The CBCs Sunday Edition program will broadcast a panel discussion on Canada’s immigration policy, Sunday, June 8 at 9:11am. Panelists include Catherine Dauvergne, Canada Research Chair in Migration Law, justice domain leader and Board member of Metropolis BC.
Category: Policy and Legislation
-
Recent research/reports on immigration
“Policy Options“, the publication of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) has several stories on immigration and immigration policy in their June 2008 issue. We are pleased that 2 of the reports touch on issues related to immigrant children and families, although slightly disappointed in an article by Robin Sears.
Sears writes on the history of immigration policy in “Canada: If you build it, people will come” and notes that Canada received thousands of “guest children” during WWII in order to provide them with “safe haven”, but neglects to report on the shameful accounts of the 100,000 “home children” who were brought to Canada to serve the nation’s workforce needs.
Nik Nanos provides analysis on a recent poll in “Nation building through immigration: Workforce skills come out on top” and reports that “four Canadians in five thought family reunification was important or somewhat important”. -
Subcommittee of the standing committee on citizenship and immigration meets June 3rd
The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration has set a meeting for the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. The meeting (an in camera session) will be held Tuesday, June 3rd.
-
FCRO marks first year in operation
When immigrants use their skills and credentials in the Canadian labour force, we all benefit. Because when newcomers succeed, we all succeed.
Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and ImmigrationThe Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) has now been operating for one year. Federal government news releases herald its success but there is no mention of children/families and how they have benefited (or not) from this program. See the FCRO 2007-2008 progress report.
-
Canadian immigration policy conference
The Fraser Institute is holding a conference on Canadian immigration policy June 4-5 in Montreal, QC. Subtitled “Reassessing the economic, demographic and social impact on Canada”, the conference rationale includes the following:
“In recent decades there have been serious shortcoming in the design of immigration programs as well as the need for major review of the assumptions on which current policies are based. These include:… The low average incomes of the recent immigrants combined with the universality of access to social benefits have resulted in a significant fiscal burden on Canadian taxpayers especially because of the large number of immigrants who have entered Canada under the family reunification and refugee programs, and thus did not have to meet the standards required of independent (i.e. skilled immigrants)”.
The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will host a keynote and evening reception. Also in the program, sessions on: The current state of Canadian immigration policy; Labour market productivity implications of immigration; Immigration and an aging population; Integration of immigrants-issues of national identity, multiculturalism and security; The challenges of reforming immigration policy (with Sir Andrew Green of Migration Watch UK).
A luncheon address includes the official opposition critic for immigration, Catherine Morisette, Action Démocratique du Québec and second opposition critic for immigration, Martin Lemay, Parti Québécois.
No specific sessions devoted to immigrant children or families. -
Latest on proposed changes to IRPA
The Standing Committee on Finance received a report from the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration entitled “Consideration of the subject matter of Part 6 of Bill C-50”.
Dated May 15th, the report recommends that the Citizenship and Immigration Committee undertake a study on the immigration system in order to address identified challenges. The report reminds the Committee that their previous report Reclaiming Citizenship for Canadians informed Bill C-37, the ‘Lost Canadians’ bill.
The Conservative Party of Canada issued a dissenting opinion, arguing that the proposed changes to immigration legislation will in fact meet the backlog issues and that refutes much of the charges made by opponents to the proposed changes. An excerpt:“The current system is especially problematic, since in a few short years, all of our net labour growth will come from immigration. These systemic flaws undermine Canada’s ability to meet our immigration goals, particularly the goal of providing for Canada’s economic and family reunification needs. Urgent action is required. That is why changes to the IRPA were included in Budget 2008. Advantage Canada (2006) identified that Canada needs the most flexible workforce in the world – an issue that is critical to Canada’s future”.
Neither the dissenting opinion or the report specifically address children. Should the committee agree to undertake a study, let’s ensure that the study identifies issues and develops solutions that will work for immigrant children and their families.
-
Immigration: Quelling the conflict between French and English Canada?
At the annual Canadian Association of Principal’s Conference, currently being held in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, keynote speaker Gwynne Dyer said:
“…federal immigration reforms since the 1960s have changed demographics in a way that is largely responsible for quelling the conflict between French and English Canada. It has essentially…saved this country as a political entity. These policies have resulted in classrooms in large urban centres with children with diverse culturally backgrounds, creating challenges for Canadian educators….It’s been a journey that’s occurred with remarkably little conflict. This is an extraordinary accomplishment, which you might want to bare in mind next time you deal with the downside”.
What do you say, educators? Is Gwynne right?
-
rabble.ca perspective on the proposed change to immigration policy
rabble.ca has posted an editorial on the proposed changes to the federal immigration policy. See the link for a number of other related articles – and – here is a round-up of links from this blog on the proposed changes to the IRPA:
March 13/08 – Economic class favoured over family reunification?
March 15/08 – Amendments to IRPA
March 17/08 – Canadian Council on Refugees on proposed changes to IRPA
March 24/08 – Proposed changes to immigration legislation
April 4/08 – Changes to IRPA
April 8/08 – DM press conference on changes to IRPA
April 16/08 – CIC on proposed changes to IRPA
April 16/08 – CCRs 10 areas of concern about proposed changes to IRPA. -
OECD Thematic review of migrant education – an update
As posted Jan 22 on this blog, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – the OECD – is undertaking a thematic review of migrant education.
The question being asked is ‘What policies will promote successful education outcomes for first and second generation migrants’?
The objectives and outputs are based on criteria for the assessment of the successful integration into the education system, including pre-school education, which is threefold:1. Access: Do immigrant students/children have the same opportunities to access quality education as their native-born peers?
2. Participation: Do immigrant students/children participate (enrol and complete) as much as their native-born peers?
3. Learning outcomes: Do immigrant students/children perform as well as their native-born peers?An interesting project. Here’s the site.