2014 Citizenship Test Pass Rate Compared to Earlier Years – Making it Easier

2015/07/16 Leave a comment

Citizenship Test Pass Results Comparisons.001Further to my earlier post (CIC Analysis of Citizenship Test Pass Results), the full 2014 citizenship test pass results show a significant improvement in the average pass rate (from 82.7 percent 2010-13 to 90.3 percent in 2014) and consequently reduced differences between visible minorities and non-visible minorities.

The changes made to test questions and administration appear to have resulted in better outcomes for some visible minority groups (i.e., Central and West African, Latin American and North African, all groups with a higher percentage of francophone applicants, in contrast to others).

Not clear from what I have seen is whether 90 percent represents the new target pass rate, or an over-correction to the 2012 decline to 70-75 percent.

Filed under Multiculturalism

One-third of public service executives have mentally ‘checked out,’ study suggests

2015/07/16 Leave a comment

Part of this ‘checking-out’  is within the nature of the public service itself: a bureaucratic, hierarchical culture, with divided accountability between the public service and the political level.

Exacerbated, of course, by the distrust between the two, and the general values and ideological divide:

Studies show those who do whatever they can to remove obstacles for employees have highly motivated staff – a phenomenon whose importance is typically underestimated by leaders, according to Dowden.

Dowden said people want to feel like they are making a meaningful contribution and, as long as they are fairly paid, will go the extra mile. The public service historically attracted people who wanted to make a difference, so they came to the job with a strong sense of purpose.

“Leaders and executives in an organization very much want to live their values and when they perceive gaps … or disconnect between values and purpose, that can be incredibly challenging to work through.”

Dowden said autonomy is another key driver of engagement and motivation. In the majority of organizations, executives have the most autonomy, with more control the higher up the chain they move. APEX’s surveys, however, show executives often feel they have little authority and are micromanaged. Surveys found executives feel this lack of control regardless of level, whether Ex 1 or Ex 5.

Autonomy comes almost entirely from the culture created by the direct supervisor. Those who don’t micro-manage and who give workers the freedom to work on projects in the way that suits them – while still being accountable – get the best results.

There are two kinds of micro-managers. The perfectionist – à la Steve Jobs – who have high standards and like control over the projects for which they are responsible.

The more toxic micro-manager seems to have a need for people to know who is charge, gives little autonomy to direct reports, doesn’t accept feedback and gets involved in the minutiae of a project.

The 2014 public service survey gives mixed messages on this front. Generally, employees – including 84 per cent of executives – are satisfied with their direct supervisors and feel they can count on them. They aren’t as positive about senior management, especially when it comes to making “timely and effective” decisions and ensuring critical information flows down to staff.

But Dowden said so much about leadership and management comes down to trust.

The Conservatives have made little secret of their distrust of the public service. Experts, including the Public Policy Forum, have cited the “trust gap” between politicians and public servants as the biggest challenge facing the next generation of leaders.

APEX has also flagged its concern about this relationship and the need to improve “understanding” between the two.

The lack of trust, coupled with the concentration of power and decision-making in the Prime Ministers Office and the Privy Council Office, has intensified the lack of control and authority many executives complain about today.

So while I was fully engaged during most of my time in the public service (and fortunate to have had an interesting career with supportive managers), there are structural limits to the degree of engagement  possible or desirable.

One-third of public service executives have mentally ‘checked out,’ study suggests

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Race Affects How Media Cover Canadian Political Candidates – New Canadian Media

2015/07/16 Leave a comment

Some good research and insights (disclosure: I know Erin from our time at CIC):

Where Tolley also finds stark differences in coverage is in the types of issues visible minorities seem to be most connected to. While they are often quoted in stories on immigration policy, multiculturalism or poverty – all “so-called minority issues,” as Tolley refers to them – their voices are often absent from stories about more “pressing” issues like the economy and the environment.

“Some people said to me, ‘Well, that makes sense because probably visible minorities don’t care as much about those issues,’” recalls Tolley. “[But] when I talked to visible-minority candidates about their issue priorities, many of them talked about the economy – things like taxes, finding good jobs, having credentials recognized, that sort of thing – and that doesn’t come out in their media coverage.”

Tolley finds the notions of visible-minority candidates only being able to serve people from their own ethnic group and unable to understand the issues of other Canadians concerning. White candidates, she says, don’t face this challenge, as they are often positioned as having broad reach and the ability to “woo” or “court” the ethnic vote.

“No one ever talks about the fact that white candidates also appeal to white voters. I mean, no one would write that,” Tolley says. “No one even describes white candidates as ‘white candidates’ or really talks about where they were born. Whiteness is basically put forward as the default and therefore not worthy of being mentioned, whereas minority or immigrant background is something that is covered because it is seen to be outside the norm or atypical, and therefore newsworthy.”

With the upcoming elections, there is still time for media outlets to consider Tolley’s research in their approach to the stories that they run. Everything from picture and headline choice to inclusion of socio-demographic background and whether a “diversity” angle is relevant to a story or not should be considered, she advises.

But most importantly, Tolley says, people – not just the media, but all Canadians – need to be open to the idea of talking about race, a subject she found during her research many are still uncomfortable with.

“Some of my interviewees talked about the fact that they are colour-blind – they don’t see colour,” she explains. “I said instead of talking about ‘colour-blindness,’ we should think more about the fact that we’ve been mute in conversations about race. We haven’t had mature discussions about it.”

Race Affects How Media Cover Canadian Political Candidates – New Canadian Media.

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6 ridings where Stephen Harper’s trade deal with Ukraine gets noticed

2015/07/16 Leave a comment

Diaspora politics in action (but do not believe that the Canadian government position on Ukraine is driven only by electoral considerations, ideology also plays a role):

While getting photos of themselves with foreign leaders who have strong diaspora communities in Canada is a key part of every candidate’s toolbox, some critics argue that the Conservatives’ entire foreign policy approach to Ukraine is connected to courting voters among the 1.2 million people who identify as Ukrainian in Canada.

Leaked campaign documents ahead of the 2011 election suggested the Conservatives were actively courting the Ukrainian-Canadian vote and to some extent, that may still be the case.

A riding explicitly targeted by the Conservatives in 2011 was Etobicoke-Centre, which they won from the Liberals after a fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

In a recent interview with the Ukrainian publication Meest, the Tory MP for the riding Ted Opitz used a discussion of his party’s policy on Ukraine to make a dig at Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau was forced to apologize last year after making a joke that appeared to make light of Russia’s activities.

But many of the ridings that are home to significant Ukrainian-Canadian communities were Conservative strongholds long before the Russian annexation of Crimea last year kickstarted a global response that included Canadian military and aid support.

And in others, it’s not the Liberals in second place but the New Democrats.

6 ridings where Stephen Harper’s trade deal with Ukraine gets noticed – Politics – CBC News.

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European far-Right parties ‘seeking anti-Islam coalition with Jewish groups’

2015/07/16 Leave a comment

Not surprising but encouraging that most European Jewish groups have rejected the overture:

Right-wing European political parties are seeking to sow religious discord in Europe by approaching Jewish organisations in a bid to form an anti-Islamic alliance.

Speaking to Newsweek on condition of anonymity, a senior figure in one of Europe’s largest Jewish organisations has revealed that their group has been approached in the past year by MEPs, including members of the Austrian Freedom Party, seeking to create a coalition to combat the rise of Islam in Europe. They emphasized that all approaches had been flatly refused.

Last week, Marine Le Pen and other far-Right politicians met with Vadim Rabinovich, the chairman of the European Jewish Parliament (EJP), prompting criticism from European Jewish leaders.

Now the source says that far-Right’s rapprochement with Jewish groups is far from new as politicians from various parties have attempted to court their group, offering to “be friends with Jews” if Jewish groups “help us in our fight against Muslims”.

… The meeting drew criticism from prominent Jewish leaders and led to one member of the EJP, French rabbi Levi Matusof, resigning after the meeting which he called “opportunistic and inappropriate”.

The European Jewish Association, which claims to be the biggest federation of Jewish organisations in Europe, said that the EJP risked “magnifying the problem” of anti-Semitism by “giving a platform to those seeking to spread messages of hate”.

Dr Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said he was shocked that the EJP met with “fig leaf racists and anti-Semites” and added: “It goes without saying that these people [the EJP] are as unrepresentative of the vast majority of European Jews as this collective of Le Pen’s MEPs is of the vast majority of European citizens.”

In a statement on the EJP’s website, Rabinovich said he was “very surprised” by the negative reaction from other Jewish groups.

“The meeting with the [Europe of Nations and Freedom] opens the new dialogue, which, in our firm conviction is what Europe needs today – a dialogue of everybody with everyone, in order to preserve peace and tolerance and combat anti-Semitism in Europe,” said Rabinovich.

He added that a joint statement with Le Pen had condemned anti-Semitism as “the cancer of Europe”.

European far-Right parties ‘seeking anti-Islam coalition with Jewish groups’.

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Matthew Block: It’s a bad time to be religious in Canada

2015/07/15 Leave a comment

One view regarding the balance between religious and other freedoms but one that in my view, understates the importance of the impact this understanding of religious freedom would have on those who do not share those religious beliefs:

This curtailment of religious freedom has appeared even at the highest levels of government. Consider the leaders of Canada’s three major parties. Over the past few years, one has publicly condemned as “unCanadian” the religious ideals which motivate a Christian organization’s international relief work. Another has banned members of his party from voting according to deeply held moral and religious beliefs on issues regarding life. And another has campaigned to ban women from wearing certain religious garb while taking the oath of citizenship.

Like all Canadians, these leaders are free to dislike the religious choices of others, and to do so vocally. But when government coerces others to act against conscience, or argues that they have no right to express their religious beliefs in the public square, then there is a problem. These are quite literally the first freedoms guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: “freedom of conscience and religion,” and “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.” If religious freedom is to mean anything, it must mean the ability to practice one’s faith both privately and publicly, without interference from the government or the public at large.

We would be closer to the Canadian ideal of a tolerant society if more people believed that.

Matthew Block: It’s a bad time to be religious in Canada

Filed under Multiculturalism

StatsCan takes criticism for cutting funding to LifePaths database

2015/07/15 Leave a comment

Another example of reduced government emphasis on evidence-based approaches:

Former Statistics Canada official Michael Wolfson is criticizing the agency’s decision to stop funding its LifePaths database, saying the program has been essential for researching the long-term impacts of policy decisions.

Mr. Wolfson, a professor at the University of Ottawa who was previously assistant chief statistician at Statistics Canada, has written a new paper on retirement adequacy, which includes comments about his disappointment over the decision to cut funding to the LifePaths database, which he has used in his own work on retirement income.

“As a result, discussion of multibillion-dollar policies – discussions that could be informed by far smaller investments in statistical infrastructure – can now be pursued in ignorance,” he writes.

Statistics Canada stopped supporting the LifePaths modelling tool at the end of 2014, which means the database is not being updated with new data.

Statistics Canada spokeswoman Nadine Lacroix said the resources required to update and maintain the model were too great, and it “was no longer feasible” to continue the program.

She said the agency is developing a new “dynamic socio-economic” modelling tool that will be structured to ensure “sustainability, efficiency and responsiveness to client needs.” Statistics Canada expects to solicit feedback from stakeholders on the proposal next year.

LifePaths is a complex modelling tool developed in the 1990s that contains data on Canadians starting from 1971. It was started during Mr. Wolfson’s time at Statistics Canada to project demographic trends for Canadians decades into the future. It was intended to help shape public policy in numerous areas – including pensions, education and health care – by modelling the impacts of various policy alternatives.

The decision to stop maintaining the model comes amid broader criticisms over cuts to Statistics Canada research, most notably the 2010 decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form census in Canada and replace it with a voluntary survey.

In an interview, Mr. Wolfson said he has not published comments critical of Statistics Canada in the past, and worries he is being disloyal to his former colleagues by speaking out now.

“But I felt it was sufficiently important that I really felt I had to do it,” he said Monday.

StatsCan takes criticism for cutting funding to LifePaths database – The Globe and Mail.

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ADMs have become too insular and inexperienced: study

2015/07/15 Leave a comment

Interesting and relevant study on ADMs by Jim Lahey (disclosure have spoken to his EX2-3 course on the lessons from Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism) and Mark Goldenberg, with relevant thoughts on how to improve their expertise and depth of experience:

Once they have become ADMs, they tend to move from job to job and spend less than two years in a position. Most of those moves are within their own departments.

“ADMs move too much and don’t necessarily make the right moves. ADM churn needs slowing down. They are moving too frequently, and not always making the kinds of moves that can broaden and deepen their knowledge, experience and skills,” said Lahey.

“It is absolutely wrong to have ADMs who are generic managers divorced from policy and content. There has been a kind of managerialization of ADM jobs … bringing those jobs down below what they should be.”

The report offers five areas of reform to “raise the bar” for managing and recruiting these senior executives so they have more responsibility, experience, knowledge and leadership skills. It says future ADMs should be a strategic thinkers and visionary; should focus on results, effectiveness and economy; have strong interpersonal skills; and be able to work collaboratively.

Lahey said the overall executive cadre could be significantly cut but this must be managed slowly while targeting the talent in the lower executive levels to develop for the future. Slashing jobs to delayer is too disruptive; instead, the key is to figure out the roles and responsibilities for each level of management. This means adjusting the expectations of ministers and political staff – which could be tough in an era of mistrust between politicians and bureaucrats.

The report also urged bringing in new blood from outside the public service with external recruits accounting for up to 15 per cent of ADM appointees. It also suggests fast-tracking younger executives in their 30s and 40s so they become ADMs – and DMs – at a younger age and having them stay in the jobs longer before retiring.

The study also suggested ADMs stay in a position at least three years before moving to another. In fact, it argued that staying in the job, mastering it and leadership should be tied to performance pay.

ADMs have become too insular and inexperienced: study | Ottawa Citizen.

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Daniel Lang: The Senate did not call for imams to be ‘licensed.’ Nor were we fretting about nothing

2015/07/15 2 Comments

Senator Lang struggles to justify the Senate report and its messaging on the licensing of Imams:

Contrary to the suggestion made in a recent National Post editorial, the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence did not propose that government intervene to certify or establish a registry of Islamic or other clerics.

The carefully crafted recommendation asks that “the federal government work with the provinces and the Muslim communities to investigate the options that are available for the training and certification of imams in Canada.”

This is a very important distinction because the recommendation is made in response to testimony from members of the Muslim community as well as experts who confirmed that radicalization begins with person-to-person or person to group contact.

The witnesses who appeared before the committee over the past nine months continuously brought up the fact that radicalizing messages mixed with religious ideology was being advocated by some foreign-trained imams in Canada.

Interesting, however, to see that Imam Soharwardy, demonized by Ezra Levant, is now brought forward as a government witness (he has been consistent and reasonably in his messaging).

Daniel Lang: The Senate did not call for imams to be ‘licensed.’ Nor were we fretting about nothing

Filed under Multiculturalism

2013 Hate Crimes Statistics

2015/07/14 1 Comment

Hate Crimes Comparison.001

Interesting that in 2013, the number of hate crimes fell by 17 percent, reflecting a 30 percent decline in non-violent hate crimes (mainly mischief-related). For most groups, the per capita rate remained relatively constant, with the most notable decline with respect to Canadian Jews.

B’nai Brith statistics (2014 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents) however show an increase compared to earlier years (their statistics are always higher than police-reported hate crimes).

The National Council of Canadian Muslims recently launched a similar initiative to report on anti-Muslim incidents (NCCM Launches National Hate Crimes Awareness Project) to encourage more reporting (hate crimes against Canadian Muslims increased in this year).

The explanation for the overall decline in reported hate crimes is not clear beyond that it is the minor hate crimes that account for most of the decline.

While self-reporting by different groups is important to raising awareness of, and improving confidence within groups to report hate crimes to the police, there is merit to the consistent reporting  across different groups and categories contained in this report by Statistics Canada.

Filed under Hate crimes, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

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