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.
Global News – Calgary Property Company Provides Housing for Afghan Refugees
Afghan refugees arriving in Calgary are getting a big boost settling into their new lives in the city. The Calgary-based property company Mainstreet Equity Corp., is offering Afghan refugees subsidized housing in several of its apartment buildings around the city. And the man providing the help knows first-hand what a difference it can make. His offer of subsidized housing for the refugees is benefiting people like Shuaib and Fazila, and their eight-month-old daughter Sama.
CTV News – No Need to Review Ruling on Safe Third Country Refugee Pact, Feds Tell Supreme Court
The federal government is telling the Supreme Court of Canada there is no reason to review a decision that affirmed the constitutionality of a pact between Ottawa and Washington on asylum seekers. In a submission to the high court, government lawyers say the Federal Court of Appeal correctly interpreted the law, leaving no issue of importance to clarify or resolve concerning the Safe Third Country Agreement. Refugee claimants and their advocates say the case deserves the Supreme Court’s attention.
Toronto Star – ‘Earth-Shattering’: Why Applicants to Canada’s Special, One-Time Immigration Program Fear a Computer Glitch May Have Dashed Their Dreams
The so-called TR-to-PR pathway has six streams, three each for English-speaking and French-speaking applicants, under international graduates, health and non-health essential worker categories. All three English-speaking streams had caps and were removed from the portal once they were filled. As the applications are being processed, a growing number of applicants for the English-speaking streams are claiming that a glitch in the immigration application portal has wrongfully bumped them into the French streams. While some have already received refusal letters, others are just starting to spot the problem in their application record.
Globe and Mail – Afghans Who Worked for Canadian Military Still Waiting for Rescue from Kabul Safe House
The guards, translators, chefs and their families – nearly 100 people in all, including 32 children – live together in a cramped safe house. Other than the occasional grocery trip, the group stays inside the building day and night, with their children unable to go to school. They share what scant information they have with other Afghans stuck in similar limbo through a WhatsApp group named “IRCC” – the acronym for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the department they blame for their prolonged purgatory.
Radio-Canada – Plus de 3500 Afghans acceptés au Canada restent coincés à Kaboul
Plus de 3500 Afghans ayant travaillé pour le Canada et dotés d’un visa spécial demeurent toujours coincés à Kaboul, la capitale étant contrôlée par les talibans. Ils attendent toujours l’aide d’Ottawa pour fuir le pays. En un mois, le Canada a réussi à évacuer 75 % des 1250 citoyens et résidents permanents canadiens et 15 % des Afghans vulnérables restés à Kaboul, la capitale afghane, après la fin des opérations américaines d’évacuation.
Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa Rallying to Welcome Refugees from Afghanistan
Last month, a posting on social media about the anticipated influx of Afghan refugees to Ottawa sparked questions about what people could do to help. Weeks later, the members of the newly created Afghan Canadian Support Network are collecting donations of gift cards, new and gently used clothing and furniture to help welcome the refugees. “They had to leave everything. A lot of the kids are still in the clothes they came in,” said Navin Steele, one of the founding members.
