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.
Acadie Nouvelle – Consulats généraux de France : des coupes mal accueillies en Acadie
Des groupes acadiens et français dénoncent les compressions que doit subir le Consulat général de France dans les Provinces atlantiques. Au total, 15 postes doivent être supprimés dans les consulats généraux de France au Canada, dont trois au bureau de Moncton. La décision a été annoncée mardi lors d’une réunion consulaire, soit une rencontre annuelle des consuls généraux de la France au Canada. Les compressions iront de l’avant à moins qu’intervienne directement le ministre français des Affaires étrangères. C’est ce qu’explique François Lubrina, conseiller consulaire pour Montréal-Moncton-Halifax et conseiller à l’Assemblée des Français de l’étranger pour le Canada.
CBC – Refugee Crisis: EU Ministers Agree on Draft Plan to Relocate 120,000 People
The European Union approved a plan on Tuesday to share out 120,000 refugees across its 28 states, overriding vehement opposition from four ex-communist eastern nations. Diplomats said interior ministers meeting in Brussels had voted to launch the scheme, backed by Germany and other big powers, in order to tackle the continent’s worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. […] The Czech minister tweeted that he had voted against the plan, along with colleagues from Slovakia, Romania and Hungary. Finland abstained. Prague had earlier warned that any attempt to approve such a scheme would be unworkable and could end in “big ridicule” for governments and EU authorities. […] Hours earlier, the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the 120,000 people the bloc was seeking to share out were equivalent to just 20 days’ worth of arrivals at the current rate
CBC – Are Only “Bogus” Refugees Affected by Federal Health Cuts
During a question about immigration policy as a strategy to the long-term prosperity of the country, Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Stephen Harper of taking away health care from refugees. Harper defended his party’s record on immigration and responded to the Liberal leader’s accusation by saying, “the fact of the matter is we did not, we have not, taken away health care from immigrants and refugees. On the contrary, the only time we’ve removed it is where we have bogus refugee claimants who have been refused and turned down.” […] Trudeau is partly right. The government did introduce cuts to the interim federal health program, leaving refugees with minimal health benefits — but not entirely without health benefits, as Trudeau’s claim may have implied. Harper is wrong when he says the Conservative government only took away some benefits from “bogus” refugees. Refugee claimants are currently being denied some federal health benefits while their claims are being processed, not just once their applications are rejected. Privately sponsored refugees — which includes the bulk of the Syrian refugees the government is promising to bring to Canada by September 2016 — are also among the groups of refugees receiving limited coverage.
CBC – New Transitional House for Refugees Set to Open in Winnipeg
A church and its congregation in Winnipeg’s inner city are answering the call to help more refugees by making a new transitional house on Ellice Avenue. “Welcome Place and Hospitality House are overflowing. There is a need, really, for relationship housing, and that’s really what this is,” said Tim Nielsen, the pastor of City Church on Maryland Street. He said almost his entire congregation consists of former refugees, and now they are banding together to help new ones. City Church bought a building on Ellice Avenue for $100,000 and plans to turn it into transitional housing for refugees. It will have eight to 10 bedrooms, include an accessible bedroom and shower for people with disabilities, and have a common kitchen and a classroom for English as an additional language.
La Presse – 2 000 réfugiés syriens au Québec d’ici la fin de l’année
Les obstacles levés du côté d’Ottawa, le Québec accueillera environ 2000 réfugiés syriens d’ici la fin de l’année, a indiqué mardi la ministre de l’Immigration, Kathleen Weil. Mais elle ignore si Québec atteindra son objectif de recevoir trois fois plus de migrants. La ministre s’est montrée satisfaite de la décision de son homologue fédéral Chris Alexander, qui a annoncé samedi que le gouvernement fédéral va accélérer le traitement des demandes d’asile déposées par des réfugiés syriens. Le ministre conservateur sortant s’est engagé à augmenter le nombre d’agents chargés de traiter les demandes d’asile à l’étranger, comme l’avait demandé Québec.
CBC – Refugees in Canada Plea for Government to Speed Up Family Reunification
Refugees and their advocates are calling on the Canadian government to speed up family reunification. “My mother has been in Turkey for over a year waiting to come to Canada. Really I miss her,” said Huda Mohammed Ahmed, 14, at a press conference in Vancouver on Monday. Ahmed, a government-assisted refugee from Iraq, came to Canada with her older brother — but without their mother, whose paperwork has yet to be processed. […] Last Saturday, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced a $25-million plan to allow more refugee applications to be processed. Immigration advocates at the announcement said the quickest way to speed those applications along is to help families who have been separated by war. “Canada needs to put refugee children first and this can happen through an expedited government-assisted program,” said Chris Friesen, chair of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance. Friesen pointed out that the federal government sped up family reunification for refugees from Kosovo in 1999. Like the other panel members at the conference, B.C.’s child advocate Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond asked the Canadian government to help reunite refugees with their families.
