reports that the UN was investigating its own agency for severe mismanagement, Switzerland and the Netherlands both announced this week they would withhold funding.
CTV News – Death of Man in CBSA Custody Due to Natural Causes, Coroner Finds
The death of a man who went in to medical distress after being removed from a flight in August 2018 was the result of natural causes, the chief medical examiner has concluded. Bolante Alo was removed from a KLM flight to Amsterdam prior to takeoff by two Canada Border Services Agency agents on Aug. 7, 2018 and went into medical distress. He later died in hospital. The agents suffered minor injuries.
CBC News – South African Man Can’t Visit Long-Lost Brother in Canada Due to ‘Mean-Spirited’ Visa Denial
A South African man who recently made contact with a long-lost brother says he’s unable to pay him a visit in Canada because the federal government is refusing to grant him a visitor’s visa. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has told CBC News the officer who reviewed his documents wasn’t sure Luck would leave Canada after his visit. Luck was born in South Africa in 1963 and placed for adoption by his then-18-year-old mother.
