The A.O.C. Deepfake Was Terrible. The Proposed Solution Is Delusional.

2025/08/12 Leave a comment

Brave New World and 1984 combined:

…The other crucial thing that the abundance of such easily generated information makes scarce is credibility. And that is nowhere more stark than in the case of photos, audio and video, because they are among the key mechanisms with which we judge claims about reality. Lose that, lose reality.

It would be nice if, like members of Congress or large media organizations, we all had a large staff who could be dispatched to disprove false claims and protect our reputations and in that small way buttress the sanctity of facts. Since we don’t, we need to find other models that we can all access. Scientists and parts of the tech industry have come up with a few very promising frameworks — known as zero-knowledge proofs, secure enclaves, hardware authentication tokens using public key cryptography, distributed ledgers, for example — about which there is much more to say at another moment. Many other tools may yet arise. But unless we start taking the need seriously now before we lose what’s left of proof of authenticity and verification, governments will step right into the void. If the governments are not run by authoritarians already, it probably won’t take long till they are.

Source: The A.O.C. Deepfake Was Terrible. The Proposed Solution Is Delusional.

    Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

    Ottawa yet to launch program announced last year that would grant permanent residency to low-wage workers

    2025/08/12 Leave a comment

    Second thoughts?

    More than a year after announcing a new immigration stream that would have granted permanent residency to low-wage workers already in Canada, the federal government has yet to move ahead on formally launching the program – suggesting that Ottawa could be backing away from the plan altogether. 

    The plan targeting low-wage workers was informally announced in April 2024, through the Canada Gazette. Consultations were set to begin last year on amending immigration laws to admit a “new permanent economic class of workers in TEER 4 and TEER 5 jobs.” 

    But the program was not included in July’s version of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s forward regulatory plan, which details coming changes to federal immigration rules and programs over the next three years. 

    Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities, or TEER, is a job categorization system used by the government for immigration purposes. TEER 4 and TEER 5 workers usually have either a high-school diploma or no formal education at all, and examples of their occupations include delivery service drivers, caregivers, food production and retail workers. 

    IRCC spokesperson Sofica Lukianenko said in a late July e-mail to The Globe and Mail that the department will “continue to examine the role of immigration in meeting labour market needs at TEER 4 and 5 occupations.” …

    Scrapping an immigration program that would grant PR to low-wage workers would be a wise move if the government’s larger goal is to increase gross domestic product per capita through prioritizing higher-skilled immigrants, argues Mikal Skuterud, a professor of labour economics at the University of Waterloo. 

    Prof. Skuterud was highly critical of the TEER 4 and TEER 5 pathway plan when it was announced last year, telling The Globe at the time that it would suppress wages and undermine public support for immigration. He said Ottawa intended to launch the program to hedge against the growing problem of visa overstayers, as offering foreign workers currently in Canada a direct path to PR en masse would reduce both temporary resident and undocumented populations. …

    Source: Ottawa yet to launch program announced last year that would grant permanent residency to low-wage workers

    Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

    Immigration | Dans certains secteurs, « il n’y aura plus personne pour travailler » Quebec

    2025/08/12 Leave a comment

    Of note, business lobby pressures:

    Ce chiffre est tiré d’une note transmise à La Presse, qui présente les grandes lignes du mémoire que la FCCQ soumettra à Québec, en prévision des consultations pluriannuelles sur la planification de l’immigration 2026-2029.

    Selon les données du ministère de l’Emploi, 1,4 million de postes devront être pourvus d’ici 2033, notamment en raison des départs à la retraite, de la création de nouveaux emplois et d’un nombre insuffisant de jeunes arrivant sur le marché du travail.

    En répartissant ces besoins sur une base annuelle, et après avoir tenu compte des gains de productivité et d’une hausse du taux d’activité, la FCCQ estime qu’il faudra au moins 106 000 nouveaux travailleurs immigrants chaque année, permanents et temporaires.

    La proposition de la FCCQ, qui regroupe 120 chambres de commerce représentant plus de 40 000 entreprises, s’éloigne nettement des cibles évoquées par le gouvernement Legault.

    Dans son cahier de consultation, Québec propose un maximum de 45 000 nouveaux résidents permanents par an, accompagné d’une réduction importante de l’immigration temporaire.

    Pour Véronique Proulx, présidente-directrice générale de la FCCQ, l’écart est préoccupant.

    « Les scénarios présentés nous apparaissent catastrophiques, et bien en dessous des besoins du marché du travail, déclare-t-elle. Le chiffre de 106 000, c’est vraiment le minimum pour répondre aux besoins des entreprises dans toutes les régions du Québec. »

    « Le scénario optimiste du gouvernement, c’est 45 000 permanents et zéro temporaire. Nous, ce qu’on leur dit, c’est 67 000 permanents, plus 39 000 temporaires, en plus de ceux qui sont déjà au Québec », précise Mme Proulx.

    Selon les estimations de la FCCQ, 445 000 immigrants temporaires occupent actuellement un poste au Québec.

    À défaut d’un rehaussement des seuils, la FCCQ prévoit des conséquences économiques graves.

    « S’ils vont de l’avant avec leur scénario optimiste, ou pire, le pessimiste, ce sont des entreprises qui vont fermer. Il n’y a plus personne pour travailler dans ces entreprises-là, dans le secteur public, dans le secteur des services. C’est un non-sens. Il y a une inadéquation complète et totale entre les besoins du marché du travail, des entreprises, et les scénarios qui sont présentés. »

    Les limites du recours à la technologie

    Certains avancent que la technologie pourrait compenser ce manque de main-d’œuvre. La FCCQ estime toutefois que cela ne sera pas suffisant.

    « Bien sûr qu’il faut continuer à investir, qu’il faut accélérer l’intégration de nouvelles technologies, assure la PDG. Mais quand on parle de la coupe, de la découpe, il n’y a pas de robot qui est capable de le faire aussi bien que des humains. La technologie n’existe pas. »

    Elle donne l’exemple de Meloche, une entreprise de l’aérospatiale située sur la Rive-Sud de Montréal, qui a automatisé une partie de sa production, mais qui dépend encore largement de travailleurs étrangers temporaires spécialisés.

    « On a un retard, c’est connu, c’est documenté, dit-elle. Mais il n’en demeure pas moins qu’on manque cruellement de main-d’œuvre. Et de compétences, ici au Québec. »

    La FCCQ admet que l’accueil d’un plus grand nombre d’immigrants posera des défis d’intégration. Mais elle insiste : le gouvernement doit partir des besoins économiques et adapter ses services en conséquence.

    Mme Proulx affirme que plusieurs entreprises sont prêtes à collaborer pour accroître la capacité d’accueil. « Elles mettent déjà la main à la pâte au niveau de la construction de logements, dit-elle. Elles sont prêtes à faire partie de la solution, mais on ne leur parle pas, on ne s’assoit pas avec elles. »

    Source: Immigration | Dans certains secteurs, « il n’y aura plus personne pour travailler »

    This figure is taken from a note sent to La Presse, which outlines the brief that the FCCQ will submit to Quebec City, in anticipation of the multi-year consultations on immigration planning 2026-2029.

    According to data from the Ministry of Employment, 1.4 million positions will have to be filled by 2033, in particular due to retirements, the creation of new jobs and an insufficient number of young people entering the labor market.

    By spreading these needs on an annual basis, and taking into account the gains in productivity and an increase in the activity rate, the FCCQ estimates that at least 106,000 new permanent and temporary immigrant workers will be required each year.

    The FCCQ’s proposal, which brings together 120 chambers of commerce representing more than 40,000 companies, is far from the targets mentioned by the Legault government.

    In its consultation book, Quebec proposes a maximum of 45,000 new permanent residents per year, accompanied by a significant reduction in temporary immigration.

    For Véronique Proulx, President and CEO of the FCCQ, the gap is worrying.

    “The scenarios presented seem catastrophic to us, and well below the needs of the labor market,” she says. The figure of 106,000 is really the minimum to meet the needs of companies in all regions of Quebec. ”

    “The government’s optimistic scenario is 45,000 permanent and zero temporary. We, what we tell them, is 67,000 permanent, plus 39,000 temporary, in addition to those who are already in Quebec, “says Ms. Proulx.

    According to the FCCQ estimates, 445,000 temporary immigrants currently occupy a position in Quebec.

    In the absence of an increase in thresholds, the FCCQ foresees serious economic consequences.

    “If they go ahead with their optimistic scenario, or worse, the pessimistic one, they are companies that will close. There is no one left to work in these companies, in the public sector, in the service sector. It’s nonsense. There is a complete and total mismatch between the needs of the labor market, of companies, and the scenarios that are presented. ”

    The limits of the use of technology

    Some argue that technology could compensate for this lack of labour. However, the FCCQ believes that this will not be enough.

    “Of course we must continue to invest, we must accelerate the integration of new technologies,” says the CEO. But when we talk about cutting, cutting, there is no robot that is able to do it as well as humans. Technology does not exist. ”

    She gives the example of Meloche, an aerospace company located on the South Shore of Montreal, which has automated part of its production, but which still depends largely on specialized temporary foreign workers.

    “We have a delay, it’s known, it’s documented,” she says. But the tall remains that there is a severe shortage of manpower. And skills, here in Quebec. ”

    The FCCQ admits that welcoming more immigrants will pose integration challenges. But she insists: the government must start from economic needs and adapt its services accordingly.

    Ms. Proulx says that several companies are ready to work together to increase reception capacity. “They are already putting their hands to the dough in housing construction,” she says. They are ready to be part of the solution, but we don’t talk to them, we don’t sit with them. ”

    Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

    Yakabuski: Le déluge [Supreme Court hearings on Quebec Laïcité Bill] 

    2025/08/12 Leave a comment

    Of note:

    …En permettant à un si grand nombre d’opposants à la Loi sur la laïcité de l’État québécois d’intervenir devant le plus haut tribunal du pays, le juge en chef de la Cour suprême, Richard Wagner, souhaite aller au fond des choses afin de dissiper tout doute sur l’utilisation préventive de la disposition de dérogation. Les Canadiens ne méritent rien de moins. Mais le processus risque d’être houleux.

    Source: Le déluge

    … By allowing so many opponents of the Quebec State Secularism Act to intervene before the highest court in the country, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Richard Wagner, wishes to get to the bottom of things in order to dispel any doubt about the preventive use of the waiver provision. Canadians deserve nothing less. But the process is likely to be stormy.

    Filed under Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

    Todd: The summer job is threatened by Canada’s misguided migration strategy

    2025/08/11 Leave a comment

    Good op-ed, featuring comments by David Williams of Business Council of British Columbia, David Green of UBC, Pierre Fortin, Anne Michèle Meggs and food service data compiled by me.

    The search for a summer job is a rite of passage.

    Filled with anxiety and reward, the quest in Canada offers young people an introduction to the marketplace, where they will spend a large portion of their lives, hopefully leading to independence and self-confidence.

    But this summer in Canada, opportunities for people between the ages of 15 and 24 are abysmal. Their hunt is full of dead ends and discouragement. Talk about making hope-filled young people feel unwanted.

    What can we make of the contradictory economic signals? Young Canadians are increasingly facing an employment brick wall. But at the same time many corporations say they’re struggling with “labour shortages.”

    For clarity, we should listen to the economists, business analysts and migration specialists who say a big part of the problem for young job seekers is Canadian industries are increasingly addicted to low-wage foreign workers, especially of the temporary kind.

    There are now 2.96 million non-permanent residents in the country, most of whom work. And that doesn’t count more than half a million who are undocumented or have remained in the country after their visas expired.

    In a typical summer of the recent past, young people would look for jobs in the restaurant, hospitality, tourism, retail, landscaping and food and beverage industries.

    But Postmedia reporters Alec Lazenby and Glenda Luymes are among those who have noted that unemployment among people between 15 and 24 is at a record 20 per cent across the country. That’s nine percentage points higher than three years ago.

    And the real numbers could be worse. In B.C. in the month of June, for instance, more than 21,000 young people simply dropped out of the job market from discouragement.

    The Liberal government has been doing young people a terrible disservice through its stratospheric guest worker levels, says David Williams, head of policy for the Business Council of B.C.

    “If the government intends to expand the labour supply explicitly to fill low-skill, low-experience, low-paying job vacancies,” like those sought by young people, Williams said, “it is helping to keep Canada on the dismal path” to the lowest income growth among the 38 countries of the OECD.

    Rather than trusting in the labour market to resolve wage and price imbalances on its own, Williams said the federal government’s high-migration strategy “is like believing Christmas dinner will be made easier if you invite more people because they can help with the washing up.”

    Ottawa’s approach to migration is setting young people up not only for early job disappointment, he said, but long-term stagnant wages.

    UBC economics professor David Green, who specializes in labour, is among many who say Canada’s immigration program is moving away from raising all Canadians’ standard of living.

    “The research shows that immigration tends to lower wages for people who compete directly with the new immigrants, who often consist of previously arrived immigrants and low-skilled workers” — such as young people, Green says.

    As the UBC professor makes clear, high migration rates “can be an inequality-increasing policy.” They hurt inexperienced workers and “improve incomes for the higher-skilled, and business owners who get labour at lower wages.”

    To illustrate, it’s worth looking at migration numbers related to the food industry, where many young people in Canada used to find summer jobs.

    Figures obtained by a former director in the Immigration Department, Andrew Griffith, reveal a rise in temporary foreign workers in Canada’s food industries since 2015, when the Liberals were first elected.

    There has been a 666 per cent jump in a decade in the number of temporary foreign cooks, as well as a 970-per-cent hike in “food service supervisors.” There has also been 419 per cent increase in “food counter attendants” and “kitchen helpers.”

    Ottawa approved a 419% jump in foreign “food counter attendants” and “kitchen helpers” in a decade. Those are decent starting positions for inexperienced job seekers. (Source: IRCC / Andrew Griffith)

    The problem extends beyond summer jobs, says Pierre Fortin, past president of the Canadian Economics Association. Too many Canadian bosses who don’t find it easy to hire staff, he said, now think it’s their “right” to hire non-permanent migrants.

    “But immigration is a public good, not a private toy,” Fortin said. “The employer gets all the benefits and the rest of society is burdened with all the time and costs for the successful integration of the newcomers, in the form of housing, services and social and cultural integration.”

    B.C. and Ontario have the highest proportion of temporary residents in Canada. The rate is 9.3 per cent in B.C.; 8.6 per cent in Ontario. The national average is 7.1 per cent. And that level is far above what it was before 2020, when it was just three per cent. 

    Canada’s temporary foreign worker, and international experience, programs were initially supposed to provide employers with short-term relief during a specific labour shortage, says Anne Michèle Meggs, a former senior director in Quebec’s immigration ministry who writes on migration issues.

    But too many employers now rely on the programs as a long-term strategy, including to keep wages low. Meggs is surprised, for instance, the food-services industry relies so heavily on migrants.

    “I admit I was shocked that Tim Hortons would be hiring through the temporary foreign workers program.”

    Meggs is also taken aback that so many food chains even find it profitable to hire foreign workers over local ones. “It costs a lot, and there’s considerable bureaucracy,” she said. That includes spending more than $5,000 on each visa worker’s labour market impact assessment, to convince Ottawa a local worker isn’t available for the position.

    To make matters worse, guest workers themselves often get exploited by employers, said Meggs. “Many are still expecting to be able to settle in Canada, obtain permanent residency and bring their families. But for those with limited education and language skills, that is very unlikely.” She points to how last year a U.N. report said Canada’s temporary guest worker programs are a “breeding ground” for contemporary slavery.

    It’s hard to say if Prime Minister Mark Carney is ready to revise the Liberal party’s long-standing strategy of handing industries what they want: large volumes of low-skilled foreign labour.

    Since its peak at the end of last year, the proportion of temporary residents in Canada this June has gone down only slightly, by less than three per cent.

    Unless Carney orchestrates a bigger drop, it suggests he is ready to maintain his party’s record migration rates. That will mean young Canadians unable to find summer work will continue to suffer.

    And, since migration policies have ripple effects on wages throughout the economy, they won’t be the only ones.

    Source: The summer job is threatened by Canada’s misguided migration strategy

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    Marche: ‘Acute, Sustained, Profound and Abiding Rage’: Canada Finds Its Voice

    2025/08/11 Leave a comment

    Good op-ed. But more needed in right and Trump-leaning media…:

    The mind-set of Canada is changing, and the shift is cultural as much as economic or political. Since the 1960s, Canadian elites have been rewarded by integration with the United States. The snipers who fought with American forces. The scientists who worked at American labs. The writers who wrote for New York publications. The actors who made it in Hollywood. Mr. Carney himself was an icon of this integration as chair of the board of Bloomberg L.P., the financial news and data giant, as recently as 2023.

    As America dismantles its elite institutions one by one, that aspirational connection is dissolving. The question is no longer how to stop comparing ourselves with the United States, but how to escape its grasp and its fate. Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister, used to speak of Canada as a “post-national state,” in which Canadian identity took second place to overcoming historical evils and various vague forms of virtue signaling. That nonsense is over. In several surveys, the overwhelming first choice for what makes the country unique is multiculturalism. This, in a world collapsing into stupid, impoverishing hatreds, is the distinctly Canadian national project.

    Even after Covid and the failure to create adequate infrastructure for new Canadians, which lead to a pullback on immigration, Canada still has one of the highest rates of naturalization in the world. This country has always been plural. It has always contained many languages, ethnicities and tribes. The triumph of compromise among difference is the triumph of Canadian history. That seems to be an ideal worth fighting for.

    Canada is now stuck in a double reality. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 59 percent of Canadians identified the United States as the country’s top threat, and 55 percent of Canadians identified the United States as the country’s most important ally. That is both an unsustainable contradiction and also a reality that will probably define the country for the foreseeable future. Canada is divided from America, and America is divided from itself. The relationship between Canada and America rides on that fissure.

    Margaret Atwood was, and remains, the ultimate icon of 1960s Canadian nationalism and also one of the great prophets of American dystopia. “No. 1, hating all Americans is stupid,” she told me on “Gloves Off,” a podcast about how Canada can defend itself from America’s new threats. “That’s just silly because half of them would agree with you,” and “even a bunch of them are now having buyers’ regret.”

    Large groups of people in Canada, and one assumes in America, too, hope this new animosity will pass with the passing of the Trump administration. “I can’t account for the rhetoric on behalf of our president,” Gov. Janet Mills of Maine said recently on a trip to Nova Scotia. “He doesn’t speak for us when he says those things.” Except he does. The current American ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, is the kind of man you send to a country to alienate it. During the first Trump administration, the State Department had to apologize for offensive remarks he made, which he had at one point denied. He has also said the administration finds Canadians “mean and nasty.” Such insults from such people are a badge of honor.

    But it’s the American system — not just its presidency — that is in breakdown. From the Canadian side of the border, it is evident that the American left is in the middle of a grand abdication. No American institution, no matter how wealthy or privileged, seems willing to make any sacrifice for democratic values. If the president is Tony Soprano, the Democratic governors who plead with Canadian tourists to return are the Carmelas. They cluck their disapproval, but they can’t believe anyone would question their decency as they try to get along.

    Canada is far from powerless in this new world; we are educated and resourceful. But we are alone in a way we never have been. Our current moment of national self-definition is different from previous nationalisms. It will involve connecting Canada more broadly rather than narrowing its focus. We can show that multiculturalism works, that it remains possible to have an open society that does not consume itself, in which divisions between liberals and conservatives are real and deep-seated but do not fester into violence and loathing. Canada will also have to serve as a connector between the world’s democracies, in a line that stretches from Taiwan and South Korea, across North America, to Poland and Ukraine.

    Canada has experienced the second Trump administration like a teenager being kicked out of the house by an abusive father. We have to grow up fast and we can’t go back. And the choices we make now will matter forever. They will reveal our national character. Anger is a useful emotion, but only as a point of departure. We have to reckon with the fact that from now on, our power will come from only ourselves.

    Source: ‘Acute, Sustained, Profound and Abiding Rage’: Canada Finds Its Voice

    Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , ,

    Minister planning new powers to clamp down on fraudulent immigration consultants

    2025/08/11 Leave a comment

    Perennial issue and debate:

    Immigration Minister Lena Diab is preparing to crack down on unscrupulous immigration consultants, drawing up new regulations that would give the industry regulator more powers, such as forcing them to compensate migrants they have defrauded. 

    The move follows a number of inquiries into the improper conduct of consultants, including one involving an elaborate job-selling scheme targeting migrants.

    The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants earlier this year cancelled the licence of Hossein Amirahmadi, a consultant the college found to have orchestrated job selling, faked payroll documents and fraudulently obtained work permits. 

    It ordered him to pay a $50,000 fine by October, as well as $49,000 in costs incurred by the college. It also instructed him to reimburse clients a total of $32,000 in fees. 

    But the college, which regulates licensed immigration consultants, lacks the power, without going to court, to collect the funds or force him to pay. 

    Draft regulations drawn up by the Immigration Department last year would allow the college to impose fines of $50,000 per infringement of the act establishing the college. They would also give it the power to establish a compensation fund for migrants exploited by its members. 

    But the proposed regulations, drawn up before Ms. Diab took on her new cabinet role, have been shelved for months. Ms. Diab’s spokesperson, Isabelle Buchanan, said the minister is preparing new regulations. 

    …But lawyer James Yousif, a one-time policy director for former immigration minister Jason Kenney, said it is “time to accept that Canada’s experiment with a separate immigration consulting profession has failed.”

    “We should return to a model in which only lawyers are permitted to represent clients under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,” he said. “The legal profession in Canada is much better governed, with stronger accountability and disciplinary mechanisms.”

    Source: Minister planning new powers to clamp down on fraudulent immigration consultants

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    RCMP union advocates for ease of foreign applicant requirements to attract talent

    2025/08/11 Leave a comment

    The unsaid part is which police forces would not be considered as equivalent, rather than just citing the easy ones. Presumably, not advocating for “foreign credential recognition” of police from Russia, China, Iran etc:

    The union representing front-line RCMP members wants the force to ease requirements for foreign applicants to help attract experienced police officers from agencies like the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and counterparts in the United Kingdom and Australia.

    The RCMP currently requires that applicants be Canadian citizens or have permanent resident status in Canada. Applicants with permanent resident status must have lived in Canada as a permanent resident for three of the last five years.

    The National Police Federation says the RCMP should follow the lead of the Canadian Armed Forces, which in 2022 opened applications to permanent residents without any requirement on time spent in Canada.

    Federation president Brian Sauvé said he’s “pretty sure we can attract some good talent” through a similar move by the RCMP.

    Sauvé compares the idea to federal immigration programs that seek to entice skilled workers to come to Canada.

    “If this government has identified public safety, border security and all that stuff as an imperative, we can do the same thing, right?” Sauvé said in a recent interview.

    “We have equivalency training. You can come from Manchester, you can come from New South Wales, you can come from, I don’t know, the FBI. And we’ll train you to be equivalent, to give you a job and put you in a role.”…

    Source: RCMP union advocates for ease of foreign applicant requirements to attract talent

    Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with

    Thiyagalingam: Recognizing the Tamil Canadian experience in public life

    2025/08/11 2 Comments

    Crafting a diaspora policy that would be acceptable to all groups and Canadians as a whole would be challenging to say the least. The Harper government inserted language in the citizenship study guide regarding “imported conflicts,” given integration concerns but of course was selective in who it was aimed at (not Ukrainian Canadians for example). The Israel/Hamas war and related demonstrations and incidents, and the inability for the various envoys to help manage the tensions highlight the difficulties.

    While I always favour more and better data, ethnic ancestry data provides a wealth of data on specific communities. And it is virtually impossible to include all conflicts and community stories in curriculum beyond broad brush strokes.

    …Policy failure #1: No history or specific policy

    Canada does not currently have an explicit “diaspora policy” nor does it mandate the kind of historical literacy that should inform national security assessments, integration efforts and reconciliation strategies — particularly in relation to Tamil Canadians and other diasporas shaped by conflict. This vacuum leaves these communities vulnerable to being stereotyped and to one-size-fits-all treatment under anti-terrorism laws.

    A robust policy response should include:

    • Context-sensitive involvement: Government agencies, including Public Safety Canada and Global Affairs Canada, must develop more sophisticated approaches to engaging with communities from conflict-affected regions. This includes educating staff on the history, diversity and trauma that are part of these communities.
    • A stand-alone office: Canada should establish a permanent federal office for diaspora affairs. It could serve as a bridge between communities and government, offer advice on culturally appropriate policymaking and support responsible civic engagement by diaspora groups — without defaulting to surveillance or criminal suspicion when these groups advocate for justice abroad.
    • Access to information: Many Tamil Canadians suspect they were surveilled during the height of the war. Canada should review and declassify outdated intelligence assessments that may have shaped discriminatory policies. This would be similar to how national security files have been disclosed in other jurisdictions to promote trust and accountability.

    Policy failure #2: Invisibility 

    Despite being one of the largest racialized communities, Tamil Canadians are rarely separated out in national statistics. Without data, there can be no tailored policy. Health outcomes, employment access and experiences of discrimination in the Tamil community remain under-researched, which makes it harder to address specific needs.

    Additionally, there are no formal federal or provincial initiatives acknowledging Tamil history in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario and British Columbia have declared January Tamil Heritage Month, but this symbolic recognition has not translated into concrete support for Tamil civic life, education or mental-health services.

    Key reforms could include:

    • Distinct Data: Federal and provincial governments should commit to collecting data specific to Tamil Canadians — especially in health, employment and justice sectors. Health statistics could highlight the prevalence of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder among war-affected individuals and lead to targeted mental-health services. Employment information could reveal systemic barriers in credential recognition or workplace inclusion, while justice data could inform culturally responsive legal aid or diversion programs.
    • Education reform: School curriculums should include content on the Sri Lankan conflict and refugee experiences. Younger Tamil Canadian generations and their peers from other backgrounds could then better understand the history that shaped Tamil communities in our country.
    • Mental-health investment: Targeted funding for trauma-informed services in Tamil-majority neighbourhoods is essential. Post-conflict communities often carry intergenerational trauma, and culturally competent services remain scarce.

    Public representation and democratic inclusion

    That Anandasangaree — a human rights lawyer and former UN delegate — is now Canada’s public safety minister is symbolically powerful. But the backlash to his appointment in May reveals a double standard often applied to racialized politicians. While mainstream leaders are allowed complex affiliations and evolving views, racialized leaders must constantly distance themselves from their roots — lest their identity be read as bias.

    This isn’t an isolated phenomenon. Muslim Canadians, for example, facesimilar scrutiny. Mass surveillance of their communities in the aftermath of 9/11 has fuelled Islamophobia and racialized narratives that Muslim leaders and activists must continually fight to overcome.

    Canada must move beyond this double standard. We need to recognize that post-conflict communities have a right to civic and political participation — not despite their histories, but because of them.

    Toward a more inclusive future

    The attacks on Anandasangaree may fade from headlines, but they reveal a lingering discomfort with diasporic communities shaped by complex conflicts. Canada’s public policy must catch up with the country’s demographic realities. Inclusion must be more than symbolic.

    The federal government has rightly prioritized equity and anti-racism in recent years. But unless these priorities extend to how we interact with post-conflict communities — in security, education and public service — they will remain incomplete.

    We must ensure that younger Tamil Canadians do not inherit the suspicion that shadowed their parents. That means building public institutions capable of viewing communities not just as security risks, but as survivors, contributors and storytellers.

    Justice isn’t just about courts and laws. It’s about who feels at home in our democracy.

    Source: Recognizing the Tamil Canadian experience in public life

    Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

    Anti-Palestinian racism report calls for Canada to recognize May 15 as Nakba Day

    2025/08/09 Leave a comment

    Well, this will provoke some interesting discussions within the government.

    Reading through the report, there appears little recognition that some of the actions, symbols and language in various pro-Palestinian protests have contributed to the rise in anti-Palestinian incidents. The description of the Hamas attack of October 7 is antiseptic and is silent on the rapes and other atrocities, also suggesting an element of denial at play “Hamas launched an attack on Israel on this date, actions which included taking 250 people hostage, some of whom remain in captivity in July 2025:”

    There also appears little recognition that public and private bodies can make decisions based on public activity and statements, if these create controversy and impact communities. After all, “actions have consequences.”

    Perhaps my experience in government where the line between being publicly silent despite any misgivings informs this view (post-government, of course, many public servants share their personal views fairly widely with considerable diversity of opinions.)

    The existing definitions of ethnicity (Arab) and religion (Muslim and Christian) are the preferred way to assess discrimination and hate crimes against Palestinians as they bring the issues into the broader context that affect all groups. In other words, focus more on the universal rather than a plethora of individual definitions based upon individual groups (e.g. anti-Tibet, anti-Khalistan, anti-Tamil etc).

    Hate crimes against Muslims increased by 8.5 percent compared to last year, against West Asian/Arab by 18.3 percent, higher than most other groups:

    A new report from the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University calls on governments across Canada to increase oversight on how universities, schools, police forces and Parliament deal with the recent spike in instances of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism.

    The report also calls on all levels of government in Canada to officially recognize May 15 as Nakba Day. Palestinians mark the day after Israel declared independence in 1948 as the beginning of the destruction of their homeland.

    “Provincial governments should develop curriculum, train staff and educate students on Palestinian culture, identity and history, including the history of the Nakba,” the report published Wednesday said.

    It also wants all levels of government to “recognize and adopt” a definition of anti-Palestinian racism (APR) “as a distinct and detrimental form of racism that operates at multiple levels of state and society.”

    The director of the research hub, Nadia Hasan, an assistant professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at York University, said recognizing both Nakba Day and an official definition for APR would set Canada apart from other countries.

    “These are important things for Canada to take very seriously,” Hasan said. “I think it would be a first and an important step for Canada to lead on.”

    The report examines the increase in Islamophobic verbal and physical attacks directed at Arab and Palestinian Canadians since the beginning of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

    The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

    Israel’s military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people — mostly civilians — according to Palestinian health authorities.

    The report says its findings are based on interviews conducted virtually with 16 Canadian community-based organizations that focus on addressing Islamophobia, APR and anti-Arab racism. Media reports were also used. The report does not include any first-hand accounts from victims or injured parties.

    Recommendations and calling out the CBC

    The report calls for greater oversight of post-secondary institutions by striking “advisory tables” made up of students and faculty to develop strategies for colleges and universities to use in combatting discrimination on campus.

    The authors of the report also call for those institutions to undergo third-party reviews of how they responded to incidents of Islamophobia and campus protests against the war in Gaza.

    They say school boards across Canada should also face province-wide reviews to determine how schools have dealt with incidents of anti-Palestinian racism and examine “cases that were insufficiently or never investigated.”

    Aside from the increased scrutiny on universities, colleges and school boards across the county, the report wants to establish provincial and territorial “hate crime accountability units.”

    The units would allow people alleging they have been the victims of discrimination to “report directly about law enforcement agencies’ mishandling of hate-motivated crime cases.”

    The report also calls for Canada’s public broadcaster to be “reviewed to ensure fair and balanced coverage of Palestinian perspectives.”

    This external review, the report says, should probe the possibility that CBC is disproportionately “rejecting Palestinian guest commentators” leading to biased media coverage.

    The report provides two reasons for its focus on CBC.

    The first is a report by a former employee who alleged she faced backlash for pitching “stories that would bring a balanced perspective” to the war in Gaza.

    The second reason is a letter sent to CBC signed by more than 500 members of the Racial Equity Media Collective asking the public broadcaster to “address an apparent pattern of anti-Palestinian bias, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism within the corporation’s news and documentary culture.”

    CBC’s head of public affairs, Chuck Thompson, said an external review is not necessary because CBC is already accountable to the independent CBC Ombudsman, Maxime Bertrand, who regularly reviews complaints about the corporation’s journalism.

    “CBC News has amplified countless Palestinian voices in our ongoing coverage of the conflict in Gaza,” he said. “There are now thousands of stories we’ve published and broadcast about Israel and Gaza since 2023, all archived here … we think the work speaks for itself.”

    The York University report references CBC News journalism covering dozens of instances of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism.

    A policy for MPs

    The report is also calling on Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, who administers the Conflict of Interest Act and the code of conduct for MPs, to be given increased responsibilities.

    The commissioner, the report says, “should develop a clear and enforceable policy on how parliamentarians are to be held accountable when they disseminate disinformation, especially … when such acts target marginalized communities.”

    It provides only one example of an MP allegedly spreading disinformation, a post on X by Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman.

    The post includes the line: “Stickers with ❤️s glorifying terror on campus popped up today at UBC.”

    The report notes the stickers were falsely associated with the UBC Social Justice Centre.

    CBC News has reached out to the Official Opposition for reaction to the allegation but has yet to receive a response.

    The 15 recommendations contained in the report also call on the federal government to address issues with the temporary resident visa program for refugees fleeing Gaza and probe alleged Israeli foreign interference in Canada.

    A Senate report released November 2023 found Islamophobia remains a persistent problem in Canada and concrete action is required to reverse the growing tide of hate across the country.

    The report, the first of its kind in Canada, took a year and involved 21 public meetings and 138 witnesses. It said incidents of Islamophobia are a daily reality for many Muslims and that one in four Canadians do not trust Muslims.

    Police and advocacy organizations have also reported increases in antisemitic incidents. In the spring, B’nai Brith Canada reported that in 2024 the total number of reported cases of acts of hatred targeting Jews had reached a record high of 6,219 incidents.

    Source: Anti-Palestinian racism report calls for Canada to recognize May 15 as Nakba Day

    Report link: Documenting the ‘Palestine Exception’: An Overview of Trends in Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian, and Anti-Arab Racism in Canada in the Aftermath of October 7, 2023

    Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , ,

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