Welcome to the infomercial

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 12:19 PM - 0 Comments

Canadian Press reports that a few weeks before citizenship week celebrations last fall, Jason Kenney’s office asked his department to organize a ceremony at the Sun News studio in Toronto.

The goal was to find people who had recently taken the real oath. ”I have also just confirmed … that all the clients that are calling back are declining the request as they have to attend work and are not able to take the time off to participate in this reaffirmation ceremony,” wrote one civil servant.

Four days before the ceremony, a bureaucrat in downtown Toronto again pleaded whether Sun News could instead go to an already planned event. ”Please advise if the alternative would be acceptable since we do not have the resources to call over 3,000 clients to hopefully get 10 clients for this proposed event.”

In the end, only three of the 10 people the department had lined up to appear at the Sun’s studios actually showed up. But the show went on — featuring at least six federal bureaucrats. Three of those who took the oath wore identical T-shirts with a citizenship logo on it.

CP has video here. Justin Trudeau deems this “incredibly stupid.” An official in Mr. Kenney’s office was busy this morning assuring one and all that this was a “well intentioned mistake” made by a civil servant. And Mr. Kenney’s spokeswoman has now apologized to Sun News.

‘To seize and to master our future’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:39 PM - 0 Comments

The prepared text of the Prime Minister’s remarks in Davos today.

“Thank you Professor Schwab for that kind introduction, I also want to thank you particularly for the invitation to speak here that you extended to me earlier this year.  But more than that, Professor, you have made the World Economic Forum an indispensable part of the global conversation among leaders in politics, business, and civil society.  And in the face of continuing global economic instability, the opportunity this gathering provides is now more valuable than ever.  So I know everyone here joins me in thanking you for, in service of the common good, your vision and your leadership.

“My Greetings to Ambassador Santi; to the Governor General of the Bank of Canada, known internationally as Chair of the Financial Stability Board, Mark Carney; to our hard-working Minister of International Trade, Ed Fast; and to the best finance minister on the planet, Jim Flaherty.  And let me just say that I’m especially proud to see so many outstanding Canadian business leaders making their presence felt here in Davos.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will use my time today to highlight Canada’s economic strengths and to frame the choices we face as we work to secure long-term prosperity for our citizens in a difficult global environment that is likely to remain so.

Continue…

Show yourself

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 12:43 PM - 0 Comments

The Toronto Star reports that officials were already permitted to confirm an individual’s identity at citizenship ceremonies.

Before Monday’s ban of the niqab at citizenship ceremonies, Ottawa already had a protocol to verify the identity of a new citizen behind the veil. Officials at the ceremony, usually citizenship clerks, could pull aside someone wearing a niqab — a veil that only shows the eyes — and lift it for identification, the immigration department confirmed Tuesday.

Yesterday during QP, Conservative backbencher Wladyslaw Lizon seemed to be given some credit for alerting the Immigration Minister to the fact that one could be veiled while actually reciting the oath.

See previously Can you hear me now? and Values and religion

Values and religion

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 1:10 PM - 0 Comments

Chris Selley sees Jason Kenney’s argument as a matter of values, not practicalities.

He mentioned it in the same breath as other initiatives he has championed, such as beefing up language requirements, the citizenship test and the Citizenship Guide. “This is part of a broader action plan to invest greater value in Canadian citizenship,” he told CBC. But he also stressed, correctly, that this is no “technical or practical” tweak. “It is, rather, a matter of pure principle, which lies at the heart of our identity and our values with respect to openness and equality,” he said at a speech in Montreal.

It’s controversial, and he didn’t shy away. He expressed his personal distaste for the burka: “It’s a cultural tradition, which I think reflects a certain view about women that we don’t accept in Canada,” he told CBC.

Can you hear me now?

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 12, 2011 at 12:52 PM - 0 Comments

So that one’s swearing of the oath can be confirmed, Jason Kenney has ordered that head coverings must be removed during the swearing of citizenship ceremonies.

Kenney said the move follows complaints from citizenship judges, MPs and others who’ve participated in citizenship ceremonies who have argued it’s hard to tell whether veiled individuals are actually reciting the oath. “Requiring that all candidates show their faces while reciting the oath allows judges, and everyone present to share in the ceremony, to ensure that all citizenship candidates are, in fact, taking the oath as required by law,” he said in Montreal.

The full directive is here.

Super-visa program for parents and grandparents kicks off

By macleans.ca - Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 10:37 AM - 0 Comments

A program that allows parents and grandparents of Canadian immigrants to join their families through a 10-year so-called super-visa kicked off on Thursday. The new visa, which must be renewed every two years, requires elderly relatives of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to have private health insurance. Family sponsors in Canada must also show evidence that they can financially support their parents and grandparents. The program represents the Conservatives’ attempt to tackle a backlog of about 165,000 of elderly relatives applying for Canadian permanent residence that has kept families in the waiting for as long as a decade.

CBC News

AG: Recurrent flaws in Canada’s visa system

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 1:36 PM - 0 Comments

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has once again failed to address persistent shortcomings, the fall report of the auditor general noted. “I find it disturbing that fundamental weaknesses still exist,” Interim Auditor General John Wiersema told reporters at a news conference. The audit highlighted a number of problems including security manuals for visa officers dating back to 1999, and an equally outdated focus of the medical screening process on syphilis and tuberculosis. It means that CIC and the Canada Border Services Agency “don’t know if a visa was issued to someone who was in fact inadmissible,” Wiersema said.

CBC

Well, there’s your problem

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 12:45 PM - 0 Comments

The fall report of the auditor general is here.

The concerns expressed there include defence procurement, tobacco farming compensation, drug safety, visa processing and assessing the results of the government’s economic stimulus.

A Turkish smackdown

By Jen Cutts - Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 11:30 AM - 0 Comments

Turkey’s prime minister wasn’t in the mood to make nice. Hours before he would be flashing a thin smile at a photo op with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped by the offices of Germany’s Bild newspaper to boldly criticize her in an interview. Erdogan blasted Merkel for her government’s immigration policies in a well-timed attack: the pair met at a ceremony marking 50 years since 650,000 Turkish “guest workers” arrived in Germany as part of a labour pact. Today, 2.5 million people in Germany have Turkish roots, though barely a third are citizens.

“German politicians do not give enough recognition to the integration” of these Turks, Erdogan told Bild, pointing to Germany’s resistance to dual citizenship, and saying it is failing to recognize Turks’ contributions. “The guest workers of yesterday are slowly becoming employers, academics, artists,” he said. This despite the fact that Turks, who make up the largest German minority, come last in measures of literacy, education and employment.

Erdogan also criticized Germany for giving only lukewarm support to Turkey’s bid to join the EU. With Turkey’s surging economy and Erdogan’s own growing influence, he can perhaps afford to ruffle a few feathers.

Canada to give “super visa” to elderly immigrants

By macleans.ca - Friday, November 4, 2011 at 11:36 AM - 0 Comments

The federal government is planning to introduce a “super visa” that will allow the parents and grandparents of immigrants to stay in Canada for prolonged periods of time without becoming permanent residents. Because the new type of visa does not afford the same privileges of permanent residence, processing times should be shorter, allowing the government to curtail the backlog of immigration applications for the elderly. “There are currently 160,000 parents and grandparents waiting to join their loved ones in Canada, but Ottawa only grants about 15,000 visas to the group each year. The backlog is growing by 14,000 a year,” the Toronto Star writes.

The Toronto Star

Studies Say: An Indian name is a resumé burden

By Erica Alini - Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 10:10 AM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: No, Anjali, you weren’t imagining it: Canadians with “English-sounding” names are far more likely to land a job than those with Indian, Chinese or Greek names. Allisons and Michaels are 35 per cent more likely to get a callback for a job interview than a Yao or Vassiliki, according to Simon Fraser University researchers. The study ranked Montreal as the most discriminatory city in the country; Vancouverites, it found, are least likely to discriminate by name.

Alberta: It may not be rocket science, but University of Alberta researchers found that placing warning signs in deer country significantly reduces deer-on-car collisions. Accidents plummeted fully 44 per cent after the signs, normally “located arbitrarily,” were installed along 28 high-risk Edmonton roads.

Ontario: If you really want to save money, keep your eye on the prize. University of Toronto researchers found that having a single financial target—the iPhone 4S or a Caribbean cruise—makes for far more disciplined, efficient savers compared to those who are simply socking money away for the sake of it.

Continue…

Why are judges giving immigrants who commit serious crimes a second chance?

By Michael Friscolanti - Monday, October 24, 2011 at 9:50 AM - 11 Comments

Canada Border Services Agency

When his son was born, Hamidullah Barkza celebrated the occasion with an epic bender. For eight straight days, the Red Deer, Alta., resident skipped work and pounded the bottle, pausing only when he passed out. On the night it finally ended—April 18, 2008—Barkza stumbled into the bedroom and plopped down beside his wife. “He wanted to have sex,” a prosecutor would later tell a judge. “But she said no due to the fact he was intoxicated and she had recently given birth.”

Enraged, Barkza grabbed a kitchen knife and lunged at the mother of his two children. He stabbed her once in the chest before turning the blade on himself, again and again. By the time police arrived at the apartment, he was covered in blood and barely conscious. (Thankfully, his wife’s wounds were far less severe, requiring only a short hospital visit.)

Originally charged with attempted murder, Barkza pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and received a 26½-month prison sentence. Then came the real punishment: like hundreds of other landed immigrants convicted of serious crimes, the Afghanistan native was slapped with a deportation order. Canada, home since 2004, wanted him gone.

Continue…

Will immigrants save the French language in Quebec, or hasten its demise?

By Martin Patriquin - Friday, September 30, 2011 at 9:10 AM - 15 Comments

If, as one of Quebec’s own websites proclaims, the province is on the hunt for “willing, dynamic people” to immigrate to its shores, then Jessica Rosales almost certainly fits the bill. The college-trained Rosales and her husband, Roberto Belmar Torres, a design engineer, wanted to emigrate from their native Chile and, spurred by a string of cheery, unsolicited emails from Quebec’s Immigration Department, the pair chose to settle in Montreal in March 2010. “We decided on Quebec for the French culture,” the 37-year-old Rosales says. “We chose it even though we knew it would be harder.”

It certainly was. Because neither could speak the language, they each took a 10-month French course. Save for the occasional nervous breakdown (“I got burned out, I couldn’t stop crying,” says Rosales of one episode) that even prompted the purchase of a pair of one-way tickets to Toronto that they never used, the pair is quite happy with their lives here. They even found jobs in their new-found language. Jessica is an administrative assistant at a refugee resource centre, while Belmar Torres works at a large Montreal engineering firm. They work almost entirely in French.

Yet increasingly, language advocates are turning this apparent success story into a narrative of decline of the French language in Quebec. The reason: though the pair conduct much of their public lives in French, they speak their native Spanish in the confines of their home. Earlier this year, the governing Liberals announced plans to cut the yearly number of immigrants allowed into the province by 4,000, to 50,000, by 2012, while the the right-of-centre Action démocratique du Québec has called for a further clawback to 46,000. The Parti Québécois believe “immigration should be set at the ability to Frenchify new arrivals,” says PQ spokesperson Éric Gamache, and popular former Péquiste minister François Legault, who is flirting with the idea of running for premier, has called for the number to be capped at 40,000.

Others are even more strident. “We must become our own country, period,” militant sovereignist Gérald Larose told La Presse in the wake of a report detailing a decrease in the percentage of Quebec-born francophones. His argument: an independent Quebec would have absolute power over its immigration policy.

On the face of it, so-called “allophones” (immigrants whose native language is neither French nor English) would seem an odd target, and not only because, unlike the Canada-born English population living in Quebec, they are required by law to attend primary and secondary school in French. Like nearly every other province in the country, Quebec is faced with a looming demographic problem brought on by lower birth rates—a void often filled by immigrants. Ontario, for example, took in roughly 104,000 non-refugee immigrants in 2010 alone.

And even with 54,000 new arrivals a year, Quebec is falling behind. According to demographer Jacques Henripin, the province needs between 70,000 and 80,000 immigrants a year to compensate for its lower birth rate—people like Rosales and Belmar Torres. To Rosales, the idea that Quebec would cut down on the number of immigrants allowed into the province is absurd. “I’m a taxpayer,” she says. “Who needs who?”

The feeling is often mutual. By and large, Quebecers have long cast a beady eye at Canada’s official policy of multiculturalism; a recent Angus Reid poll noted that 66 per cent of francophones in the province believe multiculturalism is a threat to the French language. Practically every major demographic report released in the province over the last two decades has sparked debate and uproar about the survival of the language.

But does the decline of francophones necessarily mean the decline of French, when those immigrants arriving here must by law attend school in la langue de René Lévesque? Marc Termote thinks so. The demographer authored a recent report illustrating the demographic decline of Quebec-born francophones in the province; he says they will be overtaken as a majority by immigrants by 2031. And while he makes pains to say he isn’t a Larose-style sovereignist—“We don’t need independence to ensure the survival of a language,” he says—he believes the sheer numbers, coupled with the creeping bilingualism of Montreal, is detrimental to the language. “I am one of those people who says that the government should have no say whatsoever over what language is used at home,” Termote says. However, “the problem is that the language used at home becomes the language of the children.”

This wouldn’t be a problem in, say, the overwhelmingly francophone city of Saguenay. But roughly 75 per cent of Quebec’s immigrants settle in the 500 sq. km of Montreal where, says Termote, “there is free choice in what language you work in.” (Montreal is home to roughly 48,000 businesses with less than 50 employees that don’t fall under the province’s language provisions.) “The problem is Montreal. In the regions there are no problems. You will only speak French in Chicoutimi.”

“It’s not up to immigrants to resolve the problems of French in Quebec,” Termote adds. “We tell immigrants to have children, because we don’t want to have any. We tell them to go out to the regions, because we don’t want to, we tell them to learn French in a hurry, because French is declining. I can’t accept that the future of the French in Quebec is the responsibility of immigrants.”

Still others see no problem at all with the immigrant influx into Quebec. Jean-Benoît Nadeau, author of the book The Story of French, recently published a column decrying the accepted definition of the term “francophone” in the province. “French is no longer the language of one ethnic group, but one for all ethnic groups,” Nadeau writes. “Only in Quebec do we tolerate such a restrictive definition. Why not include the woven sash or ketchup tortière in the definition of francophone while we’re at it? It’s a disgrace.”

Jessica Rosales agrees. After being courted by the Quebec government (and spending an estimated $13,000 in fees and plane tickets) to get here, then spending nearly a year studying the language, she knows quite well that she can still vote with her feet. “I like Quebec, I like Montreal, but I can live somewhere else.”

‘Having engaged in acts of torture’

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 12:09 AM - 39 Comments

NDP immigration critic Don Davies has written to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney asking that Mr. Kenney deny Mr. Cheney entry to the country (the former vice president is scheduled to visit Vancouver on Monday as part of his book tour).

Minister, may I remind you of your own government’s initiatives this summer in which you called on the public to assist your government in removing from Canada those individuals who had engaged in serious criminality, war crimes or crimes against humanity. May I also remind you of your own government’s actions in denying entry to British MP George Galloway. At that time you stated that: ”It’s not about words. It’s about deeds.”

… Minister, the essence of just application of the law is that it is applied evenly and consistently. I would therefore respectfully request that you deny entry to Mr. Cheney on grounds of inadmissibility under IRPA for having engaged in acts of torture. In the event that you do not do so, I would respectfully request that a report be prepared setting out the relevant facts, and that you refer same to the Immigration Division for an admissibility hearing with a view to issuing a removal order against Mr. Cheney, all pursuant to section 44 of IRPA.

A new kind of Mexican influx

By Erica Alini - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 11:05 AM - 1 Comment

In some regions, the battered U.S. economy is getting a boost from an unusual stimulus—investment from well-heeled Mexicans. Drug violence and gang-related kidnappings have led to an exodus of the wealthy in recent years, as Mexico’s businessmen increasingly seek safety north of the border. As industrial hubs such as Monterrey, Mexico’s third-largest city, watch their entrepreneurs pack, places like San Antonio, Texas, are welcoming a flurry of Mexican investment.

Pouring money into U.S. business projects, especially ones demonstrated to create American jobs, is, in fact, one of the speediest and surest ways to obtain U.S. work permits and green cards. The number of investment visas granted to Mexican citizens has grown 73 per cent between 2006 and 2010, according to the U.S. State Department. Though Chinese applicants still constitute the bulk of investors hoping to land on U.S. shores, rich Mexicans have become a much sought after source of capital in some areas of the southern United States. And though some in the States are questioning a system they say is “selling” residency rights to the wealthiest bidders, most don’t seem to mind Mexico’s new influx of designer sunglasses, private jet airplanes and, above all, job-creating money.

And speaking of foreign workers

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, September 12, 2011 at 2:00 PM - 8 Comments

Two-thirds of those Afghan interpreters who applied for refugee status in Canada have apparently been turned down.

The special-measures program was announced with much fanfare by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in the fall of 2009 and brought Canada in line with other NATO countries which had already launched similar initiatives. It ends Monday.

Applicants had to demonstrate they faced extraordinary risk as a result of their work with Canada. Few didn’t. Working as an interpreter for NATO forces in southern Afghanistan was akin to having a Taliban bull’s-eye on the back of a shalwar khameez. Stories of night letters, threatening phone calls, abductions and even hangings were part of the job. As interpreters also travelled with soldiers and diplomats, at least six were among those killed during the IED strikes that claimed 161 Canadian lives.

‘Foreign workers’

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, September 12, 2011 at 10:01 AM - 47 Comments

Adam Radwanski watches Jason Kenney watching Tim Hudak.

On Thursday, federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney – the point man for federal Conservative efforts to reach out to new Canadians – used much milder language than Mr. Hudak in expressing concern about Mr. McGuinty’s promise. The previous night, at a rally, Mr. Kenney applauded Mr. Hudak’s line about “foreign workers.” But glancing around him, he looked slightly uncomfortable as he did so.

Dalton McGuinty thinks Tim Hudak should apologize for his language.

Equality of opportunity

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 9, 2011 at 11:15 AM - 7 Comments

Jason Kenney comments on the skilled newcomer tax credit proposed by the Ontario Liberals.

“I think we should pursue equality of opportunity for all Canadians,” he said. “I don’t think it’s helpful for newcomers or anyone else to start dividing Canadians based on the longevity of their residency in Canada.”

Kenney said people have suggested a similar idea to him but he said he didn’t think it was fair. He said he didn’t think it was the solution to the province’s “very significant” unemployment problem.

Mr. Kenney’s government does have a Federal Internship for Newcomers program and has committed $22-million to the Bridge Training program for skilled immigrants, in partnership with the McGuinty government.

‘Highly discriminatory’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 9:00 AM - 26 Comments

Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro imparts his feelings on the Ontario election campaign.

More than that, however, Mr. Del Mastro says it harkens back to the early 1990s when Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae was Ontario’s NDP premier. He brought in employment equity legislation to encourage the hiring of women and visible minorities. “My opportunities were severely restricted by legislation that was supposed to be creating equality,” Mr. Del Mastro said. “I was in my early 20s and thought how dare they create an entirely discriminatory policy that was going to affect my future.”

As a “young white male” at the time, Mr. Del Mastro said jobs were few and far between as a result. “And here we go again,” he said.

The issue in question—considered here by the Globe—is an Ontario Liberal proposal to create a tax credit for businesses that hire immigrants for jobs in professions such as “accounting, law, engineering and architecture.”

François Legault’s shameless pandering on immigration

By Philippe Gohier - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 8:15 PM - 18 Comments

When François Legault launched the Coalition pour l’avenir du Québec (CAQ), his all-but-confirmed vessel to re-enter Quebec politics, he addressed the group’s manifesto to “all those who want to change.” “It’s time to get Quebec moving again,” he wrote. Indeed it is.

Even for Legault’s critics, of which there are relatively few these days, it’s hard to find much to quibble with in his mission statement—education should be “the absolute priority”; culture and the protection of the French language are essential; public services should be… well, they should be better; and Quebec should do more to attract investments. As Vincent Marissal points out in this morning’s La Presse, Legault has so far proven himself enormously adept at “surfing on general ideas,” so much so that he’s emerged as the most credible candidate to replace Jean Charest as premier. Continue…

Jason Kenney strikes back

By Paul Wells - Friday, August 19, 2011 at 8:00 AM - 73 Comments

Reuters/Chris Wattie

Some stories are so odd nobody knows how to handle them. I don’t know how else to explain why Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s extraordinary public feud with Amnesty International has attracted so little coverage.

Here’s a senior Conservative minister departing from the Conservatives’ normal bland talking points and unleashing a written broadside against a critic. And Kenney’s sparring partner wasn’t a predictable target. It was the Canadian branch of Amnesty, one of the most revered human rights organizations in the world. But that didn’t stop the minister from calling Amnesty’s concerns “poppycock,” “sloppy and irresponsible” and “self-congratulatory moral preening.”

Here’s what the fuss was about: last month, Kenney and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews released the names and photos of 30 fugitives who’d evaded immigration authorities since being found inadmissible because they’re believed to be complicit in genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. In short, the ministers were asking the public to help track down fleeing war crimes suspects. The public has stepped up: since the ministers’ announcements, six of the 30 men have been apprehended and three of those six deported.
Continue…

‘There is nothing recklessly imprecise about highlighting those obligations’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 10:00 AM - 34 Comments

On Tuesday, Paul noted the exchange of written words between Amnesty International and Jason Kenney. On Wednesday, Amnesty International responded to Mr. Kenney’s open letter.

You begin by chastising Amnesty International for raising these concerns when we should instead be focusing on human rights concerns in countries like Iran and North Korea.  Minister, we most certainly do.  A casual review of our most recent reports, actions and news releases covers such countries as Iran, Syria, Bahrain, China, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.  We do regularly point to areas where we believe Canada’s own human rights laws, policy and practice are in need of reform.  Universal human rights principles apply as equally to Canada as they do to other countries.  Furthermore, the stronger Canada’s domestic human rights record is; the greater our leadership on the world stage. 

‘The benefit of the doubt’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 3:27 PM - 40 Comments

Without commenting on Abousfian Abdelrazik, mind you, Jason Kenney suggests we put our faith in the government in cases such as his.

“I read the protected confidential dossiers on such individuals, and I can tell you that, without commenting on any one individual, some of this intelligence makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck,” he said. “I just think people should be patient and thoughtful and give the government and its agencies the benefit of the doubt.”

But, as Campbell Clark notes in that story, the leak of CSIS documentation raises plenty of questions. Indeed, supporters of Adil Charkaoui want an inquiry into that leak.

More wanted

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 2:23 PM - 9 Comments

Vic Toews is interested in expanding the government’s most-wanted list.

Toews told Postmedia News the new list would include immigrants who were either convicted of a crime in Canada, or since their arrival it has been found they were convicted in their home country.

 Toews said he wants any new list to be both “sustainable and productive.” ”What I don’t want to happen is we do this for two weeks and then everybody goes away and forgets about it,” he said.