ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Policy and Legislation

  • Settlement needs of BC immigrant and refugee children

    Last June, Welcome BC held a Learning Forum and Consultation on the Settlement Needs of Immigrant/Refugee Children 0-6 years of age and Their Families.
    The purpose of the day was to provide government with specific advice regarding appropriate programs for newcomer children from birth to age six, and their families “in the intersecting areas of Early Learning and Early Childhood Development”.
    Available online now are some very useful resources and materials prepared for the conference by various BC government departments, including: the Attorney General; Children and Family Development; Health; Education; Public Library Services Branch; and from the Burnaby ECD Table. Resources include current (2006) demographic information on countries of origin, home languages, strategic directions of the various departments and etc. There is also a written report on the learning results/outcomes of the conference consultation and participant evaluations:

    2 page Executive Summary
    Report on the Results of the Learning Forum and Consultation on the Settlement Needs of Immigrant/Refugee Children 0-6 Years of Age and their Families. Prepared by Karen L. Abrahamson.

     

  • 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).

  • Canadian Council on Refugees annual report, 2008

    The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) Annual Status Report on Refugee and Immigrant Rights in Canada, 2008 addresses three items related to immigrant and refugee children’s rights and family issues:

    Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) adopted new guidelines for officers conducting eligibility interviews with children making refugee claims, including children separated from their parent(s).
    CIC responded to concerns about families kept separate by the “excluded family member” rule by intervening to reunite several families and initiating measures for internal processes. Processing times still significantly lag.
    Changes to the Citizenship Act raises concerns among some about the “stateless child”: a child born abroad to Canadian parents (who were themselves born abroad to a Canadian citizen) will not be Canadian citizens.

    See the full report at the CCR site.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Canadians of convenience

    The National Post today reports on new rules in the citizenship process that may render children – adopted by Canadians or born to Canadians outside of Canadian soil – as less than full-Canadian citizens. Read the story here.
    The Fraser Institute interprets this as a way to protect Canada from ‘citizens of convenience’: As quoted in the Jan 16/09 National Post story: “If you’re going to be a Canadian, you have to have some substantive ties. If you keep giving citizenship on indefinitely to your progeny and their progeny, the ties are pretty questionable.”

  • Gender-based barriers to settlement and integration for live-in caregivers: A review of the literature

    The Ontario Metropolis Centre/the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration Studies (CERIS) has released a literature review on barriers to integration and settlement for live-in caregivers.
    Authors Denise L. Spitzer and Sara Torres ask what is known about the women who migrate to Canada under the federal live-in caregiver program and the barriers they face in settling and integrating in a new community. The paper provides historical, economic and demographic information and concludes with several policy recommendations.

  • Multiculturalism is bad for immigrant children

    National Post columnist George Jonas examines what he terms the Canadian “multiculturalism fallacy” and finds that the notion of promoting diversity (vs. tolerating it) creates “outsiders”. This is, in Jonas’ view, particularly harmful for immigrant children. Ethnic and religious minorities are tolerated in good societies, such as Canada and persecuted in bad ones, such as the Third Reich, says Jonas. 
    From the article: “Diversity is no organizing principle: it’s a fact of existence. It’s part of the human condition. It’s neither to be swept under the carpet nor to be run up the flagpole. It’s neither the solvent of nationhood nor its glue. For immigrant nations such as Canada it’s a reality to cope with, accept and turn to advantage if possible. It isn’t something to aim for, celebrate, cherish or try to etch in stone”.
     “We accept being outsides in someone else’s country more easily than in our own, and we regard the country in which we’re born as ours. That’s why if unassimilated “diverse” communities produce misfits, malcontents, traitors or outright terrorists, they’re more likely to produce them in the second or third generation. The jihadist is the native son rather than the immigrant father”.
    Jonas concludes: “Emphasizing diversity over integration bequeaths a legacy of civil conflict to one’s children”. Read the full article here.

  • Canada grants citizenship to Santa

    The federal minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, the Honourable Jason Kenney has granted full Canadian citizenship to Santa Claus.
    Quoting Minister Kenney’s official statement in the Edmonton Sun: “The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete” (Dec 23/08).
    From the Montreal Gazette: “Less than three weeks after the Canadian government proposed legislation to expand the country’s sovereignty over Arctic waters, its citizenship minister is shoring up Canada’s claim to the Far North by declaring Santa Claus, a longtime resident of the North Pole, to be a Canadian citizen” (Dec 23/08). 
    To those who observe the holiday, Happy Christmas from immigrantchildren.ca.

  • Promising practices in integration

    The Public Policy Forum, an independent policy think tank, has released a report: From Immigration to Participation: Promising Practices in Integration.
    The report examined six priority areas as important factors in integration. They are:

    1. Employment programs and services
    2. Access to information
    3. Language acquisition
    4. Acceptance and understanding
    5. Role of the school system (K-12)
    6. Social support

    The report identifies 4 major gaps and challenges:

    Integration needs to move beyond settlement and be more proactive around “empowering newcomers”.
    Programs must “promote interactions among newcomers”.
    Innovation is important, but community-based initiatives need to demonstrate positive outcomes to alternative approaches.
    Human resources in community-based agencies needs strengthening.   

    Recommendations from the report:

    “Promote the relevance and value of integration in order to foster mutual responsibility
    “Offer more opportunities for two-way interaction
    “Allocate adequate funding to encourage innovation”.