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.
CBC – Stony Plain Aids Foreign Workers Displaced by Fire
The town of Stony Plain is pulling out all the stops to help out temporary foreign workers who were left homeless after a massive apartment fire. […] About 80 residents, many who are temporary foreign workers, were displaced after fire destroyed the 36-unit apartment building earlier this month. The 19 foreign workers, some who have lost passports and immigration documents, and five children are now trying to piece their lives back together. […] Basa is permitted to work in Canada through next year, but she said the support her family’s getting makes them want to stay here for good. Money from a trust fund is helping those residents without insurance stay in hotels, but only until the end of the month.
Radio-Canada – La Gaspésie, nouvelle terre d’accueil des immigrants français?
Au moment où la France est retombée en récession, de plus en plus de citoyens de l’Hexagone décident de s’installer en Gaspésie. Près du tiers des immigrants qui ont déménagé dans la péninsule au cours des dernières années sont originaires de la France. Le propriétaire de l’Auberge festive Sea Shack de Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Alexis Poirier, constate que 50 % de ses employés proviennent de la France. « Ça va tourner cet été autour de huit à neuf personnes », indique-t-il. […] Depuis quelques années, l’immigration française au Québec connaît une hausse importante : 4000 Français débarquent dans la Belle Province chaque année, ce qui représente le double par rapport il y a dix ans.
Le Messager LaSalle – Hélène LeBlanc reçoit les nouveaux citoyens de LaSalle-Émard
Hélène LeBlanc, députée fédérale de LaSalle-Émard, a rencontré de nouveaux citoyens lors d’une soirée de bienvenue au Buffet Il Gambiano le 15 mai. Plus d’une centaine de participants étaient présents pour célébrer l’obtention de la citoyenneté canadienne en 2012-2013. Ces nouveaux citoyens viennent des quatre coins du monde et ont choisi le Canada et LaSalle-Émard pour s’établir. Ils ont témoigné que c’est un endroit où il fait bon vivre. «Je me réjouis d’être la députée d’une circonscription qui est riche par sa diversité culturelle» a souligné Mme LeBlanc. «Le Canada et le Québec sont des terres d’accueil sans pareil, ce qui demeure notre grande force». L’équipe de l’organisme Accueil pour immigrants et réfugiés du sud-Ouest de Montréal (AIRSOM-Centre Prisme) a présenté ses services et ses activités.
Eighteen immigrants living in Newfoundland and Labrador officially became Canadian citizens Thursday. Lt.-Gov Frank Fagan welcomed the new Canadians at a ceremony in St. John’s. […] Government has said for months that it needs more people to fill positions becoming available through retirements and new projects that are looming on the horizon. […]But in its recent budget, government cut funding for its Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism almost in half, and laid off staff.
CBC – Temporary Foreign Worker Bust Made in Kingsville
As CBC Windsor was first to report, the Canadian Border Service Agency recently raided a farm in Kingsville, where agents apprehended six temporary foreign workers from Thailand. A CBSA spokesperson said the six people were “unauthorized workers at a farm in Kingsville.” “The investigation resulted in six arrests of undocumented foreign workers,” Jean D’Amelio-Swyer wrote in an email to CBC News. “All individuals are being processed in accordance with Canadian immigration laws.” […] Chris Ramsaroop is an organizer with Justicia/Justice for Migrant Workers, a Toronto-based non-profit that “strives to promote the rights of migrant farmworkers.” He told CBC News raids of this kind are not uncommon in the region. “It seems that this is — particularly in southwestern Ontario, particularly in Leamington, Kingsville, Essex County — that this is a weekly or every other week occurrence,” he claimed. “We’re always hearing about people being picked up or CBSA, Canadian Border [Services] agents, going to different farms and greenhouses, trying to detain non-status residents.”
Globe and Mail – Trade Talks Squeeze Canada’s Refugee Protection System
In Cali, Colombia, next week, Stephen Harper will ponder a choice driven by the forces of globalization. Trade talks are increasingly applying pressure on Canada to lower restrictions on foreigners entering the country, and in turn, squeezing the refugee-protection system. […] The members of the Pacific Alliance – Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru – have dropped visa requirements so their citizens can travel freely within the bloc without forms and fees. They’d expect Canada to do the same if it joins, letting their citizens visit without getting a visa in advance. They find Canada’s visa-application process onerous, and say it rejects too many tourists and business people. But for Canada, it’s not a straightforward decision on paperwork. Ottawa imposes visas on some countries so they can screen out people who might claim refugee status here. The pressure to lift them forces choices about the asylum system.
