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.
Le Soleil – Chemin Roxham : les négociations avec les Américains se poursuivent, assure Freeland
Le gouvernement Trudeau assure qu’il s’affaire toujours à renégocier l’Entente sur les tiers pays sûrs qui est au cœur des passages irréguliers à la frontière canado-américaine par le chemin Roxham. Les libéraux de Justin Trudeau ont été talonnés par les bloquistes et conservateurs sur cet enjeu, après que Radio-Canada eut révélé que, selon sa compilation, Ottawa a déboursé plus d’un demi-milliard $ en fonds publics pour rembourser des coûts défrayés par Québec ou pour payer des fournisseurs.
Reuters – Border-Crossing Asylum-Seekers Hit Six-Year High in Canada
The number of asylum-seekers entering Canada between formal border crossings has surged to the highest point since the government started tracking them in 2017, as dropped pandemic restrictions enable more travel and conflict and catastrophe displace people in many parts of the world. In the first eight months of 2022, Royal Canadian Mounted Police intercepted 23,358 asylum-seekers crossing into the country at unofficial entry points, 13% more than all of 2017, when an influx of border-crossers at Roxham Road, near the Quebec-New York border, made international headlines.
CBC News – Province Expands Service to Help Internationally Trained Health Workers Navigate System
Labour Minister Trevor Holder announced Tuesday that the province’s Immigration Navigator program for nurses, which links them to an adviser to help them through the process, will expand to other health-care positions and other professions as well. “What the navigator does is allows people to start rowing in the same direction, and that’s what was missing,” he said. Under the program, employment counsellors will incorporate overseas credentials into how they assess new arrivals as they develop an “action plan” to help them work in their professions.
La Presse – Québec retire le droit à l’avocat aux candidats à l’immigration
Depuis décembre 2021, le Guide des procédures d’immigration prévoit qu’un candidat à l’immigration convoqué en entrevue doit demander la permission au MIFI s’il souhaite être assisté par un avocat. Des juristes s’inquiètent du fait que Québec ait retiré le droit de se faire accompagner par un avocat aux candidats à l’immigration convoqués en entrevue de sélection – ils doivent maintenant en faire la demande. Le ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) du Québec assure que ces demandes sont acceptées lorsque nécessaire. Mais il les a toutes refusées, jusqu’à présent.
Globe and Mail – Abandoned Canadian Embassy Guard Pleads for Help After Taliban Beat Him with Rifle Butt
Earlier this month, Mohammad Salim Saberi, who used to guard Canada’s embassy in Kabul, was heading to a local market when Taliban militants stopped him and told him to unlock his phone. When he refused, they hit his hand with the butt of a Kalashnikov, breaking his thumb and his phone. Mr. Saberi said he’s in hiding while he continues to wait for word from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on whether he will be approved for resettlement.
CBC News – Can New Legislation Help ‘Lost Canadians’ Be Found Again?
When Pete Giesbrecht was summoned to his local police station on Halloween 2015, he had no idea he was 30 days away from being deported. His crime? He had not reaffirmed his Canadian citizenship before the age of 28 under a complicated, confusing and not well publicized section of the Citizenship Act. He’s one of thousands of so-called “Lost Canadians” — people who, because of where and when they were born, are caught up in confusing sections of the Citizenship Act.
