Filici-Palacio Immigration News Archives
Here are important issuse regarding immigration in Canada.
Canada could lose multiculturalism, critics warn
Toronto : 2008.04.09
Michael Oliveira - The Canadian Press
Canada is signalling to the world that it views immigrants as commodities and not people, ethnic groups warned Tuesday as they voiced concerns about controversial legislation that they say could threaten the country's tradition of multiculturalism and diversity.
The proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act would give Ottawa new power to fast-track certain types of applicants, especially highly sought after skilled workers, and give lower priority to others.
Many visible-minority communities – which added up to five million residents according to the latest census – fear the proposed changes would result in some immigrants being discriminated against and judged only as commodities, said Sima Sahar Zerehi of the group Status Now.
"Canadian immigration is being totally reverted from a system that is based on a humanitarian basis to a system that is totally being catered to economic gains," said Zerehi, who is Iranian and came to Canada as a refugee.
"Immigrants are being stripped of humanity and viewed as strictly economic units – and they can then be discarded when they're no longer useful."
The new policy could spell the demise of well-established ethnic communities that would shrink instead of grow as new immigration priorities are established, she said. And eventually, some ethnic cultures could disappear almost entirely from Canadian society as a result, she added.
The Conservatives have included the immigration measures in its larger budget-implementation bill, which is a confidence matter that would trigger an election if the opposition parties voted it down.
The government's sudden move to change its immigration policies and the seemingly secretive nature of the plan is creating worry and anxiety in ethnic communities, said Victor Wong of the Canadian-Chinese National Council.
"It's a lack of transparency that's caused this climate of distrust among the community organizations and that's why you're hearing so many complaints about this," Wong said.
The government should withdraw the proposed amendments for now, release a discussion paper outlining why it wants to change the legislation, and then consult ethnic communities before going any further, Wong said Tuesday at a hearing of the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.
"This has been the process in the past," he said.
Although Immigration Minister Diane Finley hadn't publicly stated exactly which skill sets would be sought after and what types of candidates would be less valued, on Tuesday the government revealed how it would prioritize and process applications received after Feb. 27.
Priority occupations would be based on input from provinces and territories, the Bank of Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, employers, and organized labour, the government said in a release.
The new system would make decisions on cases faster, meet immediate labour market needs and comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by not discriminating against applicants based on race, country of origin or religion, the release added.
But Vilma Filici, president of the Canadian Hispanic Congress, said she is still concerned about the lack of known details about the plan and whether it would result in less people from Latin America and the Hispanic world being welcomed into Canada.
"There is a fear that we're going to give the government absolute power to decide who comes in, at their discretion," she said. "It seems like it will become a very arbitrary process and that makes us all feel very uncomfortable and fearful."
Zeheri said she's worried the Liberals will not vote against the immigration amendments because they don't want to face an election any time soon.
If the bill passes the legislative amendments wouldn't be enacted overnight and the public, stakeholders and the opposition will have many opportunities to provide input to the government, said Ed Komarnicki, the Conservative MP for Souris-Moose Mountain in Saskatchewan.
Komarnicki, who attended the committee hearing in Toronto on Tuesday, defended the amendments as a much-needed fix to the status quo, which is in desperate need of repair.
"Things need to change and we need to do it now, not years down the road," he said.
Read MoreWatchdog needs teeth
Toronto : 2007.06.18
Nicholas Keung, Jim Rankin
People who hope to call Canada home often seek advice from immigration consultants to fulfil their dreams. But consultants who are incompetent, negligent or unscrupulous can destroy dreams, tarnish Canada's image, and burden taxpayers by clogging the system with applicants who don't stand a chance. Three years after Ottawa set up a self-regulating body meant to clean up the lucrative industry and protect vulnerable newcomers, a Star investigation finds that little has changed. The regulatory body says the future looks bright, but it lacks a big stick.
Read MoreHow to stay in Canada by cooking up a story
Toronto : 2007.06.17
Nicholas Keung, Surya Bhattacharya, Jim Rankin
People who hope to call Canada home often seek advice from immigration consultants to fulfil their dreams. But consultants who are incompetent, negligent or unscrupulous can destroy dreams, tarnish Canada's image, and burden taxpayers by clogging the system with applicants who don't stand a chance. Three years after Ottawa set up a self-regulating body meant to clean up the lucrative industry and protect vulnerable newcomers, a Star investigation finds that little has changed. In fact, some things today may be worse.
Read MoreLost in migration
Toronto : 2007.06.16
Nicholas Keung, Jim Rankin
A Mexican family responds to an Internet pitch, arrives in Toronto with the name and number of a stranger and instructions to stay at a hotel. The man collects 10 crisp $100 U.S. bills, cooks up a fake refugee claim and disappears.
Read MoreFirst step toward fixing an ineffective system
Toronto : 2007.06.07
Pedro Barata, Vilma Filici, Victor Wong
Working-class immigrants need not apply!
Although these words do not actually show up on Canadian immigration application forms, they might as well. After all, carpenters, plumbers, cleaners, hotel workers and others eager to fill positions in industries that are desperate for new recruits don't have a prayer of qualifying for permanent residency under Canada's points-based immigration system.
Yesterday, Ottawa took the first important step toward rectifying this situation. Parliament passed a motion to put a moratorium on further deportations and to seek sensible solutions aimed at regularizing the status of undocumented migrants and finally overhauling the immigration and refugee determination system.
The motion, which was passed by a 147 to 115 vote, with most of those opposing it being Conservative MPs, presents a forthright recognition that Canada's immigration system is unsustainable and that many sectors in our economy would suffer without the contributions of today's undocumented migrants.
Immigrant groups, employers, labour unions and faith communities will now be watching closely to ensure that Parliament puts its words into action.
The urgency of the situation certainly calls for decisiveness. Although precise numbers are unavailable, it is estimated that thousands of undocumented migrants live, work and attend schools wherever employment gaps are glaring throughout Canada.
Without their contributions, construction sites for condos, residential homes, new industrial developments, new factories and office buildings could well shut down by the end of the week. The food industry would likely grind to a halt. Maintenance of our homes, office towers and hotels as well as many other industries would be crippled.
How did we get to this point? Who made up a points system that excludes the very people that are needed by our economy? And who decided that the only worthy economic migrants to Canada are those with university degrees, high technical skills, or plenty of money?
Behind the scenes, policy-makers have effectively admitted that the current system can no longer be justified on logical grounds and are now floating options such as the expansion of temporary worker permits.
While this approach may address some labour market pressures in the short term, the reality is that it will do little to resolve the ongoing shortcomings of the points-based immigration system.
Why are policy-makers so reluctant to engage in a discussion about whether or not our current immigration strategy is working?
After all, immigration is fundamental to who we are as a country. Canada has been built on an approach to immigration which has upheld the value that those who are good enough to build our economy are also good enough to build our families, communities and our country in the future.
This has been our winning formula and should remain as one of the cornerstones for our success as a worldwide model of nation-building.
A move to increase temporary workers permits is not only a break with our history and our values, it is also an unrealistic answer to our real labour force needs. We know that immigration will drive all labour force growth in the next decade. This statistic is as true for professional elites as it is for those in construction, services and other industries who continue to be locked out of the possibility of becoming permanent contributing members of our society.
Canada faces many challenges that require our undivided attention – climate change, poverty, competitiveness and good jobs, to name just a few. The last thing we should be doing is wasting valuable financial and human resources hunting down hard-working families and removing them from jobs for which there is no one else to take their place.
Yesterday's parliamentary motion offers an opening. It's time to offer a humanitarian resolution to the crisis of undocumented migrants living in daily fear of detention and deportation. It's time for our immigration system to be accountable and responsive to our country's economic needs and our core values as Canadians.
Pedro Barata is Toronto Director of the Portuguese Canadian National Congress, Vilma Filici is President of the Canadian Hispanic Congress and Victor Wong is Executive Director of the Chinese Canadian National Congress.
Read MoreWorkers Cheated, Sexually Exploited
Toronto : 2005.08.15
Alejandro Bustos
Working without a legal safety net and fearful of being deported if they report abuse, undocumented workers are frequently cheated or even sexually exploited by unscrupulous employers, often right under the noses of people whose job is to prevent such mistreatment.
Read MorePlan by the Liberal government to legalize up to 200,000 workers could die
Toronto : 2005.05.16
noii-van.resist.ca
A plan to legalize thousands of undocumented workers in Canada’s underground economy would be in jeopardy if the Liberal minority government falls as a result of a non-confidence vote on Thursday, says Immigration Minister Joe Volpe. The Toronto MP has already signed off on a final draft of the long-anticipated “regularization” plan, which is now “in the queue” for the cabinet’s feedback and approval – provided there isn’t an election call. The issue leaves in limbo many of the 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented workers living under the radar in Canada, as well as employers facing shortages of the skills some of them bring.
“Here we’re now at the 11th hour because the opposition is trying its best to create a controversial environment, and we are faced with a situation where all this hard work may go asunder,” Volpe told the Toronto Star from Ottawa. “We’re bringing things closer to a point where some decisions could be made.”
Juan Sierra, a construction-union outreach worker, said he has fielded calls from hundreds of undocumented construction workers since Conservative leader Stephen Harper vowed publicly to bring down the Liberal government in mid-April.
They’re worried the plan to legalize their status in Canada will go down,too.
“They are really freaked out by the prospect,” said Sierra, of the Labourers’ International Union of North America. “Their hopes were so high because Volpe has promised that this is a priority for the government. If nothing happens, their hopes would be destroyed totally.”
According to Vilma Filici, president of the Canadian Hispanic Congress, part of a community coalition that has been negotiating with the government, the two sides had a consensus on the basic plan.
“We are very concerned that this (plan) won’t happen if there is a vote of non-confidence by the opposition in the parliament,” Filici said. “With a new government, we’d be back to the drawing board again and start from scratch.”
Filici fears a Conservative government could dump the plan as, he says, the Tories tend to view undocumented workers more as security risks than as potentially valuable contributors to Canadian society.
Daniel Castro, his wife and their two teenage sons from Argentina are among those living in limbo. The family arrived here in early 2001 and had their refugee claim rejected last May.
Together they earn $6,000 a month, which they take in cash. Savings are stashed under a mattress because they’re afraid to keep a bank account. They don’t get to know neighbours because they move every few months to keep ahead of immigration authorities.
When eldest son Walter was robbed of his pay at gunpoint near Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. W. last summer, the 18-year-old didn’t dare go to the police.
“Our life is between work and home, but we are grateful when we see everyone home in one piece at the end of the day,” Daniel Castro said. “We pray the family will still be together the next day.”
Their lives are typical among those in the underground economy, who do jobs Canadians often consider undesirable, particularly in construction, the hotel and hospitality industries, domestic help and general labour. They don’t qualify for social assistance or employment insurance, and if they get sick they pay for care out of pocket.
They literally live their lives out of a suitcase – often for years – fearing every moment that they will be stopped on the street by police and deported from Canada. Authorities sometimes sweep down on construction sites, where undocumented workers help fill a shortage of skilled workers.
A string of broken promises by Volpe’s predecessors, who never seemed to stick around long enough to deal with the issue, has left the underground community skeptical of the government’s goodwill.
In March 2003, then immigration minister Denis Coderre told civic leaders in Toronto he was keen to work with employers to help solve the shortage of legal skilled workers and deal with undocumented immigrants. “We have to make sure that every partnership will work,” he said at the time.
Judy Sgro also met with community and trades groups during her 14-month tenure in the job to discuss “regularizing” undocumented workers.
Nothing was delivered.
“We just want to live a normal life, but it appears that Canada thinks that it is easier to keep people like us illegally here in the country than to deal with the issue head-on,” said Luis Vargas, 43, who came from Mendoza, Argentina, in 1988.
“Every time you have a new minister, they always say they will help. But all they want is some cheap labour for the economy. They want to give us no benefit.”
In fact, Vargas, a failed refugee claimant, has been a successful construction subcontractor in Canada since his arrival and hired three others: one undocumented and two with refugee claims still active. His company makes about $150,000 a year.
“We are no criminals,” said Vargas, who, with wife Monica Pedano, is facing removal from Canada and separation from their Canadian-born children Natalie, 15, and Michael, 13.
“We work hard and we don’t cost the government anything. All we are asking for is an opportunity to live a normal life.”
Despite the public perception that most undocumented migrants are here for economic reasons, Alberto Gonzalez, 36, says he left Uruguay because he was harassed by drug dealers he had identified to police while working as a bartender.
“The (Canadian) refugee board did not believe me and rejected my claim (last June),” said Gonzalez, who hasn’t seen his wife and 10-year-old son since he arrived in 2001.
“We don’t have a life. You just keep moving and don’t see an end.”
His story is echoed by Mauricio, a Costa Rican who went underground after his refugee claim was denied in January 2003. The 34-year-old engineer, a graduate of the Universidad Autónoma de Centro América, testified against some bank robbers at a 2001 trial and later felt intimidated into leaving Costa Rica quickly, rather than waiting for Canada’s years-long immigration process.
“My wife was punched on the streets and the police said they couldn’t offer 24-hour protection to my family. But Canada didn’t believe us. We had no choice but to go underground,” explained Mauricio, who didn’t want his full name used. His wife works at a Tim Hortons using a friend’s Social Insurance Number.
“Living in Canada is like living in jail. We have nowhere to go. We have no liberty.”
All 29-year-old Martin wants is a better future for his 2-month-old daughter. Her birth followed a miscarriage that, in addition to the emotional toll, brought a hospital bill of $4,500.
Martin, another Argentine afraid to be identified, said undocumented migrants are not “jumping the queue” in the usual sense, since most would never qualify under the immigration points system, geared as it is toward immigrants with higher skills or money to invest.
The refugee system doesn’t always serve justice, and legitimate asylum seekers do fall through the cracks, he added. “It is not a crime to try to improve one’s life by working hard,” he said. “We have paid the price in our own ways. I think we deserve the respect and dignity as human beings.”
Read MoreLet Our People Stay!
Toronto : 2003.02.01
Vilma Filici
The Canadian Hispanic Congress (CHC) wishes to thank Jim Rankin and the Toronto Star for taking up the case of the “Illegal Workers”. As the representative body of the Hispanic community across Canada, the CHC has been in contact with Judy Sgro, before she became Minister of Immigration, to discuss the situation of the undocumented Hispanic workers and to discuss possible solutions. The then Member of Parliament seemed genuinely interested in the plea of the undocumented and promised to help.
In October 2003 the CHC presented Judy Sgro a proposal on how to deal with the undocumented. keeping in mind that an amnesty was out of the question we suggested that a special program be given tailored in the spirit of the 1986 Administrative Review and the 1989 Backlog Regulations that saw as many as 150,000 legalized between the two programs.
At the time there was also a great demand for construction workers. There were large numbers of undocumented people and a need to clear the backlogs. As was done in the past we request the government allow people who have proven themselves to be contributing members of the Canadian society; people who have established themselves economically and socially and who have no criminal record to be allowed to remain in Canada as permanent residents.
The government has been studying the possibility of a special program for the undocumented for at least the last three years. A special report was prepared by Maria Mina MP in 2003 which conclusion was also that a special program be granted for the undocumented. Three Ministers’ of immigration have discussed the possibility of a special program and it is still being studied. Enough studying! The undocumented are here. They are needed by the construction industry and other industries. Most can prove to be hard working and honest. They are established and have made Canada their home.
The CHC urges the Minister of Immigration to act in a responsible and humane manner. The longer the undocumented workers are kept underground the more opportunities unscrupulous employers have to abuse and exploit them. The longer the possibility of a special program lingers in the air, the more opportunity unscrupulous immigration consultants and lawyer have to exploit their vulnerability and desperation by selling the undocumented false hope.
The CHC believed in the Minister of Immigration’s genuine desire to help the undocumented, but we feel she has been tangled up in a bureaucratic web. The longer the Minister waits to announce a special program, the more pain and suffering the undocumented and their families suffer. Let’s uphold Canada’s humanitarian tradition by allowing those who are already established amongst us, remain.
Read MoreLet's Talk About Immigration and Amnesty
Toronto : 2002.01.01
Vilma Filici
QUESTION: A friend of mine who is currently living here in Canada illegally was advised recently from an immigration professional that in the next couple of months the government would implement an amnesty policy for all illegal residents.
ANSWER: Even though an amnesty program would be ideal to solve this problem, the government is totally against it. Very important and significant sectors in the Canadian Immigration community have expressed their opposition openly about this type of policy. One of the main reasons behind the opposition is the rise of terrorism and criminals that Canada is alleged to be harbouring. Thus, implementing an amnesty policy would legitimize these types of individuals within our community.
The Rt., Hon. Prime Minister Paul Martin does not see this type of policy as something that his administration would implement, however the government is considering a similar type policy.
Last October, the Congress of Hispanic Canadians made a proposal that was received by MP Judy Sgro, (who then was not the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship), that a program be implemented similar to a policy from 1986-1989 that basically entailed the government issuing residence to illegals for humanitarian reasons.
The policy would have accepted individuals who were financial secure, had a stable track record of employment, had never received government funds, had studied the language, had significantly contributed to their immediate community, and did not have any serious medical problems or any criminal record. It was also very important that the candidate was also currently employed and whose employer could verify that the individual was needed.
According to some sources, the federal government is currently visiting a similar type program that would legalize individuals who are in the construction and service industries. These industries are in high demand and both federal and provincial can make policy adjustments to accommodate a new influx of residents.
Nevertheless, this is only a possibility. Your friend should not retain the services of any immigration consultant that claims that this amnesty program exists. Very clearly, there is no amnesty program in place for illegals in Canada, it is only a possibility that a similar type program may come to exist in the future.