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 – Refugees’ Needs Expose Canada’s Housing Crisis
The shortage of affordable homes isn’t just a problem for newcomers. The urgent need of Syrian refugees shines a light on a much larger housing crisis. Across Canada, 40 per cent of renter households spend much more than they can afford on housing. Families struggle to pay rent and put food on the table. Even in a country as wealthy as ours, 235,000 people experience homelessness each year. […] For incoming refugee families of up to 10 people, for example, finding a home that is affordable and a decent size is especially challenging.
Sarnia Observer – Lambton Refugee Sponsor Network Formed to Coordinate Syrian Refugee Sponsorship Efforts
Up to 20 families of Syrian refugees could be headed to the Sarnia-Lambton area in the coming weeks and months. That’s thanks to the combined efforts of a number of faith-based sponsor groups, said Stephanie Ferrera, speaking for the newly-created Lambton Refugee Sponsor Network (LRSN). The network, a central hub for the sponsor groups, is coordinating ways for people to drop off donated goods and cash, along with organizing training sessions for volunteers and service providers, and keeping tabs on the overall count of Syrian refugees coming to the area, said Ferrera, who is also project coordinator of the Sarnia-Lambton Local Immigration Partnership, which created the network.
CBC – Don’t Push Rosy Portrayals of Refugee Crisis Response, Steven Zhou Urges
Canada’s reaction to the refugee crisis has turned into a feel-good public relations coup for the Liberal Party, exemplified by photographs of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeting throngs of exhausted Syrian refugees at Pearson Airport. It looked as if the Liberal administration, joined, in a rare display of cross-partisan solidarity, by its opposition critics, was well on its way to addressing a global problem in a highly substantive way — and the story ends there. But now that several thousand Syrian refugees have landed, much of the actual mechanics of effectively and humanely settling them have proven to be mired in bureaucratic limbo and a lack of planning. It’s a disservice to the refugees in need, along with Canadians in general, to have these challenges be overshadowed by superficially optimistic representations of the situation.
Radio-Canada – Réfugiés : le SANA et Amnistie internationale organisent une activité pour vaincre les préjugés
Plus de 140 personnes ont assisté à la projection spéciale du fim La Pirogue jeudi soir au Séminaire Saint-Joseph de Trois-Rivières, une activité organisée par le Service d’accueil des nouveaux arrivants (SANA) et Amnisie internationale. L’activité, suivie d’un échange avec le public, se déroulaitdans le but avoué de mieux faire comprendre la situation […].
Mes étudiants sont convaincus que toutes les cultures se valent et que les frontières nationales sont des reliquats du passé. Si certaines cultures comportent des aspects qui les troublent, ils s’interdiront bien de le dire, craignant d’être taxés de manque d’«ouverture».
Évidemment, la dure réalité se charge d’administrer ses leçons.
Radio-Canada – Le Grand Vancouver peine à loger ses réfugiés syriens
Seuls 210 des 913 réfugiés parrainés par le gouvernement fédéral dans le Grand Vancouver ont trouvé un logement permanent depuis leur arrivée en décembre, affirme l’organisme Immigrant Services Society de la Colombie-Britannique. Les autres vivent à l’hôtel et dans des appartements financés par Ottawa.
