Davantage de demandeurs d’asile en Ontario, mais moins de débats?

2025/08/19 Leave a comment

Good long read in Le Devoir contrasting Ontario and Quebec, featuring comments by Mireille Paquet and me:

Depuis maintenant près de deux ans, le gouvernement de François Legault réclame une meilleure répartition des demandeurs d’asile au Canada. L’un de ses arguments phares, répété récemment par le ministre de l’Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, est le fait que le Québec accueille plus de demandeurs d’asile que sa part démographique dans le Canada.

En d’autres mots, la province représente 22 % de toute la population canadienne, mais compte 40 % de tous les demandeurs d’asile sur son territoire, selon Statistique Canada.

C’est vrai, mais c’est aussi le cas en Ontario. Bon an mal an depuis au moins 2021, la province voisine compte sur son territoire près de la moitié des demandeurs d’asile au pays, alors que son poids démographique est de 39 %. Les données montrent ainsi une histoire légèrement différente du récit politique.

Ainsi, même lorsque Québec a transféré des demandeurs d’asile par autobus, surtout vers l’Ontario, à partir de l’été 2022 et plus intensivement à l’hiver 2023, la province voisine comptait déjà entre 46 % et 49 % de tous les demandeurs au pays.

Le Québec a bel et bien reçu plus de demandes d’asile que son voisin pendant plusieurs années depuis 2017 ; mais l’Ontario l’a aussi dépassé en 2021, en 2024 et pour les quatre premiers mois de 2025. Les arrivées sont donc à distinguer du nombre de personnes présentes ou réellement installées dans une province.

Le phénomène est aussi plus complexe, car il s’étend souvent dans une migration secondaire : les demandeurs en question peuvent atterrir au Québec ou franchir la frontière vers la province, mais ensuite se déplacer vers l’ouest. Le Devoiravait déjà révélé qu’entre 25 % et 33 % des demandeurs d’asile avec une première adresse au Québec déménageaient ensuite dans une autre province.

Politisation

Le premier ministre de l’Ontario, Doug Ford, a beau avoir essayé de faire des vagues autour des permis de travail pour les demandeurs d’asile au Conseil de la fédération en juillet, il s’est rétractéune semaine plus tard. Il faut dire que la délivrance des permis de travail est maintenant beaucoup plus rapide qu’en 2022 ou en 2023, c’est-à-dire en 45 jours, a confirmé au Devoir Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada.

M. Ford a aussi formulé le souhait d’avoir plus de pouvoirs en immigration, notamment en 2022 pour pouvoir accueillir plus de travailleurs qualifiés — et non moins. S’il l’a mentionné au détour d’une ou deux conférences de presse, il n’a pas utilisé le dossier dans un bras de fer avec Ottawa, contrairement au Québec, où les échanges sont même devenus plutôt acrimonieux.

Pour Mireille Paquet, professeure à l’Université Concordia, difficile de dire si l’on en parle réellement moins en Ontario qu’au Québec, puisqu’elle ne connaît pas d’études sur cette question précisément. « On en parle certainement différemment », affirme-t-elle toutefois, reconnaissant une politisation de l’immigration propre au Québec.

Ses recherches montrent que les questions migratoires sont en effet de plus en plus politisées dans l’espace politique québécois, et plus clairement depuis le scrutin de 2018, qui a porté la Coalition avenir Québec au pouvoir. « Le gouvernement provincial a décidé de s’emparer de cette question et d’en faire un enjeu de revendication auprès du fédéral », observe-t-elle.

« Et cela se reflète aussi dans la manière dont le public réfléchit à ces questions : plus on parle du fait que les demandeurs d’asile créent des pressions sur les services, plus on augmente l’anxiété dans la population — que ce soit à tort ou à raison, ce n’est pas à moi de le dire. »

C’est aussi que la province voisine s’est « rapidement désengagée de ce dossier », signale-t-elle. Quand les arrivées ont commencé à s’accélérer plus clairement au chemin Roxham en 2017, « l’Ontario a essayé de se mobiliser, mais a dit rapidement que c’est un domaine de compétence fédérale : on ne s’en mêle pas ».

L’enjeu est alors retombé plutôt sur le gouvernement local à Toronto qui a à son tour réclamé du financement à Ottawa, sans que Queen’s Park soit impliqué.   

Étude comparative

Une rare comparaison a été réalisée par les chercheuses Audrey Gagnon et Lindsay Larios, qui ont utilisé les plateformes électorales et la couverture médiatique du Toronto Star et de La Presse entre 1987 et 2018 dans leur analyse.

Fait intéressant : les deux autrices notent qu’au début des années 2000, les politiques d’immigration étaient davantage discutées pendant les campagnes électorales en Ontario qu’au Québec. Mais cette relative importance a diminué à partir de 2010, « peut-être parce que la politisation n’a pas apporté beaucoup de bénéfices électoraux », indiquent-elles dans leur article publié en 2021 dans le Canadian Journal of Political Science.

La trajectoire du Québec montre plutôt une plus grande importance à partir de 2003, en croissance jusqu’à 2018. Ce sont les tensions autour de l’intégration, ainsi qu’une polarisation plus grande, surtout à partir de l’affaire Hérouxville en 2007. Ce n’est qu’ensuite que les candidats aux élections québécoises « ont su exploiter l’inquiétude de la province concernant la préservation de sa langue et de sa culture ».

En Ontario, « la présence des nouveaux arrivants n’est pas considérée comme une menace pour l’identité culturelle, mais plutôt comme une partie intégrante de celle-ci », écrivent-elles.

Le ton et les arguments

« Au Québec, l’attention est plus soutenue qu’épisodique, à cause des questions identitaires », note aussi Andrew Griffith, ancien directeur général au ministère fédéral de l’Immigration.

« Oui, il y a eu un changement notable dans l’opinion publique au Canada, mais on y communique surtout en termes de besoins en logement, et pas de peurs », note celui qui est aussi un associé de l’Institut Environics. Au Québec, le mot « menace » a été associé explicitement à « demandeurs d’asile » par le ministre Roberge dès février 2024, avant qu’il ne soit à l’immigration.

C’est donc sur le fond et sur le ton que les débats sont différents, observe M. Griffith. Mais cette attention n’a pas que du mauvais, au contraire. Dans le reste du Canada, il était presque tabou de parler d’immigration pendant longtemps : « C’est compréhensible, mais c’est aussi malsain. J’ai toujours pensé qu’il était souhaitable d’avoir une discussion basée sur des faits et de réfléchir aux impacts de l’immigration. »

Les demandeurs d’asile étaient aussi en quelque sorte « plus visibles » au Québec. D’une part, parce que les arrivées à la frontière terrestre par le chemin Roxham ont marqué l’imaginaire dès 2017. Mais aussi parce qu’ils se concentrent ensuite surtout à Montréal, alors qu’ils sont plus dispersés en Ontario dans des agglomérations urbaines comme Ottawa, London, Niagara, Waterloo, York, Durham, Peel et Hamilton.

Dans les dernières années, d’autres questions ont également été politisées avant en Ontario, conclut néanmoins Mme Paquet, notamment celle des étudiants internationaux et des collèges privés.

Source: Davantage de demandeurs d’asile en Ontario, mais moins de débats?

For almost two years now, François Legault’s government has been calling for a better distribution of asylum seekers in Canada. One of its key arguments, recently repeated by the Minister of Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, is the fact that Quebec welcomes more asylum seekers than its demographic share in Canada.

In other words, the province represents 22% of the entire Canadian population, but has 40% of all asylum seekers in its territory, according to Statistics Canada.

It’s true, but it’s also the case in Ontario. Good year bad year since at least 2021, the neighboring province has on its territory almost half of the asylum seekers in the country, while its demographic weight is 39%. The data thus show a slightly different history of the political narrative.

Thus, even when Quebec transferred asylum seekers by bus, especially to Ontario, from the summer of 2022 and more intensively in the winter of 2023, the neighboring province already had between 46% and 49% of all applicants in the country.

Quebec has indeed received more asylum applications than its neighbor for several years since 2017; but Ontario has also surpassed it in 2021, in 2024 and for the first four months of 2025. Arrivals are therefore to be distinguished from the number of people present or actually settled in a province.

The phenomenon is also more complex, because it often extends into a secondary migration: the applicants in question can land in Quebec or cross the border to the province, but then move west. Le Devoir had already revealed that between 25% and 33% of asylum seekers with a first address in Quebec then moved to another province.

Politicization

Ontario Premier Doug Ford may have tried to make waves around work permits for asylum seekers at the Federation Council in July, but he retracted a week later. It must be said that the issuance of work permits is now much faster than in 2022 or 2023, i.e. in 45 days, confirmed to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Mr. Ford has also expressed the desire to have more powers in immigration, especially in 2022 to be able to accommodate more skilled workers – and not less. If he mentioned it at the turn of one or two press conferences, he did not use the file in a tug-of-war with Ottawa, unlike in Quebec, where the exchanges even became rather acrimonious.

For Mireille Paquet, a professor at Concordia University, it is difficult to say whether we really talk about it less in Ontario than in Quebec, since she does not know any studies on this issue precisely. “We certainly talk about it differently,” she says, however, recognizing a politicization of immigration specific to Quebec.

His research shows that migration issues are indeed increasingly politicized in Quebec’s political space, and more clearly since the 2018 election, which brought the Coalition avenir Québec to power. “The provincial government has decided to seize this issue and make it a challenge with the federal government,” she observes.

“And this is also reflected in the way the public thinks about these issues: the more we talk about the fact that asylum seekers create pressures on services, the more we increase anxiety in the population – rightly or wrongly, it’s not up to me to say. ”

It is also that the neighboring province has “quickly disengaged from this file,” she says. When arrivals began to accelerate more clearly on Roxham Road in 2017, “Ontario tried to mobilize, but quickly said it was a federal area of competence: we don’t get involved.”

The issue then fell rather on the local government in Toronto, which in turn called for funding in Ottawa, without Queen’s Park being involved.

Comparative study

A rare comparison was made by researchers Audrey Gagnon and Lindsay Larios, who used election platforms and media coverage of the Toronto Star and La Presse between 1987 and 2018 in their analysis.

Interestingly, the two authors note that in the early 2000s, immigration policies were more discussed during election campaigns in Ontario than in Quebec. But this relative importance has decreased since 2010, “perhaps because politicization has not brought many electoral benefits,” they indicate in their 2021 article in the Canadian Journal of Political Science.

The trajectory of Quebec shows rather greater importance from 2003, in growth until 2018. These are the tensions around integration, as well as greater polarization, especially since the Hérouxville affair in 2007. It was only then that the Quebec election candidates “were able to exploit the province’s concern about the preservation of its language and culture”.

In Ontario, “the presence of newcomers is not seen as a threat to cultural identity, but rather as an integral part of it,” they write.

The tone and arguments

“In Quebec, attention is more sustained than episodic, because of identity issues,” notes Andrew Griffith, former Director General at the Federal Ministry of Immigration.

“Yes, there has been a notable change in public opinion in Canada, but we communicate mainly in terms of housing needs, and not fears,” notes the one who is also a partner of the Environics Institute. In Quebec, the word “threat” was explicitly associated with “asylum seekers” by Minister Roberge in February 2024, before he was in immigration.

It is therefore on the substance and on the tone that the debates are different, observes Mr. Griffith But this attention is not only bad, on the contrary. In the rest of Canada, it was almost taboo to talk about immigration for a long time: “It’s understandable, but it’s also unhealthy. I have always thought it was desirable to have a fact-based discussion and to reflect on the impacts of immigration. ”

Asylum seekers were also somehow “more visible” in Quebec. On the one hand, because the arrivals at the land border by Roxham Road marked the imagination as early as 2017. But also because they then concentrate mainly in Montreal, while they are more dispersed in Ontario in urban agglomerations such as Ottawa, London, Niagara, Waterloo, York, Durham, Peel and Hamilton.

In recent years, other issues have also been politicized before in Ontario, however, concludes Ms. Paquet, especially that of international students and private colleges.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , , , , ,

Marco Rubio Once Filed a Brief Embracing Birthright Citizenship

2025/08/19 Leave a comment

While people can legitimately change their minds and positions, the nature of many of the policy reversals by Rubio and others appear more driven by pleasing Trump and being in power than by principle:

In a 2016 court filing, Marco Rubio, then a senator running for president, made the case that the Constitution conferred citizenship on essentially all children born in the United States. His argument was a crisp rendition of what was until recently the consensus understanding.

But the views he expressed are now in tension with an executive order issued by President Trump in January that seeks to restrict birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court seems likely to hear a direct challenge to the order’s constitutionality in the term that starts in October.

The little-noticed court filing helps show how quickly the Republican Party and parts of the mainstream of conservative legal thought have shifted on the issue. It is also a reminder that the question of who is born a citizen may affect eligibility to be president.

Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that “it’s absurd the NYT is even wasting time digging around for decade-old made-up stories,” adding that Mr. Rubio was “100 percent aligned with President Trump’s agenda.”

Source: Marco Rubio Once Filed a Brief Embracing Birthright Citizenship

Filed under Birthright Citizenship, Citizenship Tagged with ,

Immigration temporaire« Je prie tous les jours »

2025/08/19 Leave a comment

A really nice series in La Presse capturing the regional realities of Temporary Foreign Workers in Quebec regions, this one being Mont-Tremblant and the Fairmont employees:

Située au cœur des Laurentides, Mont-Tremblant est la troisième destination touristique du Québec. Réputée pour sa station de ski, son village piétonnier, son parc national et ses nombreuses activités de plein air, la ville attire chaque année plus de trois millions de visiteurs.

Derrière cette vitrine, une réalité plus fragile : l’économie locale repose en partie sur une main-d’œuvre immigrante.

Au Fairmont Tremblant, quelque 60 des 277 employés détiennent un statut temporaire. L’hôtel loge plusieurs d’entre eux dans des maisons qu’il loue à Saint-Jovite, un secteur de la ville.

« Quand on fait venir des personnes de l’étranger, on est capables de les loger dans nos maisons de manière temporaire, explique Julie Labelle, directrice adjointe aux ressources humaines. On les accompagne de A à Z. »

Mais depuis que le gouvernement fédéral a imposé une nouvelle règle limitant à 10 % le nombre d’employés temporaires à bas salaire – soit ceux payés moins de 34,62 $ l’heure – que chaque entreprise peut embaucher, tout est paralysé.

« On dépasse déjà ce ratio, souligne Julie Labelle. On ne peut donc pas renouveler leurs permis. »

« Un petit coin de paradis »

Adelina Rebelo, 55 ans, est arrivée du Brésil en juillet 2023. Son fils Lucas, 29 ans, l’a rejointe quelques mois plus tard. Tous deux ont été embauchés à l’hôtel : elle comme femme de chambre, lui comme équipier à l’entretien ménager.

« Quand j’ai vu Mont-Tremblant, je me suis dit : mon Dieu, on va travailler dans un petit coin de paradis », dit-elle dans un français impeccable.

Avant de venir au Québec, elle a vécu huit ans en Suisse, puis est retournée au Brésil, où la violence l’a rattrapée. « On a subi trois vols à main armée à la maison. J’ai vu les bandits avec un revolver sur la tête de mon fils, comme ça. »

Convaincue par des amis brésiliens installés à Montréal, elle a quitté São Paulo. Aujourd’hui, elle se sent bien et souhaite rester au Québec pour de bon.

Le Fairmont Tremblant, comme d’autres employeurs de la région, se retrouve dans une impasse. La limite fédérale empêche de renouveler les permis… et d’embaucher à nouveau.

Est-ce que l’hôtel pourrait fonctionner sans ces employés temporaires ?

« Non, répond Julie Labelle. Il faudrait fermer des restaurants, restreindre des heures d’ouverture, peut-être réduire des chambres, nos disponibilités. »

Pour elle, leur contribution dépasse largement la logistique.

« C’est ça qui enrichit l’environnement de travail. Ils apportent tous leur petite touche. » 

Ça apporte une richesse dans l’hôtel pour le service à la clientèle. On a des employés qui parlent plusieurs langues. Des fois, c’est pratique.

 Julie Labelle, directrice adjointe aux ressources humaines du Fairmont Tremblant

Julie Labelle est catégorique : « On veut les garder, et eux veulent rester. »

Adelina, elle, garde espoir. « Je vais rester ici jusqu’au dernier jour », dit-elle.

Source: Immigration temporaire « Je prie tous les jours »

Located in the heart of the Laurentians, Mont-Tremblant is the third tourist destination in Quebec. Renowned for its ski resort, pedestrian village, national park and many outdoor activities, the city attracts more than three million visitors every year.

Behind this showcase, a more fragile reality: the local economy is partly based on an immigrant workforce.

At Fairmont Tremblant, some 60 of the 277 employees have temporary status. The hotel houses several of them in houses that he rents in Saint-Jovite, an area of the city.

“When we bring people from abroad, we are able to house them in our homes on a temporary basis,” explains Julie Labelle, Assistant Director of Human Resources. We accompany them from A to Z. ”

But since the federal government imposed a new rule limiting the number of low-wage temporary employees to 10% – those paid less than $34.62 per hour – that each company can hire, everything has been paralyzed.

“We already exceed this ratio,” says Julie Labelle. We cannot therefore renew their permits. ”

“A little corner of paradise”

Adelina Rebelo, 55, arrived from Brazil in July 2023. Her son Lucas, 29, joined her a few months later. Both were hired at the hotel: she as a maid, he as a housekeeping team member.

“When I saw Mont-Tremblant, I said to myself: my God, we are going to work in a little corner of paradise,” she said in impeccable French.

Before coming to Quebec, she lived eight years in Switzerland, then returned to Brazil, where violence caught up with her. “We suffered three armed robberies at home. I saw the bandits with a revolver on my son’s head, like that. ”

Convinced by Brazilian friends living in Montreal, she left São Paulo. Today, she feels good and wants to stay in Quebec for good.

The Fairmont Tremblant, like other employers in the region, finds itself at an impasse. The federal limit prevents you from renewing permits… and hiring again.

Could the hotel operate without these temporary employees?

“No,” answers Julie Labelle. We should close restaurants, restrict opening hours, maybe reduce rooms, our availability. ”

For her, their contribution goes far beyond logistics.

“This is what enriches the work environment. They all bring their little touch. ”

It brings a wealth in the hotel for customer service. Sometimes it’s convenient.

Julie Labelle, Assistant Director of Human Resources at Fairmont Tremblant

Julie Labelle is categorical: “We want to keep them, and they want to stay. ”

Adelina, on the other hand, remains hopeful. “I will stay here until the last day,” she says.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , , ,

Family paid smugglers to reunite after separation by CBSA at Quebec border

2025/08/19 Leave a comment

Does appear to be an unnecessary disconnect:

A Haitian family was separated at the Quebec-U.S. border this spring due to what an immigration lawyer calls a “legal glitch” some fear could become a wider problem as more migrants flee the United States into Canada. 

The family attempted to enter Canada at the official land crossing in Lacolle, Que., in March, according to immigration documents. 

After reviewing their case, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers allowed only the father in because he has a close relative in Canada. His pregnant wife and seven-year-old daughter were turned away.

Three weeks later, facing pregnancy complications, the mother paid smugglers nearly $4,000 to get herself and her daughter across the border on foot through melting snow to reunite with the father. 

“The border agent should never have separated that family,” said Paule Robitaille, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer who has been working on their case. 

Advocates and lawyers fear family separation could become more common as more migrants in the United States seek asylum in Canada through exceptions outlined in a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Canada, and border services face pressure to limit the number of arrivals. 

Smuggling only option, says father

The father says the family decided to come to Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to end a humanitarian program his predecessor Joe Biden created to prevent people from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from being deported due to turmoil in their countries. 

It’s under that program that the man’s wife and daughter arrived in the U.S. in 2024, three years after he claimed asylum there. 

CBC has agreed not to name the family due to threats the couple have faced in Haiti related to denouncing corruption and sexual violence through their work.

…Restricting access to asylum 

Typically, the close-relative exception to the STCA allows families to enter together; whichever person has the relative in Canada becomes their spouse and children’s anchor, said Maureen Silcoff, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer and former decision-maker at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). 

“People who are turned back at the border in this type of circumstance are subject to what I would call a legal glitch,” Silcoff said, referring to the Haitian family’s situation. 

She believes the glitch is an oversight in the definition of anchor relative outlined in the Safe Third Country Agreement — which doesn’t include pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) applicants like the father. 

It’s a complicated technicality that could prevent people with valid reasons to seek protection in Canada from being able to have their cases considered, both Robitaille and Silcoff say….

Source: Family paid smugglers to reunite after separation by CBSA at Quebec border

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Coyne: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!

2025/08/18 Leave a comment

Valid points. Mandatory immunization provides another example:

…Nothing in the decision obliges the government to build new bicycle lanes. As such it involves no “positive rights,” which conservatives are right to oppose. It simply requires that before a government takes the extraordinary step of ordering the removal of lanes that have already been built – an action guaranteed to cost some lives and put many more in peril – it ought at least to have some basis in evidence or logic for doing so.

That’s arguable, but it’s not crazy. To be sure, ordinarily we leave the balancing of risks and returns to governments to figure out. The exception in law is where rights are involved. And of these the right to life is surely the most fundamental.

Again, let’s compare the Nova Scotia case. I don’t get to take a stroll in the woods for a couple of months, at a time of severe fire risk, versus I am put permanently at risk of getting killed, to save car drivers a couple of minutes off their route – which it won’t even do! 

These are the sorts of distinctions conservatives used to be able to make without difficulty. What happened?

Source: A government can’t kill people for no reason? When will this judicial madness end?!

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Ottawa has duty to ensure welfare of Canadians in ICE custody, advocates say

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Valid question but government always faces such criticism with respect to consular services:

The growing number of Canadian citizens detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is disturbing and raises questions about whether Ottawa is doing enough to ensure the well-being of Canadians in custody, experts say, after revelations that Canadian children as young as two years old have been held for weeks in immigration detention this year….

Julia Sande, a lawyer with Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section, said The Globe’s findings are “horrifying and deeply disturbing.” She said the Canadian government’s comments are cause for significant concern.

“What does due process look like for a toddler?” she said. “Canada can say it can’t interfere in other countries, but what steps is Canada taking to ensure that its citizens, including its toddler citizens’ rights are being upheld?” she said….

Sharry Aiken, a professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law, said the use of immigration detention in the U.S. has long been concerning, but the Trump administration has introduced a “dramatic intensification” of the practice. 

That includes detaining long-time residents of the United States.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, had told The Globe in a statement that: “Allegations of subprime conditions at these facilities are FALSE.” …

Ottawa human-rights lawyer Paul Champ said that although there may be standards on paper, consular assistance for Canadian detainees abroad is, in his experience representing Canadians detained abroad, inconsistent, opaque and influenced by the politics between the two countries in question.

“These reports of the conditions of confinement are quite appalling, and Canada should be seriously concerned about that and taking action,” he said….

Source: Ottawa has duty to ensure welfare of Canadians in ICE custody, advocates say

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Globe editorial: Cheap excuses for betraying free speech, Lederman

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Agreed:

…The other disturbing commonality is that officials are failing to reflexively protect the invaluable right to freedom of artistic and political expression in Canada.

We have no doubt that if noisy protesters demanded the withdrawal of a TIFF movie because of its glorification of violence, TIFF officials would be the first to stand up for the filmmaker’s right to artistic expression. 

But when it comes to telling stories or singing songs that some deem offensive, that reflex has been replaced by a knee-jerk run for cover.

This is an alarming development in Canada. In difficult times, we need people in positions of authority to stand up for freedom of expression – not look for excuses to abandon it. That never ends well for anyone.

Source: Cheap excuses for betraying free speech

And Marsha Lederman’s take, TIFF’s latest censorship controversy is more than just a tiff. It’s existential:

…All of this has created not just chasms in the arts community and a chill on artistic expression, but a disincentive for organizations considering ponying up to support the arts. You want your brand associated with something positive and meaningful: a literary prize, a film festival, maybe a theatre festival that claims to push the boundaries. (Vancouver’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival also caved to dissenters, cancelling the Canadian play The Runner last year.) But shell out money to get embroiled in this? In this economy?

The arts are in trouble and need corporate support. The world is in trouble and needs art to guide and inform, and artists who help us understand the issues and inspire us to be brave and fight for what’s right.

Which is something TIFF should be doing.



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Un an plus tard, certaines «communautés francophones accueillantes» hors Québec ne sont pas encore en place

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Of note. Has drawn criticism given dilution of Express Entry CRS along with other speciality draws:

L’expansion du réseau des communautés francophones accueillantes devait donner un coup d’accélérateur à l’intégration des nouveaux arrivants francophones à l’extérieur du Québec. Un an plus tard, des dix nouvelles communautés désignées, quatre n’ont toujours pas officiellement lancé leurs programmes en la matière.

Une CFA, c’est un endroit pointé par le fédéral comme une région toute désignée pour accueillir des immigrants qui veulent obtenir, dès leur arrivée au Canada, des services en français, sans nécessairement s’installer au Québec.

Parfois, « les personnes ont des projets d’immigration au Canada sans avoir une idée précise d’où ils désirent s’installer », explique Benjamin Mulaji Mukadi, coordonnateur de la CFA de Cornwall (Ontario). Les CFA agissent alors à titre de guides. Mais leur mandat va au-delà de cet accueil initial. Les CFA visent aussi à offrir aux nouveaux arrivants une gamme de services adaptés, comme le soutien à la recherche de logement et d’emploi, l’accompagnement scolaire pour les enfants, des activités communautaires en français et des occasions de réseautage.

Leur objectif est donc double : faciliter l’intégration dès les premiers mois, mais aussi inciter les familles à s’établir durablement dans des régions moins connues, plutôt que dans de grands centres urbains, comme Toronto ou Vancouver, pour ainsi renforcer la présence francophone un peu partout au pays.

24 CFA au pays

Il y a un an, Marc Miller a annoncé qu’en plus des 14 « communautés francophones accueillantes » déjà en activité dans le cadre d’un projet pilote, 10 autres municipalités allaient recevoir des fonds pour établir une structure d’accueil propre à l’immigration francophone. Il a alors nommé Nanaimo, Rivière-Rouge, Chéticamp, Belle-Baie, Caraquet, la région de Restigouche-Ouest, Prince Albert, Cornwall, le district de Cochrane et London comme nouvelles CFA.

Depuis, six d’entre elles ont officiellement lancé leurs programmes. Elles ont des pages Web, elles offrent des services avant et après l’installation des immigrants chez eux et elles organisent régulièrement des activités. Parmi elles, les CFA de Prince Albert (Saskatchewan) et de Cornwall ont donné le coup d’envoi de leurs activités à la fin juin, ce qui marquait la fin de plusieurs mois de préparation et la mise en place d’outils concrets dans leurs régions respectives, ont-elles relaté au Devoir.

Quatre autres communautés, elles, sont encore en phase de préparation : Rivière-Rouge (Manitoba), la région de Restigouche-Ouest (Nouveau-Brunswick), le district de Cochrane (Ontario) et London (Ontario). Officiellement désignées comme CFA il y a un an, elles n’ont toutefois pas encore lancé leurs programmes ni commencé à offrir de services.

Dans chacune de ces communautés, la mise en place d’une équipe, la conclusion de partenariats locaux et la planification des premières activités sont toujours en cours. Les acteurs impliqués affirment vouloir prendre le temps nécessaire pour bâtir des structures solides, capables de soutenir l’intégration francophone sur le long terme. Ils prévoient des lancements très prochainement.

Francophonie canadienne

L’annonce d’août dernier s’inscrivait dans l’effort du gouvernement libéral d’encourager l’immigration francophone hors Québec. L’objectif était alors d’octroyer 6 % des résidences permanentes à des personnes dont le français est la première langue officielle. Depuis, cette cible a évolué, Mark Carney ayant notamment lancé en campagne électorale vouloir atteindre 12 % d’immigration francophone hors Québec d’ici 2029. Cet objectif a ensuite été repris par la nouvelle ministre fédérale de l’Immigration, Lena Metlege Diab.

Ces politiques font partie d’une stratégie à long terme visant à stabiliser, voire à faire croître, le poids démographique des communautés francophones en milieu minoritaire, affirme le gouvernement fédéral. Les prochains mois devraient donc montrer si le déploiement des nouvelles CFA suivra le rythme nécessaire à l’atteinte des cibles souhaitées par Ottawa.

Source: Un an plus tard, certaines «communautés francophones accueillantes» hors Québec ne sont pas encore en place

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

Former justice minister Irwin Cotler calls on Israel to end war, starvation in Gaza

2025/08/16 Leave a comment

Better late than never:

Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler has joined thousands of Jews calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war and starvation in Gaza.

The longtime human rights activist is a staunch supporter of Israel and has faced death threats from Iran over his support for the Jewish state and democracy worldwide. He has signed an open letter saying Netanyahu is jeopardizing peace at home and abroad.

“The policies and rhetoric of the government you lead are doing lasting damage to Israel, its standing in the world and the prospects of secure peace for all Israelis and Palestinians,” the letter reads.

“This has severe consequences for Israel but also for the well-being, security and unity of Jewish communities around the world.”

The letter, organized by a group called the London Initiative, calls Israel’s aid restrictions on Gaza “a moral and strategic disaster” that hands a “propaganda victory to Hamas” and undermines the important work of countering Hamas and Iran.

“We do not deny the despicable role of Hamas in stealing aid and preventing its distribution, but nor can we reject the evidence of our eyes and ears as to the extent of the human suffering and the role of your government’s policies in it,” the signatories argue.

The letter also calls out Israel’s failure to suppress settler violence, which it says has helped fuel the current “diplomatic tsunami” of criticism from Israel’s historical peers.

“If Israel’s military, when given the bold order by you, can send a missile through a window in Tehran to take out an Iranian general with unerring accuracy, it surely has the ability to maintain order in the West Bank, prevent Jewish extremist violence, protect Palestinian civilians and apply the law,” the letter says.

The letter also calls out rhetoric used by Netanyahu’s cabinet ministers that it describes as “a moral abomination and a chilul hashem — a desecration of Jewish values and Israel’s founding principles.”

It cites the example of Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who said his government is “erasing Gaza” and that the territory will be entirely Jewish.

Netanyahu governs with a coalition that includes Jewish supremacist parties which have cited religion to advocate for policies widely seen as ethnic cleansing.

“Members of your government have used language of racism, hatred and incitement without censure,” the letter reads.

“Any opportunity to release all the hostages must be seized, and prioritized above appeasing extremist members of your coalition.”

The letter warns that this “language of incitement” erodes efforts to strengthen Jews’ ties to Israel and is “undermining Jewish communities as we face a surge in antisemitic, antizionist hate.”

The letter was also signed by Canadian philanthropist Charles Bronfman, one of the founders of the Birthright program, which sends Jewish youth on trips to Israel.

Its listed signatories also include prominent Canadian professors and volunteers with projects like the New Israel Fund and the Herzl Project, though it notes that the signatories are speaking as individuals and not on behalf of their institutions.

Netanyahu does not appear to have responded directly to the letter since it was made public a week ago, though he defended the war on Sunday, saying Israel’s only choice is to completely defeat Hamas.

Source: Former justice minister Irwin Cotler calls on Israel to end war, starvation in Gaza

Filed under foreign policy, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , ,

Yakabuski – It’s official: The Supreme Court’s ruling on Bill 21 will be one for the ages

2025/08/15 Leave a comment

Indeed:

…Nevertheless, the fact that two provincial appeal courts have now come to contradictory decisions touching on the judicial review of laws shielded by the notwithstanding clause means the Supreme Court must inevitably settle the issue. 

Its ruling on Bill 21 will hence carry widespread implications for governments across Canada, either freeing them to employ the notwithstanding clause with impunity, or subjecting them to potential rebuke – in the form of judicial declarations – if they invoke Section 33.

It remains unclear whether the Supreme Court will render its decision before Quebeckers go to the polls next year. Even so, with the Parti Québécois seeking to build on its momentum after another decisive by-election win this week, the Supreme Court case on Bill 21 will figure prominently in the sovereigntist party’s campaign pitch to francophone voters. PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said the Supreme Court’s move to grant leave to appeal to Bill 21’s opponents “confirms to us that the federal regime is determined to combat Quebeckers’ democratic choices.” 

How much will the top court take into consideration a potential political backlash in Quebec in determining whether to overturn the Quebec Court of Appeal’s ruling on Bill 21? With the PQ on track for a stunning comeback in the 2026 vote, increasing the likelihood of another sovereignty referendum by 2030, the question has to be on the judges’ minds. 

Source: It’s official: The Supreme Court’s ruling on Bill 21 will be one for the ages

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

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