Canada Needs to Walk the Talk on Multiculturalism | David Langtry

2014/11/15 Leave a comment

The acting Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, David Langtry, on discrimination and bias:

Recognizing bias is a first step toward mitigation. It should spur us to put processes and policies in place that ensure fairness. This could be as easy as preventing resume screeners from seeing the names and nationalities of applicants. Employers could also ensure an “immigrant-friendly” selection process by including new Canadians on selection boards.

Eliminating the strict requirement for Canadian experience when it is not really essential is also a good idea. The Ontario Human Rights Commission says this practice is potentially discriminatory, and has called on businesses to remove that barrier. I am hopeful that organizations across Canada will take a closer look at how they recruit talent and ensure their processes for assessing the skills and qualifications of job applicants are as fair and objective as possible.

Taking such steps makes business sense. It’s common knowledge that employers with a diverse workforce outperform competitors. Indeed, it’s expected that Canada will rely on the social and economic contribution of immigrants more than ever in future. Retiring baby boomers and low birth rates are shrinking the domestic labour pool. The entire country’s standard of living will fall without a significant increase in immigrant-based productivity, says Tal.

Part of the challenge, unstated in the article, is for immigrants to learn the Canadian workplace culture, which generally can only be learned effectively, with workplace experience.

Canada Needs to Walk the Talk on Multiculturalism | David Langtry.

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Aruna Papp: A welcome new law to help prevent forced marriages

2014/11/14 Leave a comment

While I disagree with Papp on her characterization of Canadian multiculturalism and her support for the Bill (existing Canadian laws largely adequate), Papp is right on the need for better training and a more open discussion of the issues, primarily within affected communities, to help change the culture.

While there is a role for the Government and others in this discussion, the hectoring tone of the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act and other rhetoric is unlikely to foster such an open discussion within the communities concerned:

Many Canadian activists for female victims of abuse shy away from challenging immigrant communities about the influence that tradition and cultural values has on domestic violence. The ideology of multiculturalism and tolerance tends to preclude any discussion of the cultural practices that rob women of their basic human rights. It is much simpler and safer to blame the abuse of women in immigrant communities on settlement issues, the Canadian government, the indifference of service providers — rather than challenging the values and traditions that need to be changed within those communities.

The next step is to provide unified training for frontline professionals such as police, social workers and health care professionals

The government’s Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act is the first step in recognizing that such pathologies exist in Canada; and that, as a nation, we need to have an open and frank discussion on this issue.

The next step is to provide unified training for frontline professionals such as police, social workers and health care professionals. At present, there are no shelters in Canada that are capable of properly dealing with victims of honour-based violence. A flawed intake can result in an incomplete or incorrect risk assessment, which can lead to an inadequate safety plan and even exposure to fatal violence.

This lack of training among frontline workers must be remedied in order to ensure that the impetus urged by this new bill can be applied directly to those who are victims of barbaric cultural practices that cannot be tolerated in our country.

Aruna Papp: A welcome new law to help prevent forced marriages

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Canadians love their libraries but report urges new chapter

2014/11/14 Leave a comment

More on the ongoing decline of Library and Archives Canada and the cumulative effect of budget cutbacks in the Royal Society of Canada report on libraries:

The society panel spoke with dozens of librarians, archivists, students, seniors, new Canadians, and library users young and older, said Demers during a conference call Wednesday.

But the decline of LAC, which has suffered widespread budget cuts and staff reductions, was a major concern for Canadians across the board, she said.

“LAC is our national institution mandated by act of 2004 to acquire and preserve our documentary heritage and make it known to and available to Canadians,” she said. “There has been a decade-long decline in all the services at LAC.”

The panel heard from “disappointed professional” LAC users, including Governor General’s Literary Award winning author Jane Urquhart who gave it a collection of papers but has since been told she can’t have access to them.

… (Between 2009-12, the federal government cut 445 of its library jobs, mostly at LAC and the National Research Council’s science library).

Canadians love their libraries but report urges new chapter | Ottawa Citizen.

Ironic, that a Government that promoted Canadian history in its citizenship guide, Discover Canada, appears to be enabling Canadians to forget it.

For a thoughtful discussion on the importance of reading and books, CBC’s The Current did an excellent interview with Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran (great book from both a literary criticism point of view as well as the context of post-Revolution Iran):

http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/current_20141112_30305.mp3

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Harper policies undermine deradicalization

2014/11/14 Leave a comment

Reminder by Faisal Kutty of the complexities of combatting radicalization and how much of it depends on debate and discussion within the Muslim community, and how Government actions can undermine such efforts:

Radicalization must be confronted without undermining social cohesion, violating human rights and deviating from core democratic ideals.

The heavy lifting in this Herculean project must be borne by Muslims, who to their credit have repeatedly condemned violent extremism in the strongest of terms even before 9/11. In fact the National Council of Canadian Muslims NCCM recently even came out with a handbook titled “United Against Terrorism.”

However, more must be done to challenge some of the existing narratives fueling cognitive radicalization. Imams must be more proactive in undermining some of the classical texts glorifying violence and martyrdom, by emphasizing the ethical/peaceful vision of the Quran. This can only be done by deconstructing and better contextualizing the violent rhetoric in some of the Prophetic teachings and juristic interpretations adopted uncritically by too many. Parroting that Islam means peace is not enough. Teachings that may serve as the springboard to violent radicalism must be confronted head on. Such efforts must be internally driven. Any government meddling will only backfire.

Some souls may be forever lost, but this will help redirect the younger ones.

…It [the Harper Government] has ignored the death and devastation unleashed on Muslims around the world, be it through direct attacks or the unconditional support of our allies. At the domestic level Harper has targeted the community by going after its charities and organizations (defaming NCCM for instance), and even religious symbols. These play into the hands of Islamophobes and extremists alike. Ottawa is now busy tightening the already draconian anti-terror laws (preventive detention), introducing new hate laws restricting speech, amending the CSIS Act, etc. These will initially affect Muslims (as noted by leading former jurists last week) disproportionately but will eventually impact all Canadians.

Harper policies undermine deradicalization | Toronto Star.

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Racism still an uncomfortable truth in Canada

2014/11/14 Leave a comment

Interesting experiment and pretty convincing results and analysis:

Subjects are shown a series of black faces and white faces on a computer screen. Researchers track the subject’s eye movements, to measure what the subject looks at, and for how long.

More than a thousand subjects were tested. White subjects tended to look deeply into the eyes of white faces, and were less likely to look into the eyes of black faces. Instead, they were almost three times as likely to focus on the lips or noses of black faces.

“It suggests they’re processing them not as individuals, but as members of a group,” said Kawakami.

This split-second eye bias can have some important consequences, according to Kawakami. When we don’t make eye contact with someone, we’re less likely to be able to decode their emotions, and less willing to trust or remember that person.

“Even though it might happen within the first 100th of a second, we know that downstream that can tell us whether you might hire a person, whether you have positive or negative associations with that person and whether you’re willing to interact with that person,” Kawakami explained.

Kawakami’s latest work is consistent with what some psychologists call “aversive racism.”

Unlike overt racism — blatant expressions of hatred and discrimination against racial minorities — aversive racism is characterized by more complex and subtle expressions of ambivalence toward members of a minority group.

“People are very careful about what they say about people from other categories. They’re really egalitarian, they try to be fair, but when we measure them in more subtle ways, when they’re not conscious of their responses and they’re not able to control them, then we find that racism is still quite prevalent in North America,” said Kawakami.

Mindfulness and greater self-awareness can help mitigate but not an easy or automatic process.

Racism still an uncomfortable truth in Canada: Duncan McCue – Canada – CBC News.

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Discrimination a daily reality for visible minority lawyers in Ontario, report says

2014/11/14 Leave a comment

Not surprising that the legal profession is not immune from discrimination issues:

The blunt Law Society of Upper Canada report, titled “Challenges Faced by Racialized Licensees,” contains some disquieting findings.

“Overt discrimination and bias are a feature of daily life,” the paper concludes. “Racialization is a constant and persistent factor.”

Ontario’s legal profession has seen an increase of visible minority lawyers in recent decades. Latest figures indicate about 17 per cent of lawyers — and 28 per cent of paralegals — are not white, up from about 9.2 per cent in 2001.

In 2012, the law society set up a working group to study the issue of racism and discrimination in its ranks.

Despite the dramatic increase in minority numbers, professional acceptance is still hard to come by, according to the study.

Alienation, lack of entry and promotion opportunities and disrespect are among the problems “racialized” lawyers say they face.

“The challenges faced by racialized licensees have an impact on the reputation of the legal professions, access to justice, and the quality of services provided,” the report states.

Minority participants in the study complained that colleagues, judges and clients commonly assumed they were incompetent or ineffective. They talked about being shut out from professional opportunities or excluded from workplace social gatherings.

Last year, for example, Ontario’s top court found that two black lawyers had been racially profiled in 2008 when an administrator at a lawyers-only lounge at a courthouse in Brampton asked them — and only them — to identify themselves.

Discrimination a daily reality for visible minority lawyers in Ontario, report says | Toronto Star.

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Canadian attitudes toward immigrants conflicted, CBC poll says

2014/11/13 Leave a comment

Despite the headline, overall confirmation of general welcoming attitude towards Immigration and multiculturalism. Some highlights:

  • 79 percent comfortable with employing or working for someone of different ethnicity;
  • 30 percent believe immigrants take jobs away from Canadians (meaning 70 percent don’t);
  • between 60 and 75 percent comfortable with being in a relationship with someone of another ethnicity;
  • between 70 and 85 percent are comfortable with neighbours of different ethnicity.

Canadian attitudes toward immigrants conflicted, poll says – Canada – CBC News.

The Powerpoint of the complete results is here:

CBC Discrimination Poll November 7 2014

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Adrienne Clarkson on why Canada’s multiculturalism works – And my review from Embassy Magazine

2014/11/13 Leave a comment

As she delivers her Massey Lectures, this interesting vignette from Montreal:

She rejects the notion, however, that belonging means excluding others.

Clarkson’s assertion was put to the test after she delivered her first Massey Lecture in Montreal, when an audience member pointed out that excluding others is precisely how many political leaders define the identity of the group they profess to represent.

The audience member pointed to some extreme opinions expressed during the Quebec Charter debate, and how right-wing leaders in Europe score political points by openly vilifying Muslims and immigrants.

“It’s basically racist,” was Clarkson’s answer. “And in France, I’m afraid, you still do hear things that I heard in Canada in the ‘40s as a child, about Jews and so on.“

I think that fear and ignorance and bigotry and so on should be always met head-on.”

Adrienne Clarkson on why Canadas multiculturalism works – Canada – CBC News.

And excerpt from my take:

Her praise for what the Aga Khan calls a “cosmopolitan ethic,” where we need to continuously engage in conversations with those of different backgrounds, loyalties, religions and ethnicities, further reinforces this need for ongoing dialogue and understanding in a complex multicultural society such as Canada.

Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship provides a welcome antidote to so much of the excessive fretting that occurs around Canadian citizenship and multiculturalism.

But Clarkson’s reliance on behaving “as if” things are working well, wishing it were so, can be as risky as the alternate “as if,” that Canadian citizenship and multiculturalism are not working.

Certainly, compared to most countries, we have been remarkably successful. Political differences are at the margins, we have no political parties opposed to immigration and all political parties actively pursue ethnic community votes.

But we do have serious challenges from the perspective of equity, discrimination and representation.

By provoking discussion implicitly on what kind of “as if” we should employ to help shape the ongoing evolution of Canadian society, Clarkson has posed the fundamental question on what kind of Canada we want and how we should behave to help it come into being.

A relentlessly upbeat take on citizenship

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Immigrant nurses face new hurdles with Ontario’s licensing changes

2014/11/13 Leave a comment

Another example of foreign credential recognition challenges. Given that the certification  is test scenario-based, expect that the main challenge is not technical but contextual and related to how one interacts with patients and colleagues.

But the lack of appropriate training and feedback should be addressed:

The report, released this summer, found that “some internationally educated applicants do not receive adequate explanation about their shortcomings on the OSCE.” And since there are no appeals or repeat tests allowed, “it leaves applicants with no option but to proceed to bridging education if they wish to continue with their RN application,” the report says.

“It is unclear why, regardless of the number of gaps identified in the OSCE, applicants who want to proceed with their RN application must take an entire bridging program. There is no sound justification for the ‘one size fits all’ approach.”

The college said it brought in the OSCE test for foreign RN applicants because it is an objective tool to evaluate competencies.“

It is not an ‘exam’ in the usual sense of the world. It is a holistic assessment of the applicant’s knowledge and experience. . . . They come out of it with a better understanding of which missing competencies they need to address,” said Clarke.

“It’s like getting a second opinion about how well an applicant’s education and experience match the competencies required of a nurse in Ontario.”

Immigrant nurses face new hurdles with Ontario’s licensing changes | Toronto Star.

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Time for Japan to embrace multiculturalism

2014/11/13 Leave a comment

Interesting commentary on Japanese society in the context of its aging demographics:

There is an immediate assumption, then, that foreigners are impediments to the smooth functioning of Japanese society — not barbarians, exactly, but a hassle to deal with. Hidenori Sakanaka, the head of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, said that a social revolution is necessary, in which Japan is reconceived as a multiethnic nation, in order to save it from aging into obsolescence. Such a dramatic shift in the self-conception of the Japanese people would be, he admits, painful.

But a move toward pluralism is essential if Japan is to avoid drastic economic downscaling and social stagnation. It’s time to take the first step and prove that hate speech is indeed unacceptable, and that there will be no room for racism in a changing Japan.

Time for Japan to embrace multiculturalism | Al Jazeera America.

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