Voies vers la prospérité: Canada

A controversial Canadian law that allows the government to strip citizenship from convicted terrorists will now have its first test case, providing a preview of what could happen in countries considering similar legislation, including Australia. Canada’s immigration minister has begun the process of revoking Hiva Alizadeh’s citizenship, VICE News has confirmed, using sweeping new powers under the “Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act,” previously known as Bill C-24. The act empowers the minister to strip Canadian citizenship from convicted terrorists, traitors, spies, and enemy combatants, as well as those found to have falsified their immigration applications, provided they hold (or could apply for) the citizenship of another country. Alizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian, was convicted last fall after pleading guilty to explosives possession with the intent to cause harm as part of a terrorist conspiracy. […] Alizadeh will have 60 days to demand a hearing, though that is entirely at the minister’s discretion. If the process is successful, Alizadeh could be deported to Iran, a country frequently criticized by the Canadian government for its poor human rights record. It is unclear whether Iranian authorities would agree to his return.

https://news.vice.com/article/canada-puts-new-law-to-use-moves-to-revoke-citizenship-of-convicted-terrorist

“It’s a luxury,” said Diwa Marcelino, program co-ordinator for Migrante Manitoba that advocates for migrants’ rights. Citizenship fees rose to $630 from $400 this year. Earlier, the federal government began requiring applicants to provide proof of a Canadian language benchmark level 4 or higher. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has been quoted as saying the changes ensure new citizens are better prepared to participate in the economy and society. Critics say newcomers who pay taxes and contribute to society but can’t afford to become citizens will lose out. […] Wooing elites, for instance, hasn’t paid off, “Hongcouver” blogger Ian Young with the South China Morning Post wrote this year. He uncovered an internal 2012 Citizenship and Immigration Canada study of the now-defunct immigrant investor program. It showed refugees and live-in caregivers reported higher earned incomes to Revenue Canada than millionaire investor-class immigrants. Five years after immigrating, only about 39 per cent reported any employment earnings to Revenue Canada, compared with 67 per cent of all Canadians.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/immigration-changes-herald-caste-system-critics-311387601.html

Countries with larger migrant populations are paradoxically better at absorbing them into the workforce, a groundbreaking new report on integration within the world’s richest countries has revealed. Migrants to countries within both the EU and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of western nations that includes the US and Canada, are more likely to find employment if their host country has a larger migrant population. By contrast, there is no correlation between a country’s migrant poverty rate and the number in the country. In the clearest examples of this phenomenon, migrants in countries such as Luxembourg, Israel, Australia and New Zealand all form well above 20% of the local population, and yet still have an employment rate of about 70%. On the other hand, Turkey, Bulgaria and Mexico all have migrant populations of less than 2%, and migrant employment rates of no more than 60% – suggesting that restrictions on immigration do not necessarily lead to better integration of the migrants that remain. These are the findings of an OECD report called Settling In, which bills itself as “the first broad international comparison across all EU and OECD countries of the outcomes for immigrants and their children”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/01/countries-migrants-integrating-oecd-employment-immigration

Alors que le gouvernement du Québec prévoit augmenter le nombre d’immigrants au cours des prochaines années, les organismes qui œuvrent sur le terrain auprès de cette clientèle sont sur le respirateur artificiel en raison des coupures imposées depuis plus d’un an. C’est notamment le cas de l’organisme «Intégration communautaire des immigrants» de Thetford Mines qui se spécialise dans la régionalisation de l’immigration depuis 2003 en plus de faire la promotion de Chaudière-Appalaches auprès des nouveaux arrivants. La directrice générale et fondatrice de l’organisme, Éva Lopez, est à bout de souffle. Son budget est passé d’environ 280 000 $ par année à un maigre 49 000 $ depuis le 7 avril 2014.

http://www.courrierfrontenac.qc.ca/Actualites/2015-07-01/article-4199642/Regionalisation-de-limmigration%26nbsp%3B%3A-une-expertise-en-peril/1

Grant Thornton is actively seeking Chinese university students to participate in a pilot program designed to stimulate international trade opportunities for Nova Scotia businesses. The program matches students from China who are attending Nova Scotia universities with businesses in the province who want to grow by connecting to opportunities in China. The program is based on the premise that many Chinese university students know business owners in China, and there are Nova Scotia businesses that need help accessing opportunities in the Asian country. “This program will help connect our outstanding international students with the business community,” said Dr. Patricia Bradshaw, Dean of the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University, in a press release. […] The program will match 10 Chinese students from universities in Nova Scotia who have connections to businesses in the seafood, agri-food and technology sectors in China with relevant Nova Scotia businesses. There are more than 20,000 international students in Nova Scotia. Chinese students represent the largest international student population with over 3,500 students.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/Business/2015-07-01/article-4199570/New-program-that-matches-Chinese-students-with-local-businesses/1

The number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to southern Europe was more than 80 per cent higher in the first half of 2015 than a year earlier, with deaths initially soaring before dropping back as rescue efforts at sea were stepped up, the UN refugee agency said Wednesday. The routes taken by refugees and migrants also shifted, with Greece overtaking Italy to become the primary point of arrival, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. Data from Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain showed 137,000 people arriving there between January and June, an 83-per cent increase from 75,000 in the first half of last year, the agency said in a report. It noted that crossings usually increase in the year’s second half, particularly during summer. By far, the largest group of refugees was from Syria. In all, 43,900 Syrians arrived in Europe by sea, 34 per cent of the total. Eritreans accounted for 12 per cent of the new arrivals and Afghans 11 per cent. UNHCR says the number of people who died making the risky crossing totalled 1,867, up from 588 a year earlier.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/number-of-migrants-crossing-to-europe-is-up-83-per-cent-un-1.2448715