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.
The results of a new immigration program meant to match the flow of foreign workers with Canada’s job market should be a wakeup call for policymakers, experts say. Under the new Express Entry system, immigrants applying for low-wage, precarious jobs in Canada are being favoured over those applying for more professional positions, said Toronto immigration consultant Parmjit Mangat. Mangat worries the policy means new immigrants may not find stable jobs and could be at risk of having their rights violated by employers.
CBC – Syrian Refugees Share Stories of Suffering with Canadian Centre for the Victims of Torture
Psychiatrist Debra Stein has been with the centre for over 20 years, and provides a safe space for refugees to talk about their past. Stein says she and her colleagues hear many stories like Sarkbi’s, as refugees escape from prisons, from persecution and from oppressive regimes. Even for those who escaped without torture, there are still terrible memories of refugee camps and the trauma from migration.
The Globe and Mail – Halifax Chronicle Herald Retracts Refugee Story after Public Outcry
The publisher of Nova Scotia’s largest newspaper apologized on Monday after one of its stories ignited a firestorm with unverified allegations that young Syrian refugees had attacked fellow students at a Halifax elementary school. […] Insiders at the Chronicle Herald noted the paper’s staff has been on strike for 12 weeks, with many inexperienced reporters taking their place. They suggested managers may have missed the holes in the story’s reporting because of overwork and exhaustion.
Winnipeg Free Press – Canada Ignores the Risky Ones
Canada’s acceptance of 26,000 displaced individuals and the country’s attempt to provide stability and support is, of course, admirable, but the method of selection is not. This crisis cannot be boxed up into stackable container units or put through unrealistic registration trials. It is a time that cries out for humanity and Canada is covering its ears to the “unverifiable” voices that make them the most vulnerable.
CBC – Cape Breton Immigrants Get Government-Funded Case Workers
New immigrants to Cape Breton will soon have a dedicated person to turn to for help in settling into their new home. The province is providing new funding to help with immigrant settlement on the island. The Office of Immigration has earmarked $175,000 for the 2016-17 fiscal year. Minister Lena Metlege Diab says most of the money will go toward hiring two front-line caseworkers, who will work out of the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation in Sydney.
Toronto Star – Ontario Human Rights Official Calls for Change to Immigration Detention System
ail cells are no place for vulnerable immigrant detainees who have neither been charged with, nor convicted of, any crime, Ontario’s top human rights official says. In an open letter to the province’s community safety minister and copied to his federal counterpart, Renu Mandhane calls for major reforms to a system in which thousands of non-citizens are jailed each under immigration laws each year — and several die. “There is a fundamental, systemic problem with using provincial correctional facilities designed for persons detained under the Criminal Code to detain immigrants who are neither criminally charged nor serving a sentence,” Mandhane, head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, says in her letter to Yasir Naqvi.
