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.
Toronto Star – Halifax Rally Celebrates and Supports Refugees
In a show of solidarity, about 500 people marched along busy Halifax streets Saturday afternoon, chanting “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here!” The Walk with Refugees — hosted by the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), the Halifax Refugee Clinic and several other partners — took participants from the base of Citadel Hill to the Halifax Central Library on Spring Garden Road, where many of the walkers stayed for a boisterous reception.
CBC News – Iranians in Ottawa Join Call for Action on Immigration Delays
Iranians in Ottawa are adding their voices to a protest over long waits for permanent residency with plans for a demonstration on Parliament Hill Monday. Like many of the people who have been posting about the delays on social media using the hashtag #DelayedIranianApplications, Milad Irannejad, the software engineer who is organizing Monday’s event, is highly educated. Based the federal immigration department’s website, Irannejad expected his permanent residency application to take at most six months, but 13 months after he applied, he’s still waiting.
CBC News – Government Looking into Using Frozen Assets to Help Refugees
The federal government is being asked to consider confiscating frozen assets in Canada to help refugees. The proposal, which is still in its infancy, comes from the World Refugee Council, an initiative set up by the Waterloo-based Centre for International Governance Innovation. While final and more formal recommendations will come in a report later this year, the council, chaired by Chrétien-era cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy, already has floated the idea past government officials, according to documents obtained under the access to information law.
La Presse – Montréal : des manifestants réclament un statut pour tous les migrants
Des membres de groupes de soutien aux immigrants ont marché samedi dans les rues de Parc-Extension pour réclamer « un statut pour tous » avec la mise en place de programme de régularisation et ainsi mettre fin à des politiques « de cas par cas ». Les organismes dont Solidarité sans frontières tiennent une marche annuelle depuis 2004 pour faire valoir leurs arguments.
Le Devoir – La France accueillera des migrants de l’Aquarius
L’Espagne a annoncé samedi qu’elle acceptait l’offre de la France d’accueillir une partie des 630 migrants secourus par l’Aquarius, attendus dimanche matin au port espagnol de Valence après une semaine d’errance en Méditerranée. Des tentes étaient déjà montées et des ambulances pré-positionnées sur le port où les autorités régionales de gauche ont installé une immense banderole « Bienvenue chez vous », dans différentes langues.
CTV News – Scheer Sends Trudeau a Letter Calling for End to Border ‘Queue Jumping’
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to table a plan to immediately stop “queue jumping” by the ongoing influx of illegal border crossers. Last week, Scheer and his Public Safety critic, Pierre Paul-Hus, visited Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que., where the vast majority of irregular migrants have arrived this year after crossing the Canada-U.S. border through the now well-worn path at Roxham Road. Scheer says he went to the site to witness first-hand the “epicentre of the crisis at our borders.”
