Billets en vedette

Immigrants Left High and Dry on The Rock

arij — Wed, 21 May 2014 14:24:52 +0000

Lack of support forces newcomers out of Newfoundland

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND—When refugee claimants arrive in St. John's, Newfoundland, Jose Rivera, executive director of the Refugee and Immigration Advisory Council (RIAC), tells them to go to another province. "Don't go to the airport," he says, "just grab a bus and go to Halifax or anywhere else you can reach."

The reason is simple. There is no one in Newfoundland to help claimants through the different levels of bureaucracy. A 2009 study funded by the Harris Centre at Memorial University reveals a troubling lack of information being shared with newcomers. In a survey of 47 immigrants and international students, only 36.2% had received information on how to contact immigration agencies.

"Services are there," says Rivera, "but you have to get there knowing what you don't know, so you can ask the question you don't know how to ask." He speaks from experience: when he came to Newfoundland with his family as a Colombian refugee in 2002, he was unable to find steady work despite his business background. His organization is a non-profit NGO that assists new Canadians with services such as English language classes, sponsorship contacts, deportation intervention and sanctuary support.

The 2009 study found that less than half of those surveyed had received information on how to access medical services and how to find housing. Only 19% had received information on how to get prior education or credentials assessed and obtain Canadian equivalents for international qualifications.

Legal services for newcomers are also paltry. Only two legal aid staff lawyers in Newfoundland handle approximately 60 to 70 immigration and refugee law cases a year and they do not even work exclusively in immigration and refugee law, running a mixed practice that also includes criminal, family and poverty law.

The single available immigration lawyer in Newfoundland, Meghan Felt with McInnes Cooper, rarely works with refugees, instead mostly working on business immigration and helping residents sponsor family members and spouses.

"The biggest problem is that when people come here, they just don't know where to go," says Felt.

The claim process for new refugees can also drag on for several years. "You submit your application, and that gets sent to either Ottawa or the Canadian embassy of your home country, but then there's no one to talk to you," explains Felt. "They end up not filling in the right documentation and they get rejected or they have to appeal, and the whole process can drag on for up to five years."

Legal aid does not even have translators or interpreters on staff for immigration or refugee law work. Instead, staff lawyers hire private translators or interpreters, meaning they must often rely on telephone conversations with translators and interpreters in Ontario.

Newfoundland consistently ranks as the worst province for refugee and immigration retention. A 2005 study prepared for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Coordinating Committee on Newcomer Integration showed that between 1991 and 2001, only 36% of Newfoundland's immigrants stayed in the province, well below the national retention average of 82%.

Contrasting the lack of support for newcomers in Newfoundland is the major labour shortage facing the province over the next decade. A 2011 provincial government report from the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment estimated there will be 70,000 new job openings by 2020.

The problem is such that the local business community in the province is also speaking out, including the St. John's Board of Trade, which has advocated for increasing immigration.

"We need a population growth strategy," says CEO Nancy Healey.

"Newfoundland isn't being pro-active like other provinces," she explains. "We need to bring in people to help with demographic challenges and the labour market."

When asked to comment on the situation, the Newfoundland Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism did not return our repeated calls.

Rivera's initial struggles as a refugee prompted him to take the lead of RIAC and support other immigrants, but he is one of the few that elect to stay in the province.

"Government is almost impenetrable," he bemoans.

RIAC strives to improve diversity in Newfoundland by hosting various events aimed at educating the local community on how newcomers can participate in Newfoundland's economy and culture. After all, with a declining birthrate and steady emigration, Newfoundland needs new Newfoundlanders. As a former refugee-claimant and now proudly integrated Newfoundlander, Rivera knows this more than anyone.

Brad Dunne (@BradDunne1796) is a freelance writer currently located in St. John's, Newfoundland.

In March, You Pitch! Write for The Dominion this month!

arij — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 13:48:23 +0000

Dear Contributors,

It seems that every February comes with the feeling that the old guard is crumbling and new energy is lurching. Fires are lit and the grassroots transmits.

We need you to keep uncovering the stories! Pitch for the May/June 2014 issue ofThe Dominion.

Talk to us about environmental regulations, systemic racism, surveillance and harrassment, safer spaces or migrant justice actions! Whatever the issue, we want to hear about it from you.

We can pay for two news stories at $100 a piece this time around.

If you're interested in writing for us, you can submit your pitch online here. We accept several articles every month; two of which we'll pay $100 for. We also offer in-kind payments like subscriptions and online advertising. Accepted articles will be published at mediacoop.ca, and most will also be featured in The Dominion, our bi-monthly print magazine.

We accept stories of national interest, including those about Canada’s role in international affairs. If it's an international story, tell us what the Canadian angle will be. If the story focuses on a particular city or region of Canada, tell us why it's of interest to a national audience. Priority will be given to articles that are evergreen and will be of long-term interest and value to our readers. Bear in mind pieces go through several weeks of editing before publication.

Pitches are welcome from anyone, with priority for payment going to our contributor members (those who have previously contributed to The Dominion or the co-op. Contact us for more info about membership).

Please read over past content to get an idea of what we publish. It’s also a good idea to make sure you’re not covering a topic we’ve recently covered, unless there is a new angle or update. Consider what other media has covered the topic you are pitching and from what perspective. Be sure your pitch is news-focused, rather than opinion or academic. We like both of those forms, but they’re not what we publish. Think about your sources and interviewees—this is something we consider seriously when reviewing pitches.

We have a fairly extensive editorial process, with two editors assigned to each piece, plus fact-checking and copy editing. Please only pitch to us if you are open and available to work with us through this process.

We prioritize pitches that incorporate reader suggestions, which can be found here.

Deadline for pitches: March 3 at midnight
Response to pitches by: March 5
First drafts due: March 15
Final copy due: March 31

How to pitch:

▪ Set up a Media Co-op account (if you don’t already have one) here.
▪ New to journalism? No problem. Check out our writer’s guide for more information about writing for The Dominion.
▪ Peruse the Media Co-op discussion page for story ideas.
▪ And finally, pitch!
▪ Click here for info about making a video pitch. Questions about pitching a video news clip?Contact us.

The deal:

Pitches should be less than 200 words and include your planned sources and research. An entire story submitted as a pitch will not be considered for payment. The Media Co-op currently pays a flat rate of $100 for accepted stories. Articles are either 720 or 1500 words. See the video guidelines for length of videos.

Editors reserve the right to suggest changes and edit stories (with your participation, of course!) Pitches should capture the content, tone and style of the story you plan to submit; if the content submitted differs significantly from the pitch, editors reserve the right to withhold payment. We accept pitches at any time, so if these deadlines don’t work for you, please consider contributing at a later date.

We look forward to your story proposals!

The Media Co-op Editorial Collective

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Crime and punishment : Harper’s punitive approach

arij — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:23:58 +0000

Though the conservatives never hid their intention to get tough on crime, the punitive approach they advocate is relentlessly denounced by criminologists and jurists. It seems also likely to exacerbate the overrepresentation of Indigenous women in Canadian prisons.

Since the conservative party acquired the majority in the House of Commons, five different bills related to the criminal justice system were passed. By itself, the omnibus bill C-10 on « safe streets and communities » targets over 200 criminal provisions. Though the conservatives never hid their intention to get tough on crime, the punitive approach they advocate is relentlessly denounced by criminologists and jurists. It seems also likely to exacerbate the overrepresentation of Indigenous women in Canadian prisons.

In June 2011, during his speech from the Throne opening the new parliamentary session, Prime Minister Stephen Harper assured Canadians that his government will « move quickly to reintroduce comprehensive law-and-order legislation.» Indeed, the crime bills previously introduced by the conservatives almost all died, with each one stumbling on the majority’s opposition.

In their political platform, the conservatives deplore that their « reforms » have been obstructed « for the sake of an out-of-touch ideology that makes apologies for criminals.» Once in the majority, they reoffend : C-10 is reintroduced, and it reiterates word for word, the provisions of nine defeated bills. The law was enacted last March, only a hundred days after its initial presentation.

Minimal sentencing

For the most part, Bill C-10 lenghtens some mandatory minimum sentences already prescribed in the Criminal Code. It also creates new ones for drug-related offenses. For example, a person found guilty of cultivating more than six plants of marijuana can be sentenced to a minimum of six months in prison. One for each plant, so to speak.

By imposing the mandatory minimum sentences, the governement curtails the function of the judges at trial. According to the principles set out in the Criminal Code, the judge has to impose a sentence that is « proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of the responsibility of the offender.» After that balancing exercice, the judge can decide that incarceration is not an appropriate sentence for the offender and instead choose an alternative, like for example, a sentence to be served in the community.

Now that the law imposes mandatory minimum sentence in a correctional facility, the judge has both hands tied : there is not enough room to maneuver and adapt the proper sentence to the offense committed. The judge is forced to impose that minimum sentence, regardless of the offender’s specific situation or crime.

In its brief on Bill C-10, the Québec Bar was categorical. Written in French, the document describes the changes as « an important step-back », denounces the « unintended consequences» it may have, and deplores this « form of intrusion of the legislative power in what usually belongs to the judicial power.»

The Canadian Criminal Justice Association highlights that the severity of a sentence does not have a deterrent effect : « offenders simply do not consider the length of sentence when deciding whether or not to commit an offense. Rather, their concern lies with whether or not they will be caught and punished for the offense,» they wrote in a position paper published on their website.

A broader punitive shift

Aside from the mandatory minimum sentences, C-10 harshens the rules for conditional sentences, which allow a convicted person to serve time in the community by restricting its availability for certain offenses. The rules governing conditional releases were also hardened.

Other changes affect the actual Youth Criminal Justice Act to facilitate the detention of young offenders. This approach stands against the overall intent of a law concerned with the rehabilitation and the social reinsertion of teenagers from fourteen to seventeen years old, away from the adult criminal system. With the changes brought by C-10, teenagers charged with a crime on property, like theft, could face five years in prison.

The punitive shift can be observed all the way to the application for pardon. This procedure allows a convicted person who completed their sentence to ask for the removal of all information to their conviction in their criminal record. Before C-10, an eligible person had to wait from three to five years, depending on the nature of the crime, before applying for a pardon. Now, the waiting time is from five to ten years. Application fees were also recently increased from $150 to $631.

Overpopulated jails…

For many observers, these changes might increase prison population. Yet, they are introduced at a time where Canadian correctional facilities are overcrowded.

Correctional officers are increasingly worried by the consequences of the overpopulation on their working conditions. In a recent press release, Pierre Mallette, the National President of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers denounced the situation. « The government is locking up more inmates in fewer prisons while giving us less resources to rehabilitate them. This is a recipe for disaster,» he stressed.

In 2010, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives was already reporting the worries of correctional officers working in facilities where they aggregate all types of offenders, be they murderers or shoplifters.

… with a marginalized population

The conservatives « tough-on-crime » approach affects mostly the traditionally marginalized groups. Indeed, in Canada, indigenous women are the fastest-growing demographic in prisons.

According to the Elizabeth Fry Association, a community organisation helping women who have problems with the criminal justice system, the number of women in federal facilities increased by fifty percent in the past decade. As for indigenous women, their number increased by ninety percent during the same period according to Public Safety Canada.

Data from Native Women’s Association of Canada indicates that in 2011, Indigenous women represented less than four percent of the Canadian population, but accounted for thirty four percent of the female population in prisons—numbers gathered from the annual report of the Correctional Investigator and Statistics Canada.

The report « Marginalized : The Aboriginal Women’s experience in Federal Corrections,» made public on September 27 is just as compelling. Prepared by The Wesley Group and published by Public Safety Canada, it highlights that the « Federal Government’s "Tough on Crime Agenda" does nothing to ameliorate the disproportionate rates at which Aboriginal peoples are incarcerated—quite the opposite… the federal government’s current plan will only serve to further increase the numbers.»

In this context, it seems unlikely that the punitive strategies put in place by the conservatives in the name of law and order will result in something more positive than an exacerabation of the systemic problems of overpopulation or continued marginalization and overrepresentation of Indigenous women in Canadian prisons.

Arij Riahi is a legally-trained writer based in Montreal.

This article was originally published in French for the Journal des Alternatives and it has been translated by the author.