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 – Simcoe Clinic in a Grocery Store Breaks Barriers for Migrant Farm Workers
Migrant farm workers have been lining up at Simcoe Town Centre every Thursday or Friday evening since May for a free shuttle bus to the Real Canadian Superstore three kilometres away. Their focus isn’t groceries so much as a unique health office, Clinicas De Salud Para Trabajadores Agricolas Migratorios, or Agricultural Seasonal Worker Clinic, housed in the food chain’s extra space. The clinic was created to serve the more than 4,000 migrant farm workers toiling at farms and greenhouses in the region south of Brantford. Designed to eliminate some of the systemic barriers migrant workers face in getting basic health care, the pilot project has been a resounding success — reducing visits by such workers to the Norfolk General Hospital. “These folks work long hours and have no transportation. Some don’t speak the language,” said Peter Szota, executive director of the Grand River Community Health Centre, which runs the clinic. “This is a great example of breaking down the barriers for access.”
CBC – Foreign Workers: Microsoft gets Green Light from Ottawa for Foreign Trainees
The federal government has granted an exemption to Microsoft Canada that will allow the company to bring in an unspecified number of temporary foreign workers to British Columbia as trainees without first looking for Canadians to fill the jobs. A notice posted on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website says foreign workers will receive specialized training in a new human resources development centre in the province. The tech giant will not have to perform a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) — a rigorous process that would include a search for Canadians who could fill the positions. The exemption was granted under a provincial-federal agreement that gives a pass to companies that gain provincial approval. The Canadian government argues the arrangement is the result of a significant investment by Microsoft that will create jobs for Canadians as well at a new 400-person training centre. Nevertheless, some legal observers say the decision appears at odds with the government’s promise to crack down on abuse in the system in order to protect Canadian jobs.
Le Soleil – Un rapport recommande de faire payer davantage les étudiants étrangers
Les étudiants universitaires étrangers devraient payer davantage pour venir étudier au Québec, recommande un rapport sur le financement des universités. Ce rapport, signé par Hélène P. Tremblay et Pierre Roy, vient clore l’un des chantiers créés à la suite du Sommet sur l’enseignement supérieur. Ses auteurs recommandent notamment au gouvernement de hausser la facture des étudiants non québécois et de moduler leurs droits de scolarité en fonction de la discipline et du niveau d’études. Ainsi, pour un étudiant étranger inscrit au baccalauréat, les droits de scolarité minimum obligatoires seraient d’environ 14690 $ en moyenne, sans compter les sommes additionnelles réclamées selon le domaine d’étude. Selon le scénario proposé, les économies pour le gouvernement pourraient atteindre 95 millions $ en 2019-2020, soit à la fin de la période de transition. De leur côté, les universités récolteraient 5,8 millions $ additionnels d’ici cinq ans, sans compter les revenus additionnels provenant du déplafonnement des droits de scolarité pour les étudiants étrangers.
Le Devoir – Ottawa veut n’inviter que les minorités
Le gouvernement conservateur se défend de prendre du temps à accueillir des réfugiés syriens parce que ceux-ci sont musulmans. Mais le fédéral admet du même coup qu’il accordera la priorité aux réfugiés issus de minorités ethniques ou religieuses. Le Conseil canado-syrien s’est inquiété la semaine dernière du fait qu’Ottawa tarde à ouvrir ses portes aux réfugiés du pays parce qu’ils sont de confession musulmane. Archifaux, avaitrétorqué le gouvernement. Or, vendredi, le réseau CBC rapportait que le fédéral envisage de s’engager à accueillir davantage de réfugiés syriens, mais seulement ceux issus de minorités religieuses. « Les Canadiens ont entendu les histoires crève-coeur de minorités qui sont persécutées en Irak et en Syrie. Elles sont persécutées parce qu’elles représentent des minorités ethniques et religieuses. Suggérer que nous allons nous concentrer seulement sur un seul groupe de personnes est catégoriquement faux, a affirmé Costas Menegakis, le secrétaire parlementaire du ministre de l’Immigration […]. » La Syrie compte 17,95 millions d’habitants, dont 87 % sont de confession musulmane — 74 % sont sunnites et 13 % sont chiites, ismaïlis ou alaouites, selon la CIA. La minorité kurde (9 %) est à majorité sunnite. Par ailleurs, 10 % de la population syrienne est chrétienne — soit environ 1,795 million de personnes.
Reluctant witnesses, scant evidence, and limited time and resources pose serious challenges when it comes to investigating crooked immigration consultants, the Canada Border Services Agency says. Agency president Luc Portelance tells Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney in a newly disclosed memo that fraudulent activities involving unscrupulous consultants “threaten the integrity of Canada’s immigration program.” The correspondence highlights the latest headaches confronting federal officials in their long battle against criminals who take advantage of people desperate to come to Canada. The memo, released under the Access to Information Act, says the border agency has received more than 700 referrals of suspected consultant-related fraud for criminal investigation since 2008. About 140 of these have resulted in investigations. Over the last six years, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada has accepted 22 cases, with 13 resulting in guilty convictions and several others still making their way through the courts, the memo adds.
CBC – Canada Considers Prioritizing Religious Minorities in Syria Refugee Resettlement
The federal government is seeking to resettle more Syrian refugees, but only from the country’s religious minorities, according to sources close to discussions around Canada’s position on refugees from the war-torn nation. Canada has been struggling to meet an earlier commitment from July 2013 to resettle 1,300 Syrians by the end of this year. Statistics tabled in the House of Commons last week showed 457 refugees had arrived as of mid-November. On Tuesday, the government updated that number to 703. Kevin Menard, a spokesman for the immigration minister, wrote CBC News on Friday saying the numbers are “going up fairly quickly.”
