ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Federal

  • CIC on proposed changes to IRPA

    The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has published a new section on their website with more information on the proposed changes to the immigration policy and legislation, introduced in the budget bill – Bill C-50. 
    A section with questions is also new, and offered in the categories of: Description and rationale for changes; How the system will work; Impact of the changes; Minister’s authority; and offers a space for folks to post their questions. Let’s all surf on over before the links change/disappear (again).

  • CCRs 10 areas of concern about proposed changes to the IRPA

    The Canadian Council for Refugees has developed a useful fact sheet that outlines “Ten reasons to be concerned about proposed amendments to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in Bill C-50″.
    Excerpts from the fact sheet:
    1. Arbitrary power. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration can introduce “instructions” without Parliamentary oversight..Having the rules for who gets in made and changed by ministerial fiat … lacks transparency and makes the immigration selection process vulnerable to inappropriate political pressures.
    2. Applicants’ legal rights eliminated. The proposed amendment in IRPA s. 11 from ‘the visa shall be issued’ to ‘the visa may be issued’ (means) the applicant will no longer have the same legal basis to demand that the processing be finalized in a timely manner.
    3. Overseas humanitarian and compassionate applications. The amendments eliminate the right to have an overseas application for humanitarian and compassionate consideration examined. This includes … family reunification.
    4. Intentions are not law. The government has made a number of statements about how they intend or don’t intend to use the new powers… Expressions of current intention are no protection against future uses of the powers.
    5. The amendments do not belong in the budget bill. IRPA amendments should (be) dealt with through separate legislation, studied by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and debated.
    6. Lack of explanatory information. The government has failed to provide adequate information.
    7. Failure to produce draft instructions. … draft instructions have not been made public.
    8. Lack of consultation. The proposed amendments were introduced without the normal prior consultation with stakeholders.
    9. There are other ways of addressing the backlog. … the proposed amendments will not … resolve the existing backlog, since they only affect applications made after 27 February 2008.
    10. The immigration program needs to value immigrants. Canada needs to consider immigrants as full participants in society, not simply as disposable units to fill currently available jobs.

  • Promoting integration: Canada's Multiculturalism Minister reports to Parliament

    The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) issued a news release April 3/08 commenting on Statistics Canada latest release on immigration in Canada, “Canada’s Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census“. Here’s some of what was in the release:

    “A particularly interesting statistic from the 2006 Census shows the highest ever proportion of people reporting “Canadian” as ethnic origin. Almost 10.1 million people, one-third of the total population, reported Canadian as their ethnic ancestry. In addition, more than half of those reporting have multiple origins, better illustrating the living diversity in our country.
    Our government is pleased to support initiatives that preserve and promote Canadian identity. For example, we are a partner in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, a powerful symbol of this country’s commitment to recognizing, promoting, and celebrating human rights. We are also supporting the Aga Khan’s Global Centre for Pluralism, which will serve as a cornerstone of good governance, the rule of law, and human development in the years ahead.
    The Government of Canada is also fully cognizant of the need to have policies and programs that reflect our changing population. We have revised the Multiculturalism Program to focus on promoting integration, combatting radicalization, and encouraging collaborative projects between Canadians from diverse backgrounds. In fact, our annual report to Parliament underscored this new focus with its title, Promoting Integration“.

    Promoting Integration includes several references to children. PDF version available here. HTML version.

  • Canada in violation of UN Rights of the Child

    The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) has denounced the Canadian government and accused it of being in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. From the CCRs April 7th press release:

    “The Canadian Council for Refugees today denounced the blind application of an inflexible immigration rule that is keeping children separated from their parents. Regulation 117(9)(d) excludes family members, barring them from sponsorship, if they were not examined by an immigration officer when the sponsor immigrated to Canada.
    ‘Children deserve to be with their parents – all Canadians can agree on this. Yet children affected by the excluded family member rule are spending years without an immigration officer even considering their interests,’ said Elizabeth McWeeny, CCR President. ‘This is not only inhumane, it is a clear violation of Canada’s international human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.’”

    See more about the CCRs campaign on family reunification, including the April 7/08 press release at the CCR website.

  • DM press conference on changes to IRPA

    The Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will hold a press conference today and address the issues related to the proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, as outlined in Bill C-50. See the notice.
    The “technical briefing” will be held April 8th from 1-2pm in Ottawa. Let’s hope that a reporter asks a question about impact on children.

  • Changes to IRPA

    Over the last couple of weeks, this blog has posted on proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, complete with links to debates and news releases. Some of these links have moved and I am trying my best to relocate them.
    The changes proposed to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley will impact family reunification and therefore, children. It’s time for the Canadian Coalition for Immigrant Children and Youth to start lobbying their MPs, liberal and otherwise, to stop these changes from going through.
    The federal liberals, with the support of another opposition party could stop the proposed amendments. A vote against the amendments (as early as a week from now) would trigger an election. Some say they don’t want an election. The tories say they’re ready for an election.
    Here’s what the NDP says. “The offensive changes include giving major new powers to the minister of Citizenship and Immigration to impose quotas, discard immigration applications and facilitate queue jumping by certain categories of immigrants. In addition, they would limit the ability of ordinary Canadians to be reunited with overseas family members based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds”.
    Here’s what the liberals say.“The Liberal Opposition feels strongly that the drastic immigration reforms introduced by the Conservative government should be removed from the budget bill debated in Parliament”.
    Here’s how to find your MP and have your say.

  • Immigrant MPs

    As Parliament returns today, and the debate over Bil C-50, the budget bill – including proposed changes to immigration policy – continues, I thought this list of federal members of parliament (MPs) born outside of Canada might be interesting. Some arrived in Canada as children. Information from the Parliament of Canada website.

    Conservative Party

    Diane Ablonczy, Calgary-Nose Hill, immigrated from the United States, age not specified. Ablonczy was critic for Immigration and Citizenship from 2002 to 2006 and served on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.
    Tony Clement, Parry Sound-Muskoka, immigrated from England, age not specified. Clement is currently Minister of Health.
    Stephen John Fletcher, Charleswood-St.James-Assiniboia, immigrated from Brazil, age not specified.
    Nina Grewal, Fleetwood-Port Kells, immigrated from Japan as an adult.
    Rahim Jaffer, Edmonton-Strathcona, immigrated from Uganda, age not specified.
    Wajid Khan, Mississauga Streetsville, immigrated from Pakistan, age not specified.
    Inky Mark, Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, immigrated from China, around age 11 or 12. Mark and his family were victims of the Chinese exclusion act. Mark served as Conservative critic for Immigration and Citizenship.
    Deepak Obrhai, Calgary East, immigrated from Tanzania, age not specified. Obrhai is currently Parliamentary Secretary for Foregin Affairs.
    Daniel Petit, Charlesbourg–Haute-Saint-Charles, immigrated from Belgium, age unknown.
    Myron Thompson, Wild Rose, immigrated from the United States, age not specified.
    Vic Toews, Provencher, immigrated from Paraguay, age 4 or 5.
    John Williams, Edmonton-St. Albert, immigrated from Scotland, age not specified.

    Liberal Party

    Omar Alghabra, Mississauga Erindale, immigrated from Saudia Arabia “at a young age” (not specified).
    Susan Barnes, London West, immigrated from Malta at age 5.
    Maurizio Bevilaqua, Vaughan, immigrated from Italy, age not specified. Bevilaqua is the current liberal critic for citizenship and immigration.
    John Cannis, Scarborough Centre, immigrated from Greece, age not specified.
    Raymond Chan, Richmond, immigrated from Hong Kong as a teen. Chan served as Minister of State for Multiculturalism in 2004.
    Sukh Dhaliwal, Newton North-Delta, immigrated from India, age not specified.
    Ujjal Dosanjh, Vancouver South, immigrated from India to the UK as a teenager and then to Canada.
    Raymonde Folco, Laval-Les Îles, immigrated from France, age not specified. Before election as an MP, Folco served on the Immigration Refugee Board and has also served as VP and President of the Conseil des communautés culturelles et de l’immigration.
    Hedy Fry, Vancouver Centre, immigrated from Trinidad, age not specified. Fry served as Secretary of State for Multiculturalism from 1996 to 2002 and in the last Parliament, was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
    Albina Guarnieri, Mississauga-East Cooksville, immigrated from Italy, age not specified.
    Jim Karygiannis, Scarborough-Agincourt, immigrated from Greece to Canada as a teenager. Karygiannis is vocal about immigration issues, see the blog post about immigration wait times impact on children.
    Gurbax Singh Mahli, Bramalea-Gore-Malton, immigrated from India, age not specified.
    Keith Martin, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, immigrated from England, age not specified.
    Maria Minna, Beaches-East York, immigrated from Italy at age 9. Minna was president of COSTI-IIAS from 1981 to 1992.
    Andrew Telegdi, Kitchener-Waterloo, came to Canada as a refugee from Hungary at age 11. Telegdi was was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 1998 to 2000.
    Yasmin Ratansi, Don Valley East, immigrated from Tanzania, age not specified.
    Pablo Rodriguez, Honoré-Mercier, immigrated from Argentina, age not specified.
    Michael John Savage, Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, immigrated from Ireland, age not specified.
    Mario Silva, Davenport, immigrated from Portugal, age not specified. Co-authored a book on Canadian multiculturalism, Fabric of a Nation.
    Lui Temelkovski, Oak Ridges-Markham, immigrated from Macedonia, age not specified. Temelkovski cites Prime Minister Trudeau’s multiculturlism as inspiration and served as chair for the Toronto Caravan festival.
    Joe Volpe, Eglinton-Lawrence, immigrated from Italy to Canada, age not specified. Volpe was Minister of Citizenship and Immigration 2004-2005.

    New Democratic Party

    Chris Charlton, Hamilton Mountain, immigrated from Germany, age not specified.
    Olivia Chow, Trinity Spadina, immigrated from China, age not specified. Chow speaks on behalf of children’s issues.
    Libby Davies, Vancouver East, immigrated from England as a teen.
    Peter Stoffer, Sackville-Eastern Shore, immigrated from the Netherlands, age not specified.
    Tony Martin, Sault Ste. Marie, immigrated from England, age not specified.

    Bloc Québécois

    Vivan Barbot, Papineau, immigrated from Haiti, age unknown.
    Maria Mourain, Ahuntsic, immigrated from the Ivory Coast, age unknown.
    Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac, Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, immigrated from Vietna, age unknown.

  • Proposed changes to immigration legislation

    Continuing news stories about the federal government’s proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Act, including:
    “Immigration changes unfair, critics charge“. Toronto Star. March 24/08.
    “Liberals urged to fight immigration proposals“. The Globe and Mail. March 24/08.
    “Finley defends contentious immigration overhaul“. CTV News. March 23/08.
    Also see earlier posts on immigrantchildren.ca, including:
    Canadian Council for Refugees on proposed amendments to the IRPA. March 17/08.
    Amendments to IRPA. March 16/08.
    Economic class favoured over family reunification? March 13/08.

  • Refugee Rights Day is April 4

    April 4 is Refugee Rights Day in Canada. April 4th marks the day that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to refugee claimants in Canada (1985).
    The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) website has a useful package of materials on Refugee Rights Day.

  • welcomehere.ca

    The Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs (FRP), with funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, have developed a resource kit for welcoming newcomer families participation in community-based programs. From an announcement (Mar 19/08) on the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Promotion listserv:

    “Over the past year, under the Welcome Here project, family resource programs and settlement agencies in communities across Canada have collaborated together to offer new and improved programs to newcomer families. The Welcome Here Resource Kit will share some of the lessons learned in these communities. The kit will also contain some useful tools for community programs including a multi-lingual welcome poster, multi-lingual parent resource sheets, ideas for preventing racism, a colourful brochure designed to invite newcomers to visit their local family resource centre, and links to other resources”.

    Resource kits will be available on welcomehere.ca as of April 1/08. For more information, welcomehere@frp.ca.