Trump caps refugee admissions at record low – with most to be white South Africans

2025/10/31 Leave a comment

Sick:

The Trump administration will limit the number of refugees admitted to the US to 7,500 over the next year, and give priority to white South Africans.

The move, announced in a notice published on Thursday, marks a dramatic cut from the previous limit of 125,000 set by former President Joe Biden and will bring the cap to a record low.

No reason was given for the cut, but the notice said it was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”.

In January, Trump signed an executive order suspending the US Refugee Admissions Programme, or USRAP, which he said would allow US authorities to prioritise national security and public safety.

The previous lowest refugee admissions cap was set by the first Trump administration in 2020, when it allocated 15,000 spots for fiscal year 2021.

The notice posted to the website of the Federal Register said the 7,500 admissions would “primarily” be allocated to Afrikaner South Africans and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands”.

In February, the US president announced the suspension of critical aid to South Africa and offered to allow members of the Afrikaner community – who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers – to settle in the US as refugees….

Source: Trump caps refugee admissions at record low – with most to be white South Africans

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CBC hired 84 percent racialized, Indigenous, or disabled while having job vacancies for top talent: Internal report

2025/10/31 Leave a comment

Telling that the commentary only mentions the overall diversity numbers for context at the bottom of the article, highlighting the representation gaps that CBC like other organizations are trying to address:

The CBC far exceeded its “equity representation” target in the last fiscal year, with 84.1 percent of new hires being “Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and racialized people,” according to the public broadcaster’s new corporate report. In the “reflecting contemporary Canada” subsection, the report shows the CBC had aimed for 65 percent of new hires to fall within the three groups, but surpassed it by 19 percentage points.

Some employment lawyers believe the CBC’s fixation on race and disabilities in its hiring process is limiting the broadcaster from accurately reflecting the Canadian population, and could fall into hiring discrimination.

“Moving away from merit-based hiring is a disaster no matter what the makeup of your organization is,” said Puneet Tiwari, a Toronto-based employment lawyer. “If an employer wants a more diverse workplace, it should be an equal opportunity employer, but still hire based on merit. As an Indo-Canadian whose grandparents came here in the 60s, I’ve seen more representation across all media outlets.”

CBC hiring doesn’t appear to reflect the overall ethnic demographics of the country. Canada’s most recent census data from 2021 showed that approximately 4.9 percent of Canadians were Indigenous, 26.5 were visible minorities (with 67.4 percent being white), and 27 percent had disabilities. The country’s demographics and population has dramatically changed in the last four years through immigration, however, increasing from 38.1 million in 2021 to 41.7 million in 2025.

…Out of CBC’s total workforce as of June 2025, employees self-identifying as Indigenous were 2.1 percent, 11.3 percent were persons with disabilities, and 20.7 were visible minorities….

Source: CBC hired 84 percent racialized, Indigenous, or disabled while having job vacancies for top talent: Internal report

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McWhorter: Those flubs of Mamdani’s name aren’t necessarily what they sound like

2025/10/31 1 Comment

Always interesting:

…I once heard two colleagues grumbling about the ways that people mispronounced their names. One of those colleagues was Italian; the other was a Black Muslim. They took it as an unquestionable sign of disrespect. I thought they could have eased up a little, given that they themselves surely had occasion to screw up unfamiliar names. It’s quite difficult not to.

If Mamdani is elected mayor, mispronunciations of his name will diminish, and soon sound very dated. Repetition and practice will assure that his name gets more respect than Kosciuszko’s. But in the here and now, it’s worth not leaping to conclusions about why someone might jumble the sounds. Between the human mouth, the power of habit and the vagaries of spelling, “Zor-han Mandami” is an inevitable first step toward, as Mamdani put it, getting it right.

Source: Those flubs of Mamdani’s name aren’t necessarily what they sound like

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Most Canadian workers support equity efforts despite some backlash: report

2025/10/31 Leave a comment

Of note. Not clear from the article if any significant variations by types and sectors of employment:

A majority of Canadian workers say they view equity, diversity and inclusion favourably, according to a new report, even in the face of some backlash. 

The report from the Future Skills Centre and researchers at the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University found that 54 per cent of Canadian workers view EDI favourably, while 27 per cent were neutral, and 16 per cent viewed it negatively. The survey was conducted by Environics Institute.

Workplace EDI initiatives in Canada and the U.S. have faced “intensifying scrutiny and backlash” amid policy shifts in the U.S., which have had spillover effects in Canada, the report said.

“Most Canadians do not view it (EDI) as a matter of political correctness or wokeness. They view it as an important foundation of Canadian values and culture,” said Wendy Cukier, one of the report’s authors and a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“Increasingly, we’re seeing evidence that most businesses and non-profits and government organizations recognize that it’s fundamental to their success, particularly in times of disruptions.”  

In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order putting a stop to diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the U.S. government.

Some companies have scaled back equity-related efforts as well, the report said, highlighting moves by Meta, Amazon and Target in the U.S. In Canada, the authors highlighted changes Shopify Inc. made by disbanding its dedicated diversity team and law firm McCarthy Tétrault pausing a specialized hiring program for Black and Indigenous law students. …

Source: Most Canadian workers support equity efforts despite some backlash: report

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StatsCan Study: Portrait of the Arab populations in Canada

2025/10/31 Leave a comment

Another useful demographic portrait from StatsCan:

The Arab populations in Canada are growing

Arab populations in Canada more than tripled from 2001 to 2021 because of immigration and the growth of the Canadian-born Arab population. In 2021, Arab populations reached 795,665 people and made up 2.2% of the total population of Canada. According to the latest demographic projections, Arab populations in Canada could number 1.4 million to 1.9 million people by 2041, constituting 3.1% to 3.6% of the population of Canada.

Arabs in Canada have many different places of birth, with Canada being the most common

Based on 2021 data, about 3 in 10 Arabs were born in Canada (30.3%). The next most common places of birth included Lebanon (10.3%), Syria (10.0%), Iraq (7.0%) and the Arabian Peninsula (6.8%) in Southwest Asia and Morocco (9.4%), Egypt (7.4%) and Algeria (6.4%) in Northern Africa. The proportion of Arabs in Canada who were born in Lebanon declined from 1 in 5 in 2001 to 1 in 10 in 2021, as immigration from other places of birth increased. The peak of Arab immigration from Lebanon was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Just over half of Arabs who immigrated to Canada from 1980 to 2021 are economic immigrants

In 2021, just over half (51.3%) of Arabs in Canada who had immigrated from 1980 to 2021 were economic immigrants (selected for their ability to contribute to Canada’s economy), while close to 2 in 10 (18.4%) were sponsored by family members and 3 in 10 (29.5%) were refugees. More than 70% of Arab immigrants born in Egypt, Algeria or Morocco were economic immigrants. Most Arab immigrants born in Lebanon were either economic immigrants (52.1%) or sponsored by family members (32.2%). Refugees made up the majority of Arab immigrants born in Syria (78.3%) or Iraq (67.6%)….

Source: Study: Portrait of the Arab populations in Canada

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Lavoie: Should Carney, the businessman, really run Canada like a business?

2025/10/30 1 Comment

One of the better explanations of the difference between business and government:

…Business has one objective that trumps all others: maximizing profit and shareholder return. Shareholders care little if their product serves no noble purpose, nor is the welfare of their workers necessarily a priority. Consumers care little if a company goes bankrupt because of poor decisions – they simply buy elsewhere. And the bad decisions that eventually sink a company may have already generated fortunes for CEOs and shareholders, who often depart before the collapse. 

The government’s goal is providing the institutional framework that allows current and future constituents to enjoy a good quality of life. This means tackling complex, interconnected issues such as poverty, public health, the environment, justice, security and the functioning of markets – not optimizing a single metric. The trade-offs between various government objectives and between current and future generations require careful analysis, consultation, collaboration and compromise.

Governments must be more risk-averse than businesses. Failing to provide Old Age Security, the Canada Pension Plan, public security or law enforcement – or leaving a crushing burden to future generations – would have far more dire societal consequences than a company bankruptcy. Government cannot act without societal acceptance or outside accepted cultural norms, both of which change slowly. This means it will never be as nimble as a business. And that’s a good thing….

Source: Should Carney, the businessman, really run Canada like a business?

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Globe editorial: The rights of Quebeckers aren’t a political plaything

2025/10/30 Leave a comment

Indeed:

…In Canada, the human rights protected by the Charter are tempered by the first clause of the 1982 Constitution, but “only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

The notwithstanding clause is likewise an attempt to balance the power of the courts with that of elected officials.

But as a legal constitution, it starts from the premise that individual rights are paramount and are embedded in law. Quebec’s proposed bill is a political constitution that starts from the opposite premise: that the majority needs protection from a minority of others who might not share its language and beliefs, and that these protections should be embedded in the quicksand of political necessity.

To make that happen, the proposed constitution gives vast powers to the Quebec National Assembly and the politicians in it and then shields itself from judicial oversight. The rights of Quebeckers would thus be subject to the whims of elected officials who answer only to the needs of their electoral fortunes.

Quebeckers clearly want their government to defend their language and culture. But universal human rights of equality and liberty are not some confection of English Canada. Quebeckers should demand that Mr. Legault scrap a law that would turn their fundamental freedoms into the playthings of politicians. 

Source: The rights of Quebeckers aren’t a political plaything

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New hate-crime bill must confront the enforcement gap

2025/10/29 1 Comment

As in most areas, implementation and enforcement are important in themselves as well as for government credibility. Some of these suggestions are more realistic than others. Linguistic expertise may be less important given ongoing improvements in translation software for some languages:

…To have real impact, Ottawa’s new hate-crime bill must establish, fund and train specialized prosecution units, specifically on sections 318–320 of the Criminal Code and on digital evidence so that prosecutors are less inclined to vacillate when faced with complex hate-crime files.

For instance, developing linguistic expertise so investigators can examine hate content in minority languages would greatly help in properly translating, transcribing and admitting key evidence in court. Protection under the law should not be weakened by the legal system’s linguistic blind spots.

Finally, the upcoming reforms must guarantee support for victims and witnesses all the way through prosecution to verdict — not just during the initial complaint stage. Otherwise, communities that face repeated targeting cannot be expected to engage with enforcement efforts.

Such fundamental steps are what transform recognition of hate crime into deterrence.

The case of the Montreal man being found not criminally responsible after a Jewish man was attacked reinforces that communities will accept humane outcomes if they also see consistent deterrence. Right now, they don’t.

Unless enforcement is prioritized, the new bill could amount to a replay of ambition without results.

Beyond any doubt, Canada has become proficient at counting hate. Lawmakers now have the chance to prove we can also punish it. Victims have shown courage by reporting; it is time for Parliament to show equal valour by closing the enforcement gap.

Daniel Robson is an independent Canadian journalist specializing in extremism, terrorism and crime, focusing on national and community security, and the legal, institutional and policy dimensions of public safety. X: @DanielRobs77090

Source: New hate-crime bill must confront the enforcement gap

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Budget to include millions to help foreign-trained workers get credentials recognized, expand skilled-trades training

2025/10/29 Leave a comment

Good reality check from WES/Madhany in terms of the need for all the players to work together and ideally harmonize provincial accreditation body standards (the anecdote regarding doctors being Uber drivers needs substantiation regarding the extent):

…The money is welcome news, but won’t solve the issue of underemployed immigrants on its own, said Shamira Madhany, managing director for World Education Services Canada, a non-profit organization that provides credential evaluations for people who have studied outside of Canada.

Even more vital than money, said Madhany, is getting all levels of government — and provincial accreditation bodies — pulling in the same direction.

“You end up with a situation where the federal government says, ‘but this is provincial jurisdiction,’ and the provinces say, ‘but we need more money,’ and then the licensing bodies say, ‘but, you know, we want to have making of standards,’ ” said Madhany. “What I would be looking for is a pan-Canadian approach.”

The federal government recruits skilled immigrants to come to Canada, but then those immigrants see their credentials turned down by individual provinces or regulatory bodies, something Madhany said is a waste at a time when many Canadians are struggling to find a doctor.

“Who’s going to fill our labour shortages? We know it’s immigrants and highly skilled immigrants,” said Madhany. “So if you don’t leverage those skills, you end up with this continuous kind of circling around, and doctors and others in the health professions driving Ubers.” …

Source: Budget to include millions to help foreign-trained workers get credentials recognized, expand skilled-trades training

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Canada cannot sell gender equality abroad without practising it at home

2025/10/29 2 Comments

Always surprised that these kinds of analysis and commentary fail to look at the intersectionality between gender, visible minorities and Indigenous peoples.

Here’s what the intersectionality between women and visible candidates:

However, Liberal women MPs form 45 percent of all visible minority MPs whereas for the Conservatives, it is only 11 percent:

….The idea is not new to Canada. In 2016, then-MP Kennedy Stewart introduced a private member’s bill that would have financially penalized parties that did not approach gender parity among their general election candidates. In 2019, the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women received evidence that quotas should be adopted to increase the number of women candidates.

A 2023 poll even showed that 50 per cent of Canadians would support gender quotas for federal elections.

Left to their own devices, parties cannot get the job done. Women comprised a dismal 22 per cent of Conservative candidates in the 2025 federal elections, but blame does not fall on Conservatives alone. Compared to 2021, the proportion of women candidates dropped in every party, save the NDP: by 11 percentage points for the Conservatives but also by eight percentage points for the Liberals and the Bloc.

Without quotas to make the parties perform better, Canada’s federal elections are failing voters’ expectations for what legitimate political institutions look like.

Public opinion speaks clearly. People do not mind gender quotas; what they really do not like is seeing men dominate politics. Canada has fallen behind other countries not just because it elects fewer women, but because it lacks any policy commitment to do better. The country cannot sell gender equality abroad without first practising it at home.

Jennifer M. Piscopo is professor of gender and politics at Royal Holloway University of London and a contributing researcher to Informed Perspectives’ Balance the Power Initiative.

Source: Canada cannot sell gender equality abroad without practising it at home

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