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 Hamilton Spectator – Jason Kenney Criticized for Tweeting Praise Refugee Boy’s Unaccented English
Conservative candidate Jason Kenney deleted a tweet praising a young refugee for speaking “perfect, unaccented English.” According to the tweet sent by Kenney, the 11-year-old Xavier is from Iraq but arrived in Canada last year after passing through Syria. “Already speaks perfect, unaccented English,” Kenney praised on Twitter. […]It was just one of a series of tweets highlighting the former immigration minister’s rapport with refugees from the Middle East. But when his comment boasting about Xavier’s lack of accent received online scorn, Kenney deleted the tweet altogether. […] Kenney defended the tweet, saying that people were “misconstruing it,” and said he deleted it for the boy’s sake.
Guelph Mercury – Immigration a Key Solution for Workforce Challenges Due to Low Unemployment
Recent low unemployment rates reported in the Mercury are another indication that Guelph and Wellington County need to attract and retain more immigrants. […] The Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership strongly believes another solution to this complex problem is being a welcoming, inclusive community that attracts and successfully integrates immigrants quickly into the workforce and society. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Immigrants bring a wealth of skills, experience and international connections that can strengthen our community economically and socially. However, including immigrants in the workforce in a way that benefits newcomers and employers alike will take some effort. One issue that needs immediate attention is the chronic mismatch between the skills with which many immigrants arrive and the types of jobs they are able to find. A survey of immigrants conducted by the partnership in 2012 shows that many immigrants face barriers to meaningful employment because companies expect them to have Canadian experience, their foreign credentials are not recognized, they lack an adequate understanding of Canadian workplace culture, or because of general societal discrimination. At the same time, many employers are open to and interested in hiring immigrants, but unintentional barriers in their hiring process may stop immigrants from applying.
Times Colonist – B.C. Immigration Plan Wildly Popular
The good news is the B.C. Liberals are updating a key immigration program to codify provincial policies into law. The bad news is the program is currently suspended. It’s so popular it’s oversubscribed well beyond the quota set by Ottawa and was shut down Sept. 1 to allow for some time to clear the backlog. The Provincial Nominee Program is the one immigration avenue over which provinces have some authority. It has always been in high demand in B.C. but intensified last year after the temporary foreign workers program was tightened up. Traffic was so brisk that the program was suspended last spring for a few months. It resumed for the summer, but was mostly suspended again last month, likely until early in the new year. Only some applications from health-care professionals and from people applying under a northeast B.C. pilot project involving specialized trades in the gas fields are still being processed. Under the program, B.C. is allowed to select foreign skilled workers, international graduates or entrepreneurs based on provincial needs. Ottawa allowed 5,500 spaces this year, but provincial officials got considerably more applications than it has nominations available.
The Tyee – Feds Using Old, Inaccurate Data to Set Temporary Foreign Worker Wages
The Conservative government is using inaccurate and outdated wage information to set pay rates under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and could be driving down wages for Canadians, according to a Tyee analysis of data obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour. Employers have to show they are prepared to pay the going rate for a job before they are allowed to bring in temporary workers from other countries. The rules are intended to ensure employers can only bring in foreign workers once they’ve shown efforts were made to hire Canadians at prevailing wages. But as recently as last year the government was using seven-year-old wage data to assess employers’ claims that they were prepared to pay the prevailing rate in some sectors. The government says it’s now gathering wage data from employers’ listings on its Job Bank website. But the labour federation says employers can easily manipulate the listings to keep wages low for temporary foreign workers. That in turn drives down pay for Canadian workers, the labour group says.
CBC – Refugee Health Clinic in Halifax Treats Patients Without Coverage
One of the doctors working at Halifax’s Refugee Health Clinic says it’s a credit to volunteer physicians and the provincial government that refugee claimants continue to have health-care services despite federal cuts. On Wednesday morning, the provincial ministers of health and immigration attended the official opening of the clinic on Mumford Road, which has been seeing patients since May. Dr. Tim Holland said about 10 per cent of the clinic’s patients are people waiting to hear about their refugee status who can’t see a family doctor or “get their basic health needs met.” Because physicians volunteer their time to treat those patients, Holland says they continue to receive care for free. “Thankfully, the province has really stepped up in helping fund this clinic, which helps subsidize and meet some of the cuts the federal government has done,” he said. “But it’s still a long way to go to make up for the cuts.” […] Partial coverage for children and pregnant women was restored after the Federal Court of Canada ruled that not providing the coverage is unconstitutional. That decision is being appealed by the federal government.
Radio-Canada – Emplois dans l’industrie pétrolière à T.-N.-L. :trop d’étrangers selon certains travailleurs
Avec la diminution des emplois dans l’industrie pétrolière, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, les pratiques d’embauche et le traitement des travailleurs des entreprises pétrolières sont de plus en plus scrutés à la loupe. L’Office Canada-Terre-Neuve des hydrocarbures extracôtiers confirme dans une déclaration écrite qu’il surveille de près l’industrie. « Nous nous attendons à ce que les exploitants assument leurs responsabilités et se conforment [aux règles] en tout temps », peut-on y lire.
