Voies vers la prospérité: Canada

According to a CIC spokesperson, while “responsibility for Multiculturalism remains with Kenney,” the Multiculturalism Program itself is staying at Citizenship and Immigration, where officials “are currently determining how we will support these two [multicultural] positions.” It’s not clear which of the three ministers involved [Tim Uppal, Jason Kenney, Chris Alexander] would be in charge of approving or rejecting funding requests — nor, for that matter, who would ultimately be accountable to Parliament — and, of course, Canadians. Which member of the trio will take questions in the House, or appear before the committee charged with studying that section of the estimates? Who would have signing authority over money doled out to worthy-seeming initiatives — and who would have to take the blame if it were to be misspent?

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/politics/inside-politics-blog/2013/07/will-canadas-lead-multiculturalism-minister-please-stand-up.html

A teenage boy from Eritrea recalls the awkwardness of reuniting with his father, whom he had not seen for 13 years. A young woman from Antigua remembers the cold reception she got when she returned to Canada, the birthplace she was scooped away from as a toddler. A refugee girl from El Salvador is afraid of bonding with others because of the experience of losing friends when she moves again. All three are members of the Toronto Children’s Peace Theatre summer camp this year, and their stories, along with others, will be part of the group’s performance, Passage: A Moving Experience, which debuts Thursday at the Dawes Rd. theatre. Through art installations, such as a bed-spring sculpture about “home,” to song compositions with lyrics about migration and storytelling, the youth and their professional artist mentors will explore the young migrants’ journeys, struggles, challenges, hopes and dreams.

http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2013/07/23/toronto_summer_camp_theatre_explores_the_journey_of_young_migrants.html

Ceux qui veulent immigrer au Québec dans le but d’y investir pourront le faire de nouveau, à partir du premier août. Mais ils devront payer deux fois plus pour l’analyse de leurs dossiers, dont l’ordre de traitement sera défini par un tirage au sort ministériel, s’ils ne maîtrisent pas le français. Le ministère de l’Immigration et des communautés culturelles (MICC) avait suspendu ce programme en avril 2012 […]Même si le programme est de retour, ceux qui veulent immigrer et investir au Québec devront être prêts à payer deux fois plus cher qu’avant pour que leurs dossiers puissent être traités. Ils devaient débourser environ 4000 $ en avril 2012, ce à quoi s’ajoutait 160 $ pour chaque membre de leur famille qui souhaitaient les accompagner au Québec.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2013/07/23/004-quebec-immigrants-tirage.shtml

Il y a quelques semaines, Statistique Canada rendait publiques les données du recensement de 2011 sur la capacité des immigrants à converser dans l’une ou l’autre des langues officielles. Les résultats m’ont surpris; j’ai en effet été étonné d’apprendre que 93,5% des personnes nées à l’étranger pouvaient soutenir une conversation en français ou en anglais ou les deux.
[…] Les chiffres de Statistique Canada indiquent que 9,9% des immigrants peuvent soutenir une conversation en français et en anglais, ainsi que dans au moins une langue non officielle. C’est mieux que la majorité des Canadiens. C’est signe aussi que le Canada attire des immigrants de plus en plus instruits. […] La Toronto French School le sait très bien, tout comme l’Alliance française de Toronto. Comme les écoles de langue française en Ontario enseignent English et non Anglais, les écoles de langue anglaise devraient enseigner Français et non French, voire Basic French.

http://www.lexpress.to/archives/12664/

A summer camp dedicated specifically to children from immigrant and refugee families is underway in south Winnipeg this week. Students aged six to 14 are getting a shot at candle-making, fire safety, field trips and other summer-camp staples at College Louis Riel in St. Boniface. “They are going to do some sports, going out to the park, go to the museum, some swimming, and they are also going to do some reading and mathematics,” said Bintou Sacko, the manager of Accueil Francophone du Manitoba, the organization putting on the camp. The group helps newcomer families settle in the province, and the organization’s president, Daniel Boucher, said the camp is part of that work.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/07/22/mb-newcomer-summer-camp-winnipeg.html

Under the plan announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday, people arriving at Christmas Island will be processed in Papua New Guinea and resettled there, if they are deemed to be refugees. Protesters voiced their outrage at the plan and vowed to continue their campaign for as long as it takes. […] The Federal Opposition says the Government’s asylum seeker deal with PNG is not on solid legal ground and does not guarantee people, especially non-refugees, would not be returned to Australia. Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says the document the two countries have signed is not legally binding.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-21/hundreds-rally-in-brisbane-and-adelaide-against-png-asylum-seek/4833824