ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Federal

  • Immigration policy consultation by wiki

    The Public Policy Wiki is a collaborative project of the Globe and Mail and the Dominion Institute. The Public Policy Wiki is an attempt to bring forward to government a range of views from the general public on matters of public policy. How do they do this? Through an online wiki, of course. The public is invited to “be bold”, participate, contribute and even edit works cited on the wiki.
    Among the topics currently on the Public Policy Wiki is a section on immigration policy. There are several resources to review on this page, including pieces written by experts and stakeholders. The wiki poses a series of questions for consideration – and requests for responses – after a reading of the online resources. immigrantchildren.ca readers will note that there are no specific questions related to children and families, but a couple of analysis papers do address immigrant children. Maytree President Ratna Omidvar:

    “It is a serious oversight to ignore the settlement needs of immigrant children; however the reality is that these needs remain overlooked in the not inconsiderable resources we spend in settlement programming every year. This oversight is possibly not entirely intentional, but a reflection of jurisdictional arrangements that govern our federation.
    “Here is an opportunity for the federal government to reaffirm its role as nation-builder by finding creative ways to overcome jurisdictional barriers. It could, for instance, flow money to provinces and their schools so that immigrant children have assured access to English language training, sports and cultural activities. There are no better integration ambassadors for immigrant parents than their own children, who by participating in team sports and cultural activities are guaranteed to bring their parents to the rink.
    “Imagine, children playing hockey, or soccer or even cricket together and parents watching and cheering them along! Here is how we can build our nation”.

    Rudyard Griffiths, co-founder of the Dominion Institute:

    “…the federal government should also put special emphasis on second language training for school-age children, particularly in the country’s major cities.
    “In Toronto, the city that attracts the majority of newcomers to Canada, the percentage of elementary schools with English-as-a-second-language instructors has declined from 41 to 29 percent in the last decade while the number of students requiring such instruction has doubled. Young people from non- French- or English-speaking countries desperately need additional support to master French and/or English. The federal government should find ways to work with the provinces to get more funding for language instruction into urban classroom to relieve overburdened ESL instructors”.

    Mathew Ingram, Communities Editor at the Globe hopes the Public Policy Wiki is working towards a ‘Two Million Minds’ “open, crowd-powered forum” that will have legitimacy on the public policy landscape. Deadline for comments is June 1. Responses from this online forum will be collated and submitted to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Let’s participate and ensure that the issues, challenges and needs of immigrant and refugee children and their families are voiced in the forum. Visit the Public Policy Wiki on immigration policy here.

  • Senate report on early learning and child care in Canada

    Following the release of the OECD report Starting Strong II (Sept 2006) the Senate of Canada requested its Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology to examine the state of early learning and child care in Canada and report on the finding of the OECD that found Canada last in industrialized nations in terms of their funding and commitment to supporting the early years of children in Canada.
    immigrantchildren.ca is pleased that the April 2009 Senate Report, Early Childhood Education and Care: Next Steps examined the importance of high quality early learning and care for newcomer families and young children, however briefly, including:

    • A paragraph on pg. 61 on “Immigrants and Refugees” about the child care component of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program.
    • In the section on accessibility, it is recognized that: “immigrant children may experience additional barriers if local child care programming is not culturally relevant or delivered in a familiar language“.

    The committee made several recommendations in its report, including that the Prime Minister appoint a Minister of State of Children and Youth; that the Minister for Human Resources and Social Development appoint a National Advisory Council on Children, to advise the Minister of State for Children and Youth and through the Minister of State, other Ministers on how best to support parents and to advance quality early learning and child care (calling for the Council to include Parliamentarians, a range of stakeholders, parents and appropriate representation from Aboriginal communities).
    immigrantchildren.ca hopes that, should the Government of Canada respond favourably and strike a Council that it will ensure that immigrant and refugee children’s interests will be addressed and that the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism serve on the Council. And, given Minister Kenney’s recent remarks on the need for increased attention to immigrant children, we’ve little doubt to the importance of his inclusion. 
    The Government of Canada, through the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, must respond to the Senate report within 150 days of the tabling of the report. Watch this space for responses.

  • Maclean's interview with Minister Jason Kenney

    Last week’s Maclean’s featured an interview with federal Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, the Honoourable Jason Kenney.
    Kenney reiterated his position favouring interculturalism over multiculturalism and suggests that 2nd generation immigrants – the children of immigrants – are particularly vulnerable to cultural segregation. Quoting Tony Blair, Kenney says “…in our liberal society everyone has a right to be different but a duty to integrate“.
    The editorial this week responds to Kenney’s comments in “Our weak identity isn’t an immigration problem“.
    Related posts on immigrantchildren.ca:

  • Kenney: Language = successful integration of newcomers

    Last week, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney addressed delegates at the Calgary Metropolis conference and was quoted as saying that immigrants should “be required to have working knowledge of either English of French” in order to come to Canada. These remarks have been widely reported and debated in the media, including:

    The Toronto Sun, English or french or out
    The Calgary Herald, Kenney right person for immigration minefield
    Ottawa Citizen, Immigrants should be able to speak English or French

    Rudyard Griffiths (Dominion Institute and author of the recently released book “Who We Are: A Citizen’s Manifesto“) writes today in the National Post, defending and championing language as the key to successful integration. 

    Happily, children are addressed in his piece. An excerpt:

    “The federal government should also put special emphasis on second-language training for school-age children, particularly in the country’s major cities. In Toronto, the city that attracts the majority of newcomers to Canada, the percentage of elementary schools with English-as-a-second-language (ESL) instructors has declined from 41% to 29% in the last decade while the number of students requiring such instruction has doubled. The federal government should find ways to work with the provinces to get more funding for language instruction into urban classrooms to relieve overburdened ESL instructors”.

  • Canadian Council on Refugees spring consultation

    Canada became a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees on 4 June 1969. The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) will commemorate the 40th anniversary of this event, following their annual Spring Consultation to be held May 28-30, 2009 in Quebec City, QC.
    The theme for the CCR Spring Consultation this year is “Protecting Refugees and Immigrants in Hard Times” (and includes a session on children in detention).

    Related resources:
    Refugee Rights Day (April 4, 2009)
    CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) on Child Refugees
    Canadian Refugee Health Conference (Nov 24-25, 2009)
    CCR Annual Status Report on Refugee and Immigrant Rights, 2008.

  • March 21 is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

    March 21 is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A few key resources for this initiative are:

    United Nations/UNICEFs Cyberbus
    UNESCO
    Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Multiculturalism Program

  • Annual report to Parliament on multiculturalism

    The Annual Report to Parliament on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2007-2008 is now available on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website.

    The report acknowledges the “important development in Government policy, when the Prime Minister decided to link Multiculturalism policy and programs with those at Citizenship and Immigration Canada…
    This brings all the key policy and program elements together and allows for greater coordination between the Government’s settlement programs for newcomers and its programs to promote further inclusion, participation and shared citizenship for all Canadians”.

    Section 1 captures demographic information, Section 2 examines the Multicultural Program and Section 3 outlines how seven federal agencies have incorporated/addressed multiculturalism in its programs. 
    Related to children and families, these items: A booklet (What’s Next) for children as part of a domestic violence prevention initiative of the Department of Justice was translated into several languages.
    The Canada Revenue Agency included their “Tax Tips to Go” in several languages (including Children’s Fitness Tax Credit).

  • Standing committee on citizenship & immigration (CIMM)

    The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) has been established as follows:
    Chair: 

    David Tilson, MP for Dufferin-Caledan ON

    Vice Chairs:

    The Honourable Maurizio Bevilacqua, MP for Vaughn ON
    Thierry St-Cyr, MP for Jeanne Le-Bar QC

    Members:

    Paul Calendra, MP for Oak Ridges-Markham ON
    Olivia Chow, MP for Trinity-Spadina
    Jean Dorion, MP for Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher
    Rick Dykstra, MP for St. Catharines ON
    Nina Grewal, MP for Fleetwood-Port Kells BC
    Jim Karygiannis, MP for Scarborough Agincourt ON
    Alexandra Mendes, MP for Brossard-La Prairie QC
    Devinder Shory, MP for Calgary Northeast AB
    Alice Wong, MP for Richmond BC

  • National strategy for early literacy: Invitation to participate

    The Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (CLLRNet) is working on a national strategy for early litearcy, inviting submissions and participation in a national consultation. From the CLLRNet site:

    The National Strategy for Early Literacy (NSEL) is a Canada-wide initiative to improve the literacy skills of Canadian children and youth.  NSEL engages a broad coalition of organizations and individuals to understand and describe what can be done to improve literacy outcomes for young Canadians, and to put these actions into practice.  The conclusion of the NSEL process will be a coherent, feasible, evidence-based national strategy for early literacy, including a clear statement of activities required and of the organizations that must take responsibility for these actions.
    The NSEL initiative is being coordinated by the Canadian Language and Literacy Network (CLLRNet; www.cllrnet.ca), a Canada-wide network engaging practitioners, policymakers, researchers and trainees in every province and territory with the common goal of improving literacy skills in Canada.
    Public consultations relating to the National Strategy initiative will be held across Canada in March 2009.  These consultations will provide an opportunity for presentations that are focused on issues relevant to improving the literacy skills of young Canadians by individuals and organizations.
    Parties interested in presenting at these consultations or in providing written input to the consultation process are invited to submit an information brief in advance of the consultations.
    Information briefs should be sent by February 15, 2009 to: nselsubmission@cllrnet.ca.
    Suggested Guidelines for Information Briefs
    Submissions should address an aspect of the challenge: “what should be done to improve the literacy skills of Canadian children and youth?”   It is expected that most submissions will include the following components:

    1. The role of the issue discussed in the overall challenge of improving literacy outcomes;
    2. Statement and description of the specific actions proposed;
    3. Discussion of the responsibilities for and mechanisms by which such actions would take place;
    4. Estimates of the expected impacts of these actions;
    5. Discussion of the resources required for such actions to be implemented;
    6. Discussion of how such activities and impacts should be monitored, evaluated and improved upon; and
    7. References to sources cited in and supporting the contents of the submission.

    For more information, visit the CLLRNet site.

  • Federal developments

    The 2nd session of Canada’s 40th Parliament opened Monday, January 26, 2009 with a Speech from the Throne. 
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2009, the federal government released their budget. The budget includes $50 million to support the work of the Foreign Credential program.
    The federal Liberal party announced new critic portfolios in their shadow cabinet including Member of Parliament for Brampton-Springdale, Ontario, Ruby Dhalla as critic for “Multiculturalism and Youth”. Maurizio Bevilacqua (MP for Vaughn, Ontario) remains critic for Citizenship and Immigration.