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.
Le Journal de Montréal – Nouvelle loi conservatrice : le Canada retire sa citoyenneté à un Canadien
Pour la première fois depuis qu’il en a le pouvoir, le gouvernement fédéral a retiré la citoyenneté canadienne à un individu condamné pour terrorisme. Zakaria Amara, l’une des 18 personnes qui ont comploté en vue de faire exploser des bombes au centre-ville de Toronto en 2006, a été informé par lettre qu’il n’était plus un citoyen canadien, a rapporté le National Post. Ce dernier purge au Québec une peine de prison à vie. Puisqu’il a toujours la nationalité jordanienne, il pourrait être renvoyé dans ce pays une fois qu’il sera libre.
The Globe and Mail – Documents Reveal Government’s Scramble to Enact Niqab Requirements
Four years ago, as opposition to the wearing of the Muslim niqab built in Quebec, France and the Netherlands, citizenship and immigration minister Jason Kenney […] instructed officials to create a requirement for uncovered faces when new Canadians take the oath. His departmental staff either didn’t grasp or weren’t happy with what he was asking at first, internal government e-mails and memoranda show – producing ideas for accommodation instead. And even after they understood the request for a mandatory policy of uncovered faces, and rushed to give it to him, they were so concerned the courts would block Mr. Kenney’s new policy that they warned him of the legal risks, and pondered warning him again. The e-mails and memos form part of the public court record in Zunera Ishaq’s successful challenge to the government policy on niqabs worn during citizenship oaths. […] the documents spell out repeatedly that the policy is “mandatory” or “required.” The word is used in briefing notes to the minister for Question Period, and for officials taking media calls. […] Yet the government’s argument in court rests on the notion that the policy is not mandatory but at the discretion of citizenship court judges. The government acknowledged in court that a mandatory policy would be unlawful because it did not have cabinet approval.
CBC – Refugee Crisis: Croatia Lifts Border Blockade with Serbia
Croatia lifted a blockade on its border with Serbia on Friday, ending a week of trade war that had plunged relations between the two Balkan states to their lowest since Yugoslavia broke up in blood in the 1990s. “Yes, the border is now open to all traffic,” an officer of the border police at the key Bajakovo crossing said by telephone. A Reuters reporter on the scene confirmed cars with Serbian plates were now moving into Croatia. The border spat was prompted by the flow of thousands of migrants across their joint frontier. More than 60,000 migrants have crossed into Croatia from Serbia in the past week. […] Zagreb banned Serbian cargo traffic on Monday, demanding that Belgrade send migrants to Hungary and Romania too, instead of exclusively to Croatia, a European Union member since 2013.
CBC – Refugee Crisis: Demonstrators Attack Asylum Seekers in Finland
Demonstrators threw stones and launched fireworks at a bus full of asylum seekers arriving at a reception centre in Lahti in southern Finland, late on Thursday, Finnish media reported on Friday. Between 30 and 40 demonstrators, one in a white robe like those worn by the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan in the United States, waved the Finnish flag and shouted abuse at the bus. Some demonstrators also hurled stones and let off fireworks at the vehicle carrying 40 asylum seekers, including several young children, Finnish television YLE said. Meanwhile, a petrol bomb was thrown at another reception centre in Kouvola, also in southern Finland, police said. No one was known to be hurt in the incidents. “The Finnish government strongly condemns last night’s racist protests against asylum seekers who had entered the country,” the government said in a statement. “Violence or the threat of violence is always to be condemned.” Prime Minister Juha Sipila this month offered to take in refugees at his home, a move that attracted international attention but also criticism in Finland.
The Globe and Mail – Conservative Minister Jason Kenney Takes Aim at Liberal Immigration Policies
The Conservatives say voters won’t be fooled by the Liberals’ promises to change the tone of Canada’s immigration policies. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said today that if his party forms the government immigration policy will emphasize family reunification over what he says is the Conservative approach of favouring immigrants who could contribute to the economy. In previous decades, millions of immigrants loyally voted Liberal, but the Harper government has made steady inroads among those voters even as it overhauled the system that brought them to Canada in the first place. Conservative cabinet minister Jason Kenney, architect of many of the government’s immigration changes, says voters won’t be swayed by Trudeau’s promises. He says new Canadians are smart and sophisticated and those who came to Canada during the previous Liberal government remember how broken the immigration system was.
Le Devoir – Trudeau veut éliminer le visa obligatoire pour les Mexicains
Dans un effort pour améliorer les relations avec le Mexique, le chef libéral Justin Trudeau a promis, vendredi, de supprimer l’obligation pour les citoyens mexicains d’obtenir un visa pour entrer au Canada. Cette mesure est un sujet sensible pour les deux pays depuis qu’elle a été adoptée par le gouvernement conservateur, en 2009, après une forte augmentation du nombre de demandeurs d’asile mexicains en sol canadien. À l’époque, les conservateurs avaient fait valoir que plusieurs de ces demandes n’étaient pas légitimes. L’ambassadeur du Mexique au Canada avait déclaré en 2013 que son pays était « furieux » parce qu’Ottawa avait compliqué les choses pour les touristes et les gens d’affaires mexicains désirant voyager dans le nord du continent.
