Voies vers la prospérité: Canada

Ottawa has slowly — and quietly — stepped up efforts to strip permanent resident status from former refugees who were granted asylum in Canada and later returned to the country where they once faced persecution. Wielding new powers that came in with changes to immigration law in 2012, the federal government is now actively pursuing reopening asylum files under what’s known as a “cessation application” and forcing refugees whose circumstances have changed to leave Canada. The number of people who had their protection “ceased” in 2014 was almost five times the number in 2012 — rising from 24 to 116 — according to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), which is mandated to decide if the individuals are still refugees or not. An internal document obtained by the Canadian Council for Refugees under an access to information request showed the Conservative government has set an annual target of 875 applications to strip refugee status. Officials dispute that there’s a target.

http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2015/02/23/former-refugees-face-losing-residency-in-canada-if-they-return-to-homeland.html

L’opposition accuse le gouvernement Harper de mener une campagne de peur en refusant de dire clairement s’il considère que le port du hidjab devrait être autorisé lors de la prestation de serment de citoyenneté canadienne. Le Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD) et le Parti libéral du Canada (PLC) reprochent au ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration, Chris Alexander, de laisser planer délibérément un doute à ce chapitre. L’ancien diplomate, qui a notamment servi en Afghanistan et au Pakistan, a semé la confusion en écrivant cette semaine sur Twitter que «niqab, hidjab, burqa, voile de mariage – ce qui recouvre le visage n’a aucune place» lors des cérémonies de citoyenneté. Or le hidjab ne dissimule pas le visage, contrairement au niqab ou à la burqa. La porte-parole néo-démocrate en matière de citoyenneté et d’immigration, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, a profité d’une déclaration en Chambre vendredi matin pour critiquer le ministre Alexander. Que celui-ci «parte en guerre contre les femmes musulmanes qui se couvrent le visage, c’est déjà inacceptable, mais qu’il confonde hidjab, niqab et burka dans le seul but de tromper les gens et d’instaurer la peur, cela dépasse l’entendement», a-t-elle martelé.

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/politique-canadienne/201502/20/01-4845956-hidjab-et-niqab-le-gouvernement-mene-une-campagne-de-peur-dit-lopposition.php

The prime minister’s defence of the niqab ban — a ban that the federal court overturned earlier this month — is featured prominently on the Conservative party website. “In Canada, women are full and equal members of society. Including when they take the oath of citizenship,” reads text alongside an image of a woman’s raised hand. “That is why we are strongly opposed to anyone wearing a niqab … while taking the oath.” Stephen Harper’s citizenship and immigration minister, Chris Alexander, this week even suggested that wearing hijabs — headscarves that typically do not cover the face — could be problematic. “Niqab, hijab, burka, wedding veil — face coverings have no place in cit[izenship] oath-taking!” he tweeted. In an email to Conservative party supporters, Mr. Alexander wrote that new citizens “should recite the oath proudly, loudly and for everyone to see and hear.” He then seemed to use the terms niqab and hijab interchangeably, stating: “It’s why we filed a notice to appeal this week’s court decision allowing people to wear the hijab while taking the oath.” […] Mr. Alexander’s spokesman would not clarify on Friday if it was the minister’s position that hijabs that do not cover the face should also be banned from citizenship ceremonies.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/20/niqab-ban-during-oath-of-citizenship-escalating-into-a-full-fledged-pre-election-issue/

For more than 100 years, Chinese immigrants coming to Toronto have been able to rely on the Wong Association of Ontario to help them settle in their new country. Dating back to 1912, the Wong Kung Har Tong. One of Canada’s oldest Chinese family associations, it became a vital resource for Chinese newcomers, providing immigration, financial, employment and housing assistance. […] These days, it still provides social, physical and academic activities for Toronto’s Chinese community out of a building at 303 Spadina Ave. […] Heritage Toronto recognized the Wong Association of Ontario’s long-standing role in the lives of Chinese-Canadians with a plaque presentation at its current site on Chinese New Year Day. […] Henry Wong of the Wong Association said the plaque presentation noted the recognition from Heritage Toronto was not simply for the group itself. “Today’s recognition is not just for the Wong Association but for all Chinese immigrants here in Toronto,” he said. Wong added that Chinese New Year marked an ideal time to reflect on the Loh Wah Kiu, or ancestral Chinese immigrants who helped pave the way for all Chinese-Canadians.

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5441324-wong-association-honoured-for-decades-long-work-of-helping-chinese-immigrants-adjust-to-life-in-cana/

In Manitoba, the number of immigrants and refugees arriving every year has more than quadrupled in the last decade, but there are still very few mental-health workers who specialize in helping them, said John Smyth, executive director of the Aurora Family Therapy Centre. […] At three schools in the city, newcomer youth take part in leadership and employability skills training where they receive guidance and learn from each other about settling into a new culture. Offering such “group work” is being proactive, said Winnipeg mental-health clinician Ala Albadri. Too often, attention isn’t paid to mental health until someone is having a crisis, he said. […] The Aurora Family Therapy Centre might be on the right track, he said. Its pilot projects involving men’s, women’s and student groups are a way of helping people to help each other, said Albadri, who does not work there. […] The Aurora centre set up the pilot projects as another way to help newcomers when it learned Citizenship and Immigration Canada would no longer provide settlement-services funding for its therapy program for immigrant and refugee families.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Newcomers-in-a-strange-land-293149981.html

Metro Vancouver Transit Police will end its controversial agreement with Canada Border Services Agency after undocumented migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez hung herself in 2013. Previously, transit police would hold an undocumented migrant who the CBSA was interested in, if they found one evading fare.  As of next week, transit police spokesperson Anne Drennan said it will continue to make arrests on outstanding warrants, but “police will who encounter undocumented migrants during the course of fare enforcement activities will leave any follow-up action to federal authorities.” The decision comes after the transit police met with a group called Transportation Not Deportation” that has been outspoken since Jimenez’s suicide.  […] Drennan said the transit police decided to change its policy after Jimenez’s “tragic suicide brought things to a head.” ‘We were doing more and more research into this since that time, and even though there were no recommendations after the coroners inquest for transit police, we decided it was time to take this step,” she told CBC News.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-transit-police-end-controversial-agreement-with-cbsa-1.2965863