Voies vers la prospérité: Canada

For weeks, volunteer Mark Gomes has been working around the clock to help transform an old two-storey church rectory into a one-of-a-kind medical centre. […] Volunteers and donors would drop off anything from baby food to patient examination beds and other used medical equipment, while drug companies such as Teva Pharmaceutics delivered free generic medications to stock the clinic’s drug cabinets. On Friday, they will all be celebrating the grand opening of the Canadian Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Health Care on Sheppard Ave. E., just west of Midland Ave., in Scarborough, with an open house that runs through the weekend. […] After 15 years of operation, and several moves, the former Volunteer Health Clinic for the Uninsured has finally found a permanent home in the 107-year-old manse of Knox Presbyterian Church Agincourt. The new 2,800-square-foot facility will house a medical clinic, a dental clinic, pediatric services, midwifery and diagnostic imaging programs, chiropractic and massage services, and a foot care clinic all under one roof. It will be run by medical professionals volunteering their time and will serve some of the GTA’s most vulnerable residents — the undocumented and uninsured.

http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2015/06/11/clinic-launched-where-care-matters-more-than-a-health-card.html

L’Ontario et plusieurs provinces regardent les TNO. Par-delà la lettre de l’article 23, plusieurs provinces et territoires canadiens permettent aux commissions scolaires francophones d’admettre dans leurs établissements des immigrants francophones. Le directeur générale de la Fédération nationale des commissions scolaires francophones (FNCSF), Roger Paul, fait le point sur la situation à l’occasion de son passage à Yellowknife. À travers le pays, constate M. Paul, il y a une grande ouverture pour les immigrants francophones qui ne sont pas citoyens canadiens. « Ce sont les exceptions qui appliquent l’article 23 à la lettre. » En Ontario, où se trouve 100 000 des 150 000 élèves francophones canadiens hors Québec, le gouvernement a même exhorté les conseils scolaires à ne pas retarder indument le processus d’admission. Il y a environ sept ans, considère le directeur général de la FNCSF, on ne mesurait pas le rôle essentiel que l’immigration peut jouer dans la vitalité de la francophonie.

http://www.aquilon.nt.ca/Article/Immigrer-et-etudier-en-francais-201506111604/default.aspx

Alors que le gouvernement fédéral a perdu la trace de 44 202 immigrants faisant l’objet d’un mandat de renvoi, le ministre fédéral de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration, Chris Alexander, affirme qu’il n’est pas question d’imiter Washington en régularisant d’un coup leur situation. En 2014, le président américain Barack Obama a régularisé le cas de 5 millions de personnes vivant sans papiers en sol américain. « On renvoie entre 10 000 et 15 000 personnes par année. Aux États-Unis, récemment, c’était 300 000 par année. Et même à ça, ils ont plus de 10 millions de personnes, et certaines estimations vont jusqu’à douze, quinze millions de gens illégaux, donc ils pensent à de nouvelles politiques », explique le ministre Alexander. « Notre défi à cet égard reste gérable si on le compare à la situation en Europe ou aux États-Unis, où la population d’immigrants illégaux est très très grande », a-t-il poursuivi. Le ministre Alexander ajoute que le Canada a déjà sa propre voie de régulariser les immigrants illégaux.

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2015/06/11/002-immigrants-illegaux-sans-trace-reaction-ministre-alexander.shtml

A group of new Canadians with degrees in medicine and other fields who are unable to practice in Canada have banded together in Ottawa to provide mutual support while they work towards accreditation. The informal group, which meets weekly at the Catholic Immigration Centre on Argyle Ave., began four years ago when Hassan Ghanim, then a fresh graduate, sought study partners. After a couple of weeks, news of the meetings spread by word of mouth and soon a dozen foreign-trained doctors were regularly attending the free meetings. Ghanim says 170 international medical grads have come through the group since he formed it. The aim for members is to refresh their specialization, but also learn about the licensing tests and accreditation process. […] Zahra Setoudeh, one of the 15 other international medical grads that regularly come to his weekly meeting, practiced gynecology for seven years in Iran before arriving in Canada last fall. “I want Canada to know these people are here when they are fresh, they have to use them — not when they are depressed after a few years,” said Setoudeh.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/new-canadians-with-medical-degrees-meet-to-work-towards-accreditation-1.3108448

With just days to go before Parliament rises for the summer — and MPs shift into election campaign mode — Multiculturalism Minister Tim Uppal says the Harper government has a last-minute bill coming to ban face coverings at citizenship ceremonies. The Quebec government introduced legislation Wednesday to enshrine religious neutrality in provincial institutions, including a requirement for people giving or receiving provincial government services to have their faces uncovered. […] “We broadly support Quebec’s legislation regarding the uncovering of faces for giving and receiving public services,” Uppal told reporters after the Conservative caucus met on Parliament Hill. “Our government will be moving forward in the coming days with legislation with respect to the face coverings at citizenship ceremonies, and we will consider what other measures may be necessary,” the minister said. His colleague, Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel, who represents a Quebec riding, told reporters the Conservative government is analyzing other possible measures in the future, but acknowledged that the federal bill would not go as far as Quebec’s for the time being. When asked if this proposal was Islamophobic, Uppal said absolutely not.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/niqab-ban-returns-as-conservative-bill-planned-for-parliament-s-final-days-1.3107975

Canadian newcomers often struggle accessing the healthcare system because they don’t understand how it works, says a regional health official overseeing access equity. Now, the healthcare oversight body for the region that includes Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent and Windsor-Essex, is looking into how to mitigate those barriers. A new Health Equity for Newcomer Immigrants committee through the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) is meeting for the first time next week, said Sarah May Garcia, lead of health system design. It’s about “bringing the settlement sector and the health sector together to start work on a care pathway and action plan that starts to address all those inequalities in healthcare,” she said. In the case of immigrant newcomers, Garcia said, language can be a big stumbling block. Many also use hospitals for all of their healthcare needs, instead of doctors’ offices or other community healthcare options. […] Other factors, such as limited OHIP coverage, depending on immigration status or lack of a vehicle, mean newcomers aren’t necessarily receiving the best healthcare, Garcia said.

http://www.theobserver.ca/2015/06/10/new-committee-looks-at-healthcare-system-barriers-facing-newcomer-immigrants