A national alliance dedicated to providing an evidence base for newcomer settlement & integration and the promotion of welcoming communities in 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.
Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years, given the pace of claims filed so far, as increasing numbers of people cross into Canada to make refugee claims following US President Donald Trump’s election and his crackdown on refugees and migrants.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/asylum-seekers-surge-canada-170420051255797.html
In a statement provided to The Globe and Mail, a spokesman for the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship indicated the men would not qualify because they were hiding out in Russia. “In order to be considered for resettlement, individuals must be outside their country of origin,” Remi Lariviere said via e-mail. Last word was that the Russian LGBT Network had found shelter for about 30 Chechen men. Because Chechnya is a semi-autonomous republic within the Russian Federation, they don’t qualify as refugees.
In March, the RCMP intercepted 887 people entering the country outside an official crossing point, up from 658 in February and 315 in January. That brings the total for the first three months of 2017 to 1,860. […] Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, said the vast majority of immigration to Canada is carefully planned and managed and that spontaneous asylum seekers are much smaller and largely unpredictable.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/border-crossing-asylum-seekers-1.4076241
“[Border officers] are convinced that Americans are ridding themselves of the problem by bringing asylum seekers to Roxham Road instead of driving them to the Lacolle border crossing,” said union president Jean-Pierre Fortin. […] Fortin has said he wants the federal government to create a team of CBSA officers who would patrol in between ports of entry, a job that is currently part of the RCMP’s responsibilities.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/canada-us-border-crossing-illegal-asylum-seekers-1.4077066
How long is too long? That was the question with which Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer grilled government lawyers on Thursday regarding Kashif Ali, an immigration detainee who has been locked up in maximum-security jail for more than seven years because Canada has been unable to deport him. “It seems to me the fundamental question,” said Nordheimer, one of the province’s most respected judges, who wanted to know whether Canada believes it should have the right to hold someone in immigration detention indefinitely. […] Nordheimer’s decision is scheduled for April 28.
The Northern Policy Institute has launched a new project designed to bring people – and workers – to the North. Their Northern Newcomer Strategy is designed to develop an action plan to change current policies and programs related to migration. The project will examine current demographics with immigrants in Northern Ontario, determine how to increase those numbers and use the information to pen a policy paper geared at getting government support.
http://www.saultstar.com/2017/04/20/project-aims-to-attract-immigrants-to-the-north