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 – Ontario Will Spend $10M to Bring Syrian Refugees to Province
Ontario will spend $10.5 million to open the province’s doors to 10,000 Syrian refugees, the Star has learned. Premier Kathleen Wynne, who will make an official announcement on Saturday at the COSTI office on College Street, said “the desperate situation” had been building for months. “So to see this child, it was tragic and hard not relate to your own children, to relate to your own grandchildren,” Wynne said in an interview here Friday, referring to the images of drowned toddler Alan Kurdi, which have shocked the world and spurred calls for action. “There are moments in political life where you just think this is not good enough. We have to now do more. We have to push the system, because the system’s clearly not working.” Sources say the Ontario government needs Ottawa to expedite the arrival of the refugees while helping to ensure security is kept tight enough so that no terrorists slip into the country. Likening the humanitarian crisis to a natural disaster, like a tsunami or a flood or a huge forest fire, Wynne said public officials “have to go above and beyond” because exceptional circumstances demand it.
CBC – Quebec Apple Season Spared from Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Quebec apple farmers are back on track after changes to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program threatened to put their harvest at risk. Apple farmers were saved at the last minute when Citizenship and Immigration Canada bowed to pressure from the industry and agreed to speed up the visa process for farm workers. Just last month, many orchard owners spoke out over concerns they’d be forced to watch their apples rot on their branches because of visa delays. Some farmers originally expected the permit application process could take up to 16 weeks. Stéphanie Levasseur, president of the apple farmers’ union, said Immigration Canada heard their concerns and managed to speed through as many as 300 files in one week.
CBC – Conservatives Rule Out Airlifts of Syrian Refugees to Canada
Airlifting Syrian refugees en masse is not one of the measures Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are contemplating as they prepare to announce new measures to expedite the process for resettling refugees to Canada, says Defence Minister Jason Kenney. In an interview that aired Saturday on CBC Radio’s The House, Kenney ruled out the refugee airlifts proposed by the party’s political rivals, saying it would be “imprudent” for Canada to do so. “The opposition parties who are talking about airlifting people out of the camps clearly do not understand the nuance of the situation,” Kenney told CBC’s Chris Hall. […] A source who spoke to CBC News on condition of anonymity said immigration officials have been burning the midnight oil after the Conservatives asked them to come up with a range of options looking at how the government can better respond to the Syrian refugee crisis. Asked what Canadians could expect to hear from the Conservatives in the coming days, Kenney said, “Faster processing, an accelerated streamlined system and more support to get more people here quickly.”
Reuters – Canada Creates Emergency Relief Fund to Aid Middle East Refugees
Canada will create an emergency relief fund by matching the donations of Canadians to assist refugees in conflict zones in the Middle East, the minister of international development said on Saturday. The government will match contributions donated to registered Canadian charities, up to a maximum of C$100 million ($75.43 million). “These funds will be used to help meet the basic needs of conflict-afflicted people in the region including shelter, food, health and water as well as protection and emergency education,” Christian Paradis said at a news conference in Ottawa. “The fund will also be used to provide assistance in some transit countries for refugees.”
CBC – U of R Boosting Support for Refugee Students
The University of Regina is providing matching dollars to support a program that helps refugees with the costs of being a student. The students’ union already collects $100,000 for the program, through a levy on student fees. Vianne Timmons, president of the U of R, announced Friday that the institution will match that amount. The money helps refugees pay for tuition, books, rent and clothing. Over the years, dozens of refugee students from places such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia and the Sudan have studied at the U of R. URSU, the U of R Student’s Unions, is working with a local chapter of World University of Canada which runs the Student Refugee Program (SRP).
CBC – Saudi Scholarship Uncertainty May Affect Nova Scotia Student Numbers
As university students return, there are rumblings of uncertainty around a program that has paid for thousands of Saudi students to attend North American universities since 2005. The King Abdullah scholarships have remained in place after the death of the Saudi monarch but in Nova Scotia there are hints some things may be changing. International students make up 20 per cent of the enrolment at Nova Scotia universities and one of the biggest groups where the state pays all expenses are the Saudis. Those students accounted for one in eight students — 420 — at Cape Breton University a few years ago. But CBU president David Wheeler says it hasn’t received any new students from that group for two years and the numbers have dropped to below 200. CBU has diversified its recruiting to retain the same level of international students. In Halifax, universities say it is too soon to tell if their numbers are down.
