Voies vers la prospérité: Canada

Près d’une semaine après l’entrée en vigueur, dimanche 20 mars, de l’accord conclu entre l’Union européenne et Ankara sur les migrants, Athènes a constaté une diminution du nombre de personnes arrivant depuis la Turquie. Vendredi 25 mars, seules 78 personnes sont arrivées sur les îles grecques, ont indiqué les autorités. Elles étaient 161, la veille.

http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2016/03/26/moins-de-migrants-en-grece-depuis-l-entree-en-vigueur-de-l-accord-ue-turquie_4890682_3214.html

More than educating and welcoming these new Canadians, participation in the arts can help people express their thoughts and feelings — something crucially important to the emotional well-being of people who have been through the horrors of war. Dr. Sophie Yohani, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Alberta, specializes in the mental health of refugees and immigrants. “Art can be a form of speaking the unspeakable,” said Yohani, adding that art is especially important in situations where people have not yet mastered the language of their new home.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/syrian-refugees-arts-community-1.3505564

Peerless Garments is one of several local employers that have expressed an interest in hiring Syrian refugees. Another is Winnipeg businessman Munther Zeid, whose family owns and operates five Food Fare grocery stores in the city. […]  While being able to speak English would be helpful, Zeid said it’s not a deal-breaker for him because he’s hired workers who had language or communication issues. […] The non-profit Immigrant Centre is one of the local agencies offering employment services to the nearly 1,000 Syrian refugees who have arrived in Manitoba since the beginning of November 2015. Upon hearing about Zeid’s and El Tassi’s offer, the agency’s employment manager said she would be contacting both.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/snappy-hed-373614151.html

As the federal government reviews the temporary foreign worker policy, maybe the provincial government, and representatives of Island industry should look at ways to augment our employment needs with immigrants, not temporary workers. It would be very interesting to know how many of the people who come here for short periods of time would stay if they had the chance. Certainly not all, but even a few could help. The premier has stressed the need to attract more immigrants to deal with our demographic problems, low birth rates and an aging population.

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Opinion/Columnists/2016-03-26/article-4476826/The-right-to-citizenship/1

The Calgary Board of Education says it’s already out of pocket for $3 million to instruct approximately 430 students who have arrived since January. The Calgary Catholic School District is helping 92 refugees get started with their education in Canada.  Senior levels of governments, which have been out in front in welcoming the refugees at airports, are nowhere to be seen when it comes to accounting for these costs. That’s leaving the CBE and other school districts to divert funds from other classrooms and other programs to make up the difference.

http://calgaryherald.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-helping-refugees-takes-money

The European Union (EU) began detaining asylum seekers throughout the continent this week. Overnight, refugee camps—previously termed “reception centres”—have been converted to detention facilities. […] The Union has finalized a deal with Turkey that will ultimately see asylum seekers deported—the official euphemism is “readmitted”—to Turkey. In exchange, Turkey will receive 6 billion euros, or about 9 billion Canadian dollars. As part of the agreement, the EU has also agreed to allow Turkish citizens unimpeded access to EU countries and will accelerate Turkey’s application for EU membership.

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/03/25/opinion/europe-begin-deporting-would-be-refugees