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.
CBC – Arabic Speaking Therapist to Counsel Region’s Syrian Refugees
A local counselling service has hired an Arabic-speaking therapist to assist Syrian refugees in Waterloo Region. Therapist Rasha Mardini will start seeing clients at KW Counselling Service’s seven agencies throughout Waterloo Region, beginning July 4th. KW Counselling Services received $60,000 in funding to offer her a one year term, made up of community donations, matched through The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation.
Calgary Herald – New Report Says Conditions for Temporary Foreign Workers Worsened with 2014 Reforms
Changes made to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program by the Harper government since 2014 increase the risk that low-wage migrant workers who come to Canada will be abused, according to a report released Wednesday afternoon by the Metcalf Foundation, a charitable organization in Ontario. “We’ve seen a rise in concern about the widespread exploitation of workers under the program, but what we know well is that those experiences of exploitation are a product of the system we’ve created,” said Fay Faraday, the report’s author and a human rights lawyer who has done extensive research on the TFWP.
CTV News – Syrian Refugee Resettlement $136 Million Under Budget, Feds Say
The first year of the Liberal government’s marquee Syrian refugee resettlement program came in about $136 million under budget, the government said Thursday. Bringing in 25,000 people between November and the end of February cost $319 million, with the biggest costs being transporting and welcoming them, figures released by the Immigration Department show. Transportation was cheaper than expected, temporary military housing was never used and neither was a contingency fund, Immigration Minister John McCallum told a House of Commons committee in explaining the cost savings.
Radio-Canada – Ottawa a économisé 136 millions dans l’accueil de réfugiés syriens
La première année du programme phare du gouvernement Trudeau pour accueillir 25 000 réfugiés syriens au pays a coûté 136 millions de dollars de moins que ce qui était prévu dans le budget initial, selon les chiffres fournis jeudi par le ministère de l’Immigration. La venue au pays de 25 000 réfugiés entre novembre et la fin février a coûté 319 […].
Times Colonist – Federal Photo-Matching Scheme Quietly Singles Out Passport Fraudsters
Federal officials used photo-matching technology to identify 15 high-risk people — all wanted on immigration warrants — who used false identities to apply for travel documents. The Liberal government might make the facial-recognition scheme permanent to help find and arrest people ineligible to remain in Canada due to involvement with terrorism, organized crime or human rights violations. It’s just the latest example of federal efforts to zero in on lawbreakers using biometrics — physical identifiers such as images, fingerprints or iris scans.
Reuters Canada – EU Ministers Turn Wary Eye on Migration from North Africa
European Union ministers will look on Friday into ways of stemming the flow of migrants who set sail for Europe from Libya and elsewhere in north Africa after a deal with Turkey has cut arrivals via Greece to a trickle. The EU fears the central Mediterranean route to Italy may become the main one now as calmer seas encourage more people to try the perilous journey.
