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.
Globe and Mail – BC Civil Liberties Association to Argue Human Smuggling Cases in Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Canada this week is set to hear arguments in a number of cases calling into question the reach of the country’s human smuggling laws. Four of the five cases involve Sri Lankan migrants, and the fifth involves a Cuban man who fled to Canada, where he was denied refugee status after being convicted of human smuggling in the United States. The five, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, comprise both criminal cases and admissibility cases, which determine who can make refugee claims. The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is an intervener in a case involving dozens of undocumented Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived on the coast of British Columbia aboard the MV Ocean Lady in 2009. The BCCLA will argue that a section of the federal government’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is too abstract and therefore unconstitutional.
Cameroonvoice – Immigration Québec : des changements positifs à la grille de sélection
Vous souvenez-vous du 11 août 2014 ? Pour celles et ceux qui l’ignorent, c’est la date à laquelle le nombre maximal des demandes de Certificat de Sélection pouvant être déposé par les catégories Travailleurs Qualifiés (programme régulier), Entrepreneurs et Travailleurs autonomes a été atteint (soit environ six mois avant la date butoir pour postuler, qui avait été fixée au 31 Mars 2015). Pour de nombreux candidats, cette nouvelle fût difficile à « digérer » puisqu’elle s’est conclue par de multiples renvois de dossiers qui avaient pourtant été acheminés au bureau d’ Immigration, Diversité et Inclusion Québec avant le 11 août 2014 mais qui malheureusement n’ont pas été comptabilisés dans les quotas acceptables pour 2014. Les postulants toujours désireux d’immigrer dans la province du Québec doivent donc bien se préparer cette année. L’ouverture des quotas pour l’année 2015 est attendue pour le mois d’avril et déjà, beaucoup d’entre vous ont anticipé la préparation de tous les documents nécessaires à la composition d’un bon dossier, prêt à être soumis sans attente, dès le printemps prochain.
The Province – Border Agency Still Lacks Oversight Year After Mexican Migrant Died in CBSA Holding Cell: Advocates
More than a year after a Mexican woman hanged herself in a B.C. immigration detention centre, advocacy groups say the Canada Border Services Agency still lacks crucial oversight to prevent such deaths. Three human rights organizations say there is still no independent body overseeing CBSA actions, one of the key recommendations from a coroner’s inquest into the death of Lucia Vega Jimenez. […] Currently, detainees can complain about their treatment at their Immigration and Refugee Board detention hearings. But the board has no legal power over their treatment, only over whether they stay in detention. […]The agency has agreed to implement safeguards at the airport holding centre, like having border agency staff on site daily, and offering mental health and suicide training to both private guards and staff. But the CBSA has not yet created a new above-ground holding facility within a 30-minute drive of the airport, and it has not eliminated its use of private security guards, two other recommendations from the inquest into the woman’s death.
Toronto Star – Critics Call for Fine-Tuning of Federal Skilled Immigration Program
A total of 779 candidates were selected in the inaugural round of Ottawa’s revamped skilled immigration program, but critics are already calling for the program to be fine-tuned. The successful applicants, selected at the end of January, accounted for 26 per cent of an estimated 3,000 people who entered the draw for the federal government’s highly-touted Express Entry program. The decisive factor was securing a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) by a prospective employer to prove a candidate possesses skills that are in high demand. Successful candidates were those who scored at least 886 points out of a maximum of 1,200. Securing a positive LMIA automatically earned applicants 600 points, while personal attributes such as education, language skills and work experience made up the other 600 possible points. However, in the aftermath of Ottawa’s temporary foreign worker program controversy, critics say it has become too difficult to acquire an LMIA as officials tighten the screening for assessing if a foreigner’s skills are in demand.
Globe and Mail – Ottawa to Relax Foreign Worker Rules at Universities
Universities have persuaded the federal government to relax new rules on how they hire temporary foreign workers that they say made it more difficult to recruit global academic talent. An agreement struck this week between postsecondary institutions and the federal government will give schools flexibility in how they meet new rules imposed in June on employers looking to hire high-wage workers. Schools will no longer have to submit a plan on how they will transition jobs filled by highly paid foreign workers to Canadian citizens. Instead, universities and colleges will report to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), their national organization. […] It is unclear whether postsecondary institutions are the only sector that will be allowed to be self-governing in meeting some of the requirements of the temporary foreign worker program. In most cases, universities receiving TFW permits to hire foreign academics are actually planning to employ them in permanent jobs – the TFW program is simply a faster way to bring professors or researchers to Canada than the federal skilled workers program.
Toronto Star – Secrecy Shrouds Ottawa’s Information-Sharing Deal with Five Eyes Allies
A veil of secrecy has dropped around a series of immigration information-sharing agreements between Canada and its “Five Eyes” allies. In Washington this week, Francis Taylor, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, informed a congressional committee that “with the Five Country Conference — which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom — we have concluded immigration information sharing agreements that reduce the likelihood that a person applying for asylum or a visa in any of the five countries who has an illicit past could hide that history.” […] Ottawa, however, has not announced any deals other than efforts to iron out stronger information sharing with the U.S. through the Beyond the Border perimeter security agreement. The Star requested further information Wednesday from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and his department about the status and nature of those information-sharing agreements, but interview requests were denied. […]The federal privacy commissioner’s office said Thursday it has raised concerns with the department about unauthorized use, disclosure of transfer of information that goes beyond Canada’s borders, both under the deal with the U.S. and the five-country information sharing initiative.
