Voies vers la prospérité: Canada

The Official Opposition NDP has given a thumbs-down to the federal government’s latest effort to fight citizenship fraud. “I think asking Canadians to effectively spy on their neighbours and take enforcement in their own hands is a recipe for more problems,” NDP Immigration Critic Don Davies said. He was reacting to the new tip line and e-mail address set up so Canadians can report suspected citizenship fraud cases that immigration officials would then investigate.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/canada/2011/09/07/18653491.html

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says a directive to Canadian embassies to display a portrait of the Queen is nothing new and is in keeping with the government’s policy to acknowledge Canada’s head of state. “We’re talking about the head of state. I think virtually every country has a picture of their head of state in their missions abroad,” Kenney told reporters Thursday in Ottawa before a meeting of Conservative MPs. “Virtually all of the Canadian missions I’ve been to already have a picture of our head of state and this just confirms the policy, I think, for the few missions that don’t. So there’s a consistency. I think consistency makes sense.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/09/08/pol-queen-portrait-embassies.html

The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) welcomes the proposal to encourage employers to hire immigrants by offering a tax credit. This is an investment in new Canadians that will benefit all Ontarians, since improving their integration in the labour market will serve to strengthen Ontario’s economy. Let us look at why this is important and necessary. The Conference Board of Canada is on record as saying that immigration is necessary for Canada’s future economic growth, and that recognizing foreign learning and credentials would add $3.4 to $5.0 billion to the Canadian economy every year (Performance and Potential 2004-2005: How can Canada prosper in Tomorrow’s World? Conference Board of Canada. Ottawa, 2004).

http://www.ocasi.org/index.php?qid=1093

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak is standing by his use of the term “foreign workers” to describe the would-be beneficiaries of a Liberal pledge giving a tax break to businesses that hire immigrants to their first jobs. Speaking to reporters at a campaign event outside a family home in the Toronto riding of Willowdale Wednesday morning, Hudak repeated his attack on the Liberal policy pledge to provide a tax credit to businesses of up to $10,000 for costs associated with hiring an immigrant to his or her first job.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/09/07/hudak-immigrant-tax-credit248.html

Private security officers employed to remove detainees from the UK showed “a shamefully unprofessional and derogatory attitude”, using unnecessary force and racist language, according to the chief inspector of prisons. In two reports Nick Hardwick said most guards worked sensitively but added that some had an “unacceptably unprofessional attitude”, raising concerns about how they would react if a more serious incident occurred. The reports are based on the findings of inspectors who accompanied 104 staff escorting 35 detainees to Jamaica, and 131 escorts who were removing 53 detainees to Lagos, Nigeria, in March and April this year. The flights were chartered by the UK Border Agency and private security firm G4S provided the guards.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/06/security-firms-detainees-jimmy-mubenga-racist-violent?INTCMP=SRCH

The National President of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU), which represents Canada’s Immigration Inland Enforcement Officers and Front- Line Customs & Immigration Officers, today called on the Harper Government to take practical internal measures to ensure that announced enforcement measures move forward effectively. “Like all law-abiding Canadians, we applaud the Harper Government for recently taking a number of steps to prioritize the detection, apprehension, and removal from Canada of persons who have been found inadmissible on the grounds of war crimes or other criminality, and who have fled to avoid the enforcement of the law” noted CIU National President Ron Moran.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/customs-and-immigration-union-calls-on-government-to-ensure-immigration-enforcement-reforms-are-effective-2011-09-06