Le Devoir editorial: Gare aux contradictions 

2025/02/04 Leave a comment

More on Quebec’s CAQ identity and integration policies:

Nouvelle année, nouvelle offensive nationaliste caquiste. François Legault avait prévenu qu’il mettrait le cap sur le dossier de l’identité. Ce fut chose faite dès les premiers jours de la rentrée parlementaire à Québec, avec le dépôt de son projet de loi-cadre enchâssant le modèle choisi de l’interculturalisme comme meilleur rempart pour assurer la vitalité et la pérennité de la langue française et de la culture francophone.

Le projet de « loi sur l’intégration nationale » énonce les grands principes auxquels adhère la société québécoise — être démocratique, laïque, guidée par sa Charte des droits et libertés et l’égalité hommes-femmes, et évoluer dans une langue commune, le français. L’affirmation nationale de consensus établis au Québec, qui guideront au travers de l’appareil de l’État québécois l’intégration de nouveaux arrivants dans un esprit de mixité.

Sur papier, la proposition caquiste s’en tient aux terrains d’entente et aux doctrines orthodoxes du modèle d’intégration québécois à une société et à une culture communes. L’adhésion et la participation de tous, la contribution de chacun.

Une nouvelle proposition législative qui se veut consensuelle, afin d’apporter une nouvelle pierre à l’édification d’un cadre constitutionnel proprement québécois. De grands pans de la mise en œuvre de cette loi-cadre restent toutefois à définir.

Une politique nationale viendra régir son champ d’application dans l’appareil gouvernemental et parapublic 18 mois après son adoption. Un règlement balisera par ailleurs les nouvelles règles de financement d’activités et d’organismes soutenus par l’État, qui devront à l’avenir respecter ce nouveau cadre d’intégration, dans les deux années suivant sa promulgation.

Le ministre de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration, Jean-François Roberge, a laissé entendre, à la suite du dépôt de son projet de loi jeudi, que son gouvernement pourrait ainsi forcer un pressant ménage dans l’attribution de places dans les garderies subventionnées, où le religieux s’est immiscé. Il a en outre laissé planer la possibilité que le financement public versé aux écoles à vocation religieuse puisse être revu à son tour. Un revirement pour le gouvernement, qui choisirait alors judicieusement la voie de la cohérence.

Bien qu’il prépare sa loi depuis 18 mois, le ministre Roberge s’est montré tout aussi vague quant aux nouvelles balises qui encadreront le financement étatique d’événements communautaires ou d’activités culturelles. Au-delà de la microgestion du moindre rassemblement, l’adoption d’une culture commune passe par la découverte d’artistes et d’œuvres du Québec. Et pas seulement forcée.

Pour un gouvernement qui souhaite rassembler tous les Québécois autour d’une culture commune,dont les acteurs crient leur détresse, la fin de la gratuité universelle dans les musées le premier dimanche du mois est difficile à expliquer.

Tout comme la fermeture de classes de francisation. Le ministre et son gouvernement ont beau nier les « coupures budgétaires » en prétextant plutôt « le respect budgétaire », le résultat est le même. Les immigrants, de qui il exige une maîtrise du français pour en assurer la vitalité devant la menace, sont privés des cours espérés.

Prétendre que la demande rejoindra l’offre en francisation puisque le gouvernement resserre l’accueil d’immigrants temporaires relève de l’illusion. L’arriéré de nouveaux arrivants désireux d’apprendre la langue commune du Québec (bien qu’il découle d’abord de l’accueil pléthorique fédéral) ne disparaîtra pas pour autant. Et ceux qui fuient la guerre, les dérèglements climatiques ou la dureté du président américain, Donald Trump, ne seront pas moins nombreux.

Les contradictions du gouvernement de François Legault ne s’expliqueront pas aussi facilement.

D’autant que son propre projet de loi-cadre prône une nécessaire approche de réciprocité des responsabilités partagées entre l’État québécois et les nouveaux arrivants.

Il est attendu que ces derniers apprennent le français et participent ainsi à la vitalité de la culture québécoise. Encore faut-il leur donner les moyens de respecter ce contrat social qui leur est présenté.

Le gouvernement s’engage, noir sur blanc, à prendre des mesures pour contribuer à leur intégration, « par exemple en créant et en maintenant les conditions favorisant l’apprentissage du français ». De même qu’à « facilite[r] l’accès aux œuvres et aux contenus culturels ». Les échos sur le terrain — qu’ils découlent d’une rigueur ou d’une responsabilité budgétaires — laissent croire que le gouvernement n’y met pas tout à fait les ressources prescrites.

François Legault mise sur la carte de l’identité pour faire oublier les défis auxquels il fait face. Au-delà des intentions, c’est sur les résultats concrets qu’il sera jugé.

Source: Gare aux contradictions

New year, new Caquist nationalist offensive. François Legault had warned that he would set course for the identity file. This was done in the first days of the parliamentary return to school in Quebec City, with the tabled of its draft framework law enshrining the chosen model of interculturalism as the best bulwark to ensure the vitality and sustainability of the French language and Francophone culture.

The draft “law on national integration” sets out the main principles to which Quebec society adheres – to be democratic, secular, guided by its Charter of Rights and Freedoms and gender equality, and to evolve in a common language, French. The national affirmation of consensus established in Quebec, which will guide through the apparatus of the Quebec State the integration of newcomers in a spirit of diversity.

On paper, the Caquist proposal sticks to the common grounds and orthodox doctrines of the Quebec model of integration into a common society and culture. The support and participation of all, the contribution of each.

A new legislative proposal that aims to be consensual, in order to bring a new stone to the construction of a properly Quebec constitutional framework. However, major parts of the implementation of this framework law remain to be defined.

A national policy will govern its scope in the government and parapublic apparatus 18 months after its adoption. A regulation will also set out the new rules for financing activities and organizations supported by the State, which will have to comply with this new integration framework in the future, within two years of its promulgation.

The Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Jean-François Roberge, suggested, following the tabling of his bill on Thursday, that his government could thus force a pressing budget in the allocation of places in subsidized daycare centers, where the religious have interfered. He also left it possible that public funding for religious schools could be reviewed in turn. A turnaround for the government, which would then wisely choose the path of coherence.

Although he has been preparing his law for 18 months, Minister Roberge has been equally vague about the new beacons that will govern the state financing of community events or cultural activities. Beyond the micromanagement of the slightest gathering, the adoption of a common culture requires the discovery of Quebec artists and works. And not just forced.

For a government that wants to bring together all Quebecers around a common culture, whose actors shout their distress, the end of universal gratuity in museums on the first Sunday of the month is difficult to explain.

Just like the closure of francization classes. The minister and his government may deny “budget cuts” on the pretext of “budgetary respect”, the result is the same. Immigrants, from whom he requires a mastery of French to ensure their vitality in the face of the threat, are deprived of the hoped-for courses.

To claim that demand will join the supply in francization since the government is tightening the reception of temporary immigrants is a matter of illusion. The backlog of newcomers wishing to learn the common language of Quebec (although it first stems from the federal full reception) will not disappear. And those fleeing war, climate change or the harshness of American President Donald Trump will not be less numerous.

The contradictions of François Legault’s government will not be so easily explained.

Especially since his own draft framework law advocates a necessary approach to reciprocity of shared responsibilities between the Quebec State and newcomers.

They are expected to learn French and thus participate in the vitality of Quebec culture. They must still be given the means to respect this social contract that is presented to them.

The government undertakes, in black and white, to take measures to contribute to their integration, “for example by creating and maintaining conditions conducive to learning French”. As well as “facilitates access to cultural works and content”. The echoes on the ground — whether they stem from budgetary rigour or responsibility — suggest that the government is not quite putting the prescribed resources into it.

François Legault relies on the identity card to make people forget the challenges he faces. Beyond the intentions, it is on the concrete results that he will be judged.

Filed under Integration, Interculturalisme Tagged with , , ,

Canada’s border cities, bursting at the seams with asylum seekers, brace for more amid Trump turmoil

2025/02/03 Leave a comment

Of note:

Some hotels in Niagara Falls, Ont., are unusually full for the middle of the winter off-season, when many visitors stay home. Normally that would make the mayor of a tourist city happy – but not Jim Diodati.

His community, which says it has more asylum seekers per capita than any other municipality in the country, is ground-zero in Canada’s efforts to house thousands of refugee claimants in hotels while they wait for their claims to be processed. The mayor, who can see the United States from his perch at city hall, is worried it’s about to get a lot worse.

Mr. Diodati is concerned that if more asylum seekers start coming to Canada because of Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies, his city will be unable to handle it – and he’s not alone. While the federal and provincial governments are trying to demonstrate to Mr. Trump that they’re serious about stopping the flow of migrants going south, mayors of the country’s border towns say there’s not enough talk about these implications of Mr. Trump’s policies.

In Niagara Falls, a city of around 95,000 people where tourism drives the economy, the influx of refugees is pushing local emergency rooms, schools, shelters, food banks and housing supply to the brink, Mr. Diodati said.

At its peak more than a year ago, there were nearly 5,000 asylum seekers housed in 11 hotels in the city’s downtown core, dotted with souvenir shops, arcades, amusement rides, indoor water parks and a casino….

Source: Canada’s border cities, bursting at the seams with asylum seekers, brace for more amid Trump turmoil

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Citizenship by Birthright? By Bloodline? Migration Is Complicating Both.

2025/02/03 Leave a comment

Excerpt from a longer informative article:

…Birthright in a Modern Age?

Some critics say much the same about unconditional birthright citizenship.

About 20 percent of countries use it, most in North and South America. The United States and Canada inherited the law from Britain, but birthright citizenship also fulfilled an important role in the newly independent countries as a way to constitute a nation.

Like those who favor bloodline citizenship, birthright advocates say it promotes social cohesion, but for a different reason — because no child is left out.

In the United States, the 14th Amendment allowed men and women of African descent to become citizens, and millions of children of Irish, German and other European immigrants became citizens as well. 

But unconditional birthright citizenship remains an exception.

“In a world of massive migration and irregular migration, unconditional ius soli is an anachronism,” said Christian Joppke, a professor of sociology at the University of Bern.

Still, some argue that the Trump’ administration is not setting out to modernize a law but instead is trying to redefine the nation itself.

“It rejects the idea of America as a nation of immigrants,” said Hiroshi Motomura, an immigration and citizenship expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. 

Even under the current rules in the United States, birthright citizenship is not absolute. They exclude, for instance, the children of diplomats born in the United States. And most children of American citizens born abroad maintain an automatic right to American citizenship — in effect bloodline citizenry.

Citizenship by descent “is a really good way to connect with people who live outside the borders of a state,” said Mr. Vink. “But if you want to ensure you are also being inclusive within the borders of a state, you have to also have territorial birthright.”

Otherwise, he said, countries would have millions in their population who are not citizens.

“In a democracy,” he said, “that is not a good principle.”

Source: Citizenship by Birthright? By Bloodline? Migration Is Complicating Both.

Filed under Birthright Citizenship, Citizenship Tagged with , ,

FIRST READING: Inside Quebec’s new plan to kill multiculturalism

2025/02/03 Leave a comment

NP on Bill 84. Lots of nuance given different understandings of multiculturalism which, in the Canadian context, has always been about integration, not separation, with accommodation aimed at integration, not separation. Implementation and behaviours of course are not perfect:

In what may yet prove to be a model for the rest of the country, Quebec is rolling out a comprehensive plan to kill Canadian multiculturalism in favour of “interculturalism.”

Bill 84, An Act respecting national integration, which was tabled Thursday, lays out an “integration model” under which immigrants to Quebec are expected to both learn French and adhere to a “common culture.”

“For the first time in our history, we’re going to define who we are and how we want to evolve as a nation,” said Jean-François Roberge, Quebec’s immigration minister, in a French-language web video promoting the bill that was posted on Monday.

“This model will let us build a society where the Francophone majority invites all Quebecers to adhere and contribute to the common culture of our nation,” he said.

In an English-language defence of the bill delivered at a press availability on Tuesday, Roberge said people coming to Quebec “must accept” its democratic values, such as the equality of men and women. “We don’t want ghettoes, we want one society.”

In an English-language defence of the bill delivered at a press availability on Tuesday, Roberge said people coming to Quebec “must accept” its democratic values, such as the equality of men and women. “We don’t want ghettoes, we want one society.”

The bill’s text states that Quebecers are “expected to … collaborate in the welcoming of immigrants and foster their integration into the Québec nation.”

Conversely, immigrants are expected to “participate fully, in French, in Québec society” and “participate in the vitality of Québec culture by enriching it.”

Quebec’s forays into cultural protection are often conspicuously out of step with the rest of Canada. That’s most obviously been the case when it comes to another piece of CAQ legislation, Bill 21. Passed in 2019, it forbids Quebec government employees — including nurses and teachers — from wearing religious garb at work such as hijabs, kippas, dastaars or Catholic pendants.

Bill 21 inspired widespread condemnation from across English Canada, including from the Conservatives.

But on the issue of integrating immigrants, nationwide polls show that Canadians are increasingly supportive of a system in which newcomers must adhere to certain “shared values.”

A Leger poll from November 2023 found 55 per cent of respondents agreeing with the notion that the Canadian government should be “encouraging newcomers to embrace broad mainstream values and traditions and leave behind elements of their cultural identity that may be incompatible with that.”

That same poll also found that a majority of non-white respondents did not automatically agree with the nostrum “diversity is our strength.”

Instead, 56 per cent agreed with the notion that “some elements of diversity can provide strength, but some elements of diversity can cause problems / conflict” — slightly higher than the share of Caucasian respondents (55 per cent) who said the same thing.

Source: FIRST READING: Inside Quebec’s new plan to kill multiculturalism

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Audit shows extent of Arizona’s problems with tracking voter citizenship

2025/02/03 Leave a comment

Case study:

The report laid out for the first time the extent of the state’s problem with tracking voter citizenship. And it confirmed, as Votebeat found in October, that it didn’t simply stem from a glitch in the coding of the system, as officials initially announced.

Hobbs ordered the comprehensive review of state policies in September after officials found that a problem with the system allowed more than 200,000 voters to be registered to vote full ballots, even though they had never been asked to provide proof of citizenship. In Arizona, only people who have provided citizenship proof can vote in state and local elections.

Hobbs hired two former recorders, Patty Hansen of Coconino County and Robyn Stallworth-Pouquette of Yuma County, to review MVD policies and practices relevant to voter registration. The two reported their findings to the MVD, which compiled the report.

The report included three main findings.

First, the report found a loophole in state law involving people born in American Samoa and Swains Islands who have not become naturalized citizens. Those people are considered U.S. nationals, and can get a U.S. passport, but they are not citizens with full rights.

But Arizona accepts U.S. passports as proof of citizenship for voting, the audit found, so this loophole improperly makes it possible for U.S. nationals to register to vote. The report indicates that there is no way of knowing if any nationals registered to vote using a passport, but emphasizes that this probably happened rarely — if at all — because registrants also must attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury.

Fixing the loophole would require a change to state law to ensure that proper documentation is used that verifies citizenship for U.S. nationals.

A second finding was that the Secretary of State’s Office and Motor Vehicle Division must communicate better. The secretary’s office maintains the voter registration database for 13 of 15 counties. When county recorders check the citizenship status of a new registrant, they use that system to query Motor Vehicle Division information.

The two agencies have already begun meeting more frequently, and, under a recommendation from Hansen and Stallworth-Pouquette, election officials will begin receiving training when they receive their election officer certification on how the MVD system functions, the report states.

“Finding regular time to share information and build relationships between the MVD and election officials will help eliminate issues in the future,” the report states.

The last recommendation from the former recorders involves ensuring that inactive MVD records have updated citizenship statuses. Those are for residents whose licenses are expired or canceled. When the secretary’s office and Motor Vehicle Division attempted to find all voters that might have inaccurate citizenship information, they did not check these records.

Report outlines MVD policy problems

County recorders rely heavily on driver’s license information to check citizenship status when someone tries to register to vote. Only driver’s licenses issued after October 1996 count as proof of citizenship, since that’s when the state started collecting citizenship information for normal driver’s licenses.

But the report explained that since 2020, when the MVD updated its driver’s license database, the MVD has classified any resident with a driver’s license issued before October 1996 as a citizen, even though the state hadn’t asked for documentation. That means, if a county recorder looked up their information, those drivers would be classified as citizens, even though there was no proof on record.

But even before 2020 — all the way back to 2007 — there was another problem causing recorders to get inaccurate information about citizenship during these checks. That’s because the secretary’s system was set up to gather just the issuance date of the driver’s license as an indicator of citizenship verification. That issuance date in the records was often incorrect — if the voter had renewed or gotten a duplicate license after 1996, it would show the most recent issuance date. That signaled to the recorders that the voter had provided citizenship proof, even if they hadn’t.

The voter registration system was supposed to provide further information on each license, such as each subsequent issuance date, but because of an error in the system, it did not, according to the report.

Also, the assumption that the MVD was collecting citizenship information when someone renewed their license proved to be not true. MVD told Votebeat in October that it changed that policy.

State officials have now updated state databases to ensure county officials receive accurate information about resident’s citizenship. But Hobbs wanted to look further to see if there were other improvements needed.

County recorders were recently sent the final list of voters affected by the problem. With local elections approaching in some counties, recorders will need to quickly notify the affected voters that they are required to provide proof of citizenship before voting.

Source: Audit shows extent of Arizona’s problems with tracking voter citizenship

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , ,

David | Le creuset québécois

2025/02/03 Leave a comment

Some Quebec reaction to the CAQ integration and interculturalisme proposals and the reference to a Quebec melting pot along with Premier Legault:

Tant pis pour le premier ministre Legault, qui a manqué « un moment solennel dans l’histoire du Québec », au dire du ministre de l’Immigration, de la Langue française et de l’Intégration, Jean-François Roberge.

Plutôt que d’assister à la présentation du projet de loi sur le nouveau « modèle d’intégration nationale », que M. Roberge estime être LE projet de la session parlementaire, M. Legault a préféré se rendre sur la Côte-Nord, où il a senti le besoin de parler de Donald Trump. Allez donc savoir pourquoi !

Depuis que la Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) est au pouvoir, on a perdu le compte de ces moments solennels, voire historiques, où se joue le sort de la nation. Le premier ministre s’est peut-être dit qu’il avait le luxe de sauter un tour.

De mémoire, c’est néanmoins la première fois qu’un projet de loi évoque le « creuset » québécois, ce qui est la traduction française du légendaire melting-pot américain. Cela traduit une volonté d’intégration plus poussée que l’« interculturalisme » recommandé par le rapport Bouchard-Taylor.

Il est assurément souhaitable que l’ensemble de la société québécoise conjugue ses efforts pour favoriser une meilleure intégration des nouveaux arrivants et qu’une loi vienne les encadrer. Les Québécois n’en demeurent pas moins les premiers responsables de la pérennité d’une nation de langue et de culture françaises. Le désir d’intégration des immigrants sera fonction de notre propre détermination.

Il faudra attendre au moins 18 mois avant de voir la « politique nationale d’intégration » qui doit rendre le nouveau modèle opérationnel. À cette date, le Québec sera à la veille de la campagne électorale, de sorte que cette politique pourrait bien ne jamais être appliquée. Tout comme le projet de constitution québécoise auquel s’affaire Simon Jolin-Barrette, elle semble plutôt destinée à alimenter le discours de la CAQ.

***

L’idée d’un « contrat social » entre l’État et les immigrants n’est pas nouvelle. On l’avait évoqué lors des États généraux du Canada français à la fin des années 1960. Elle avait été reprise 25 ans plus tard par la ministre de l’Immigration dans le gouvernement Bourassa, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, qui y voyait déjà le « garant d’une intégration réussie ».

En 1994, on avait ridiculisé le « contrat moral » proposé par l’Action démocratique du Québec, par lequel les immigrants devraient s’engager à « vivre et à travailler en français », mais il a néanmoins inspiré la « Déclaration d’adhésion aux valeurs communes » introduite par la libérale Yolande James en 2008 et le « test des valeurs » imposé par la CAQ en 2019.

La nouveauté du modèle proposé par M. Roberge consiste à étendre le contrat aux institutions et aux organismes qui relèvent du gouvernement (municipalités, universités, écoles, hôpitaux…), de même que les bénéficiaires de subventions, dont le financement pourrait être coupé s’ils ne contribuent pas à l’intégration de façon satisfaisante.

C’est là que les choses risquent de se compliquer. Pour mettre en valeur la diversité tout en faisant la promotion d’un tronc culturel commun, faudrait-il inclure des artistes québécois dans la programmation des Nuits d’Afrique ou mettre la poutine au menu des festivals gastronomiques qui célèbrent les cuisines étrangères ?

Comment la conformité aux objectifs d’intégration sera-t-elle évaluée ? Les fonctionnaires ont la fâcheuse habitude d’appliquer avec zèle les directives qu’on leur donne. Certains ont conservé un très mauvais souvenir de la défunte Commission de protection de la langue française. Faudra-t-il créer une « police des festivals », comme l’a demandé la co-porte-parole de Québec solidaire, Ruba Ghazal ?

***

Rouvrir les classes de francisation qui ont été fermées au cours des derniers mois serait certainement un bon début, mais M. Roberge fait partie de ceux qui pensent que les compressions budgétaires n’existent que dans l’esprit de gens qui ne comprennent rien à la comptabilité. À en croire le gouvernement, plus on investit en éducation ou en santé, plus il faut supprimer des postes.

Comme chacun sait, le Québec est le seul endroit en Amérique du Nord où le racisme systémique n’existe pas, même si les immigrants sont quotidiennement victimes de comportements racistes, que ce soit au travail, dans la rue, quand ils cherchent un logement, postulent un emploi ou ont affaire à la police.

Ils seraient peut-être plus enclins à s’intégrer si on admettait que tout cela ne peut pas être simplement le fait d’individus qui n’ont pas encore compris ou accepté les règles du vivre-ensemble dans une société ouverte et que des mesures vigoureuses étaient prises.

Il y a aussi l’épineuse question des écoles religieuses privées subventionnées, qu’elles soient juives, musulmanes ou autres, qui ne contribuent manifestement pas à l’intégration en endoctrinant systématiquement leurs élèves. M. Roberge reconnaît que cela devrait « faire partie de la réflexion », mais M. Legault a catégoriquement exclu de leur couper les vivres.

Finalement, il aurait peut-être dû être à Québec pour entendre les explications de son ministre.

Source: Chronique | Le creuset québécois

Too bad for Prime Minister Legault, who missed “a solemn moment in the history of Quebec,” according to the Minister of Immigration, the French Language and Integration, Jean-François Roberge.

Rather than attending the presentation of the bill on the new “national integration model”, that Mr. Roberge considers to be THE project of the parliamentary session, Mr. Legault preferred to go to the North Shore, where he felt the need to talk about Donald Trump. Go find out why!

Since the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) has been in power, we have lost count of these solemn, even historical, moments when the fate of the nation is at stake. The Prime Minister may have thought he had the luxury of jumping a round.

From memory, it is nevertheless the first time that a bill evokes the Quebec “crucible”, which is the French translation of the legendary American melting pot. This reflects a desire for integration more advanced than the “interculturalism” recommended by the Bouchard-Taylor report.

It is certainly desirable that the whole of Quebec society joins its efforts to promote a better integration of newcomers and that a law will regulate them. Quebecers nevertheless remain the first responsible for the sustainability of a nation of French language and culture. The desire for integration of immigrants will depend on our own determination.

It will take at least 18 months before we see the “national integration policy” that should make the new model operational. On that date, Quebec will be on the eve of the election campaign, so this policy may never be applied. Just like the draft Quebec constitution in which Simon Jolin-Barrette is busy, it seems rather intended to feed the CAQ’s discourse.

The idea of a “social contract” between the state and immigrants is not new. It was mentioned during the States General of French Canada in the late 1960s. It was taken over 25 years later by the Minister of Immigration in the Bourassa government, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, who already saw it as the “guarantor of successful integration”.

In 1994, the “moral contract” proposed by the Action démocratique du Québec was ridiculed, by which immigrants should commit to “living and working in French”, but it nevertheless inspired the “Declaration of adherence to common values” introduced by the liberal Yolande James in 2008 and the “test of values” imposed by the CAQ in 2019.

The novelty of the model proposed by Mr. Roberge consists of extending the contract to institutions and organizations that fall under the responsibility of the government (municipalities, universities, schools, hospitals, etc.), as well as to beneficiaries of subsidies, whose funding could be cut if they do not contribute to integration satisfactorily.

This is where things may get complicated. To highlight diversity while promoting a common cultural core, should we include Quebec artists in the programming of the Nuits d’Afrique or put poutine on the menu of gastronomic festivals that celebrate foreign cuisines?

How will compliance with the integration objectives be assessed? Officials have the unfortunate habit of zealously applying the directives given to them. Some have kept a very bad memory of the defunct Commission de protection de la langue française. Will it be necessary to create a “festival police”, as requested by the co-spokeswoman of Québec solidaire, Ruba Ghazal?

Reopening the francization classes that have been closed in recent months would certainly be a good start, but Mr. Roberge is one of those who think that budget cuts only exist in the minds of people who don’t understand anything about accounting. According to the government, the more we invest in education or health, the more jobs need to be cut.

As everyone knows, Quebec is the only place in North America where systemic racism does not exist, even if immigrants are victims of racist behavior on a daily basis, whether at work, on the street, when they are looking for housing, applying for a job or dealing with the police.

They might be more inclined to integrate if it were admitted that all this cannot simply be the result of individuals who have not yet understood or accepted the rules of living together in an open society and that vigorous measures were taken.

There is also the thorny question of subsidized private religious schools, whether Jewish, Muslim or otherwise, which clearly do not contribute to integration by systematically indoctrinating their students. Mr. Roberge acknowledges that this should “be part of the reflection”, but Mr. Legault categorically ruled out cutting off their food.

Finally, he might have had to be in Quebec City to hear his minister’s explanations.

Filed under Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Brooks: The Six Principles of Stupidity

2025/02/01 Leave a comment

Good list:

Principle 1: Ideology produces disagreement, but stupidity produces befuddlement. This week, people in institutions across America spent a couple of days trying to figure out what the hell was going on. This is what happens when a government freezes roughly $3 trillion in spending with a two-page memo that reads like it was written by an intern. When stupidity is in control, the literature professor Patrick Moreau argues, words become unscrewed “from their relation to reality.”

Principle 2: Stupidity often inheres in organizations, not individuals. When you create an organization in which one man has all the power and everybody else has to flatter his preconceptions, then stupidity will surely result. As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: “This is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other.”

Principle 3: People who behave stupidly are more dangerous than people who behave maliciously. Evil people at least have some accurate sense of their own self-interest, which might restrain them. Stupidity dares greatly! Stupidity already has all the answers!

Principle 4: People who behave stupidly are unaware of the stupidity of their actions. You may have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is that incompetent people don’t have the skills to recognize their own incompetence. Let’s introduce the Hegseth-Gabbard corollary: The Trump administration is attempting to remove civil servants who may or may not be progressive but who have tremendous knowledge in their field of expertise and hire MAGA loyalists who often lack domain knowledge or expertise. The results may not be what the MAGA folks hoped for.

Principle 5: Stupidity is nearly impossible to oppose. Bonhoeffer notes, “Against stupidity we are defenseless.” Because stupid actions do not make sense, they invariably come as a surprise. Reasonable arguments fall on deaf ears. Counter-evidence is brushed aside. Facts are deemed irrelevant. Bonhoeffer continues, “In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.”

Principle 6: The opposite of stupidity is not intelligence, it’s rationality. The psychologist Keith Stanovich defines rationality as the capacity to make decisions that help people achieve their objectives. People in the grip of the populist mind-set tend to be contemptuous of experience, prudence and expertise, helpful components of rationality. It turns out that this can make some populists willing to believe anything — conspiracy theories, folk tales and internet legends; that vaccines are harmful to children. They don’t live within a structured body of thought but within a rave party chaos of prejudices.

As time has gone by, I’ve developed more and more sympathy for the goals the populists are trying to achieve. America’s leadership class has spent the last few generations excluding, ignoring, rejecting and insulting a large swath of this country. It’s terrible to be assaulted in this way. It’s worse when you finally seize power and start assaulting yourself — and everyone around you. In fact, it’s stupid.

Source: The Six Principles of Stupidity

Filed under Government, Politics Tagged with ,

Mahboubi: Canada is wasting the talents of its skilled immigrants

2025/02/01 Leave a comment

Concrete and specific recommendations, some harder to implement than others (e.g., Foreign Credential Recognition, which also should include domestic credential recognition):

…To fully harness immigrant talent, Canada must act. The Express Entry system should place greater emphasis on language ability and incorporate educational criteria that consider the reputations of institutions, fields of study and academic grades – elements often overlooked but crucial for predicting successful labour-market integration. Pre-immigration earnings of immigrants with prior Canadian work experience should also be considered, as they serve as a strong predictor of immigrants’ economic value and their ability to integrate into the work force without facing overqualification.

Streamlining the recognition of foreign credentials and offering clearer guidance on licensing are equally important. Provincial governments need to collaborate with regulatory bodies to simplify and accelerate the recognition process for foreign qualifications. British Columbia and Nova Scotia recently expedited their approvals for health care professionals, showing the potential of such collaboration. At the same time, regulatory bodies should revisit and modernize their licensing processes to reduce red tape and ensure that the requirements are not excessively burdensome.

Immigrants need better support navigating complex recertification processes. Provincial regulatory bodies can partner with professional associations to develop clear licensing roadmaps for regulated professions so that skilled immigrants can better understand their options. Governments also need to expand access to culturally relevant language training and rigorously evaluate settlement programs to scale up what works.

Employers also need to step up. Today, only 15 per cent of employers in Toronto work with immigrant-serving agencies, missing out on a wealth of untapped talent. Promoting job-matching programs, raising awareness of credential-assessment services and connecting with immigrant-serving organizations can bridge gaps. Governments can facilitate this by developing comprehensive databases of credential equivalencies.

Canada’s highly-educated immigrants represent a vast, underutilized resource. Addressing systemic barriers is not just about fairness – it’s about ensuring the country’s long-term prosperity. With bold action and collaboration, Canada can transform this missed opportunity into a major economic advantage.

Source: Canada is wasting the talents of its skilled immigrants

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Eng: Will artificial intelligence really fix Ottawa’s troubled Phoenix pay?

2025/02/01 Leave a comment

Nails it. Without simplification, extremely hard to achieve, AI and automation unlikely to be successful:

…Why did Phoenix fail? There are many reasons, but to name a few: an overwhelming number of rules and processes, including 72 job classifications and 80,000 pay rules, requiring more than 300 customizations built into the payroll system; a lack of proper testing with users before a major rollout; and dated procurement processes that favour large vendors and waterfall methodologies….

Source: Will artificial intelligence really fix Ottawa’s troubled Phoenix pay?

Filed under Government Tagged with , ,

International study permit data an ‘earthquake’ for Canadian university finances 

2025/02/01 Leave a comment

Overdue correction:

A dramatic decline in international study permits issued last year is quickly becoming an existential threat to the finances of Canadian postsecondary schools, say organizations representing the institutions.

“The drop in international students is like an earthquake hitting an education system that’s already structurally weakened by years of underinvestment,” said Gabriel Miller, president and CEO of Universities Canada.

Provinces where international permit allocations were increased last year are also experiencing a decline in international enrolment, creating gaps in budgets that may lead to program cuts.

The federal government said last week that Canada issued about 40 per cent fewer international study permits among kindergarten to Grade 12, postsecondary and postgraduate students last year, overshooting its 35-per-cent target.

This year, it’s seeking a further 10-per-cent reduction.

A recent report from ApplyBoard, an online marketplace for learning institutions, said the number of permits approved for college students likely dropped by about 60 per cent, while approvals for international undergraduate students fell about 40 per cent.

The total number of international study permits issued by Ontario was also essentially cut in half by the cap. ApplyBoard said it’s projected the province had a 55 per cent decline in international permit approvals for 2024…

Source: International study permit data an ‘earthquake’ for Canadian university finances

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

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