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.
Radio-Canada – Un avenir meilleur pour des immigrants francophones à Humboldt en Saskatchewan
Des immigrants francophones en provenance de l’île Maurice, de la Tunisie et de la France, installés dans le village de Humboldt en Saskatchewan à la recherche d’une vie meilleure, réussissent à s’intégrer à la communauté même si celle-ci est majoritairement anglophone. C’est le cas de la famille Dévaux qui est partie de l’île Maurice il y a un peu moins de trois ans dans l’espoir de mieux gagner sa vie. À son arrivée, le père, Gilbert Dévaux, a obtenu un emploi de soudeur en raison de ses compétences mais aussi grâce à son bilinguisme. La famille a dû s’adapter à l’hiver mais a rapidement organisé sa vie autour du travail, de l’Église et de l’école même s’il s’agit d’environnements majoritairement anglophones. La famille affirme qu’elle savait que Humboldt n’était pas une communauté francophone et qu’ils devraient parler en anglais.
Jose Hollanda has lived in NL for two years and is enrolled in the MBA program at Memorial. Since moving to the province, his receivement has been fairly luke-warm. “Everyone is very welcoming to short term newcomers and tourists, but I am not 100% sure the same is true for people who actually move here from other provinces or countries.” Hollanda also cited Newfoundland’s restrictive labour market as a reason for leaving. “At this point for me the biggest difficulty is to actually find a job. The job market in NL is pretty difficult to navigate without connections.” […] Catering to the needs of international students is important to ensuring they enjoy their time here in Newfoundland and could encourage them to remain. Memorial’s low tuition fees are an important attractant to these students, yet the return on investment for the university is very low if these students do not stay. Helping them adapt to new customs and allowing them to preserve their own is vital to ensuring their well-being while studying at MUN and increasing the chances that they choose to stay here after.
CBC – Influx of Refugees to Saint John Leads to Call for Volunteers
A large numbers of refugee families have arrived in Saint John and the YMCA’s Newcomer Connections program is looking for volunteers to help. According to William Tarr, community volunteer liaison with the program, 39 families from six different countries have landed since Jan. 1. They need help with the basics, like opening a bank account and shopping for groceries. “Normally our quota from the government, through Citizenship and Immigration Canada is 65 a year,” he said. “It’s above the mid-point of our quota already.” People have arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Syria and Iraq. They all come to Canada via refugee camps and have been certified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The influx means Tarr’s organization needs help. The Newcomer Connection program administers the federal government’s resettlement assistance program.
Acadie nouvelle – Les défis de l’intégration des nouveaux arrivants démystifiés
Le spécialiste Lionel Laroche s’efforce de démystifier l’arrivée des nouveaux immigrants sur le marché du travail canadien. Il était en conférence toute la semaine au Nouveau-Brunswick. Cela fait 25 ans que Lionel Laroche s’est installé au Canada. Diplômé d’une grande école, cet ingénieur reconnaît qu’en France, son pays d’origine, mener sa carrière lui aurait été plus facile. Comme tout nouvel arrivant, il a été confronté à ce fameux choc culturel qui en décourage certains, même ceux armés de la meilleure intention. […] Il lui a fallu du temps pour maîtriser les méthodes de travail canadiennes, bien éloignées de celles qu’il avait connues en Europe et qu’il appliquait instinctivement. Devenu spécialiste dans le domaine, il partage désormais son expérience pour sensibiliser tant les immigrants que les employeurs canadiens. Il a animé six conférences sur le sujet cette semaine au Nouveau-Brunswick. «Au Canada, les compétences sociales sont aussi importantes que les compétences techniques. En arrivant, un immigrant sait qu’il devra faire des efforts pour s’adapter et être disposé à le faire. C’est d’autant plus vrai dans le monde professionnel. Problème, les compétences sociales sont définies selon des critères culturels qui lui échappent.»
Toronto Star – Canada Should Open Its Door to More Refugees: Editorial
There are many ways to measure misery in the world. And the annual asylum trends report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is surely one of them. The UN agency says some 51.2 million individuals were forcibly displaced in 2014 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. Of those, 866,000 sought asylum last year with the 44 countries who report claims to the UN. That’s a shocking 45-per-cent increase from 2013 — and the highest level since 1992, when refugees were fleeing the Balkan conflicts by the millions. […] According to the UN agency, Canada’s intake of refugees has dropped from a high of fifth in the world five years ago to the bottom of the top 15 refugee receiving countries last year, at 13,500. Compare that to the 60,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees Canada took in 35 years ago, and you can see the disturbing downward trend in refugee acceptance. […] To be fair, Canada’s intake in 2014 was one-third more than 2012’s 10,400 refugees. And it has settled 20,000 Iraqi refugees since 2009. Still, the immediate need is great, and Canada could — and should — do more.
CBC – PEGIDA Québec Cancels March After Anti-Racist Groups Convene
A march organized by sympathizers of a Europe-based anti-Islam, anti-immigration group called PEGIDA was cancelled on Saturday after hundreds of people showed up to protest against PEGIDA itself. The self-described leader of the relatively new PEGIDA Québec chapter, Jean-François Asgard, told Radio-Canada that “Islam needs to reform itself or leave the West.” Jaggi Singh of the No One Is Illegal activist group helped organize Saturday’s counter-protest. Hundreds of people toting signs denouncing racism and Islamophobia arrived 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the PEGIDA march, set to take place in a largely Muslim community in Montreal called Little Maghreb. […] PEGIDA, which in German stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, first popped up in October 2014. […]Singh said it’s very worrisome that people who normally only espouse racist and xenophobic opinions online are moving into the physical world. […] “Now we know there’s racists out there, we know there’s Islamophobes out there, we know there’s fascists out there, but what’s different today is that they’re trying to march publicly in a working class, immigrant area that is predominantly North African,” he said.
