Tamil migrant ship within 200 miles of B.C. & the Zenophobic Reactions

Recent news reports say that upto 500 people could be aboard the ship and one may have died during the journey. This news has been creating a quite a lot of buzz amongst the zenophobic news readers of some of these news sources. They have been advocating to turn back the ship or to refuse refugee status for the people aboard not necessarily because they fear that people on the boat could be a threat to the national security but because they fear that this will affect “their way of life”.

via CTV British Columbia – Tamil migrant ship within 200 miles of B.C. – CTV News.

It is important to keep in mind that the more than 70 Tamil refugees who landed last year in Vancouver are in the processing of settling down in Canada and has not acted in any way to compromise the security of Canada or any Canadians todate. They were unfairly accused as members of LTTE and posing a threat to the security of Canada by a so-called expert Mr. Rohan Gunaratne, a one time adviser for the current Sri Lankan President Mr. Rajapakse.  Mr. Rajapakse and his government has been accused by International Organizations including the HRW to have been responsible for launching a war on Tamils that claimed the lives of more than 30,000 Tamils. During cross examination by the lawyers for the refugees, Mr. Gunaratne had accepted that he failed to disclose his associationg with Rajapakse and other pertinent information relating to how he gathered the so-called “intelligence” on the refugees. Subsequently the Canadian Government withdrew the security certificates that they had served on some of the refugees. The refugees are now awaiting IRB hearings to determine the status of their refugee claims.

via A year later, Tamil migrants call Toronto home – thestar.com.

Nick Noorani, founder and publisher of Canadian Immigrant Magazine, discusses what officials are doing ahead of the arrival of a ship suspected to be carrying Tamils to Canada. In this CTV story, Mr. Noorani asks the Canadians to act with responsibility and compassion, while urging people not to rush to conclusions.

Video link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/video/tamil-migrants-heading-to-bc/article1669085/

Minister Raitt Meets with Stakeholders in Toronto

Federal Minister Hon. Rait has met with some stakeholders to discuss disability management. These meetings are considered by many as precursors to the proposed Federal Government initiative to review the Federal Equity legislation. This has raised a lot of concerns amongst communities, lawyers, and activists as they come in the heels of announcements regarding the long form census. For more information on the minister’s visit to Toronto, visit the following link. The news item does not however speak to the nature of the consultation or to the stakeholders that were involved in this consultation.

via Minister Raitt Meets with Stakeholders in Toronto.

Working mother wins human rights decision

From a CBC.ca article: Working mother wins human rights decision (Aug 07, 2010)

A Canada Border Services Agency officer who had to give up her full-time position after the birth of her first child has won a six-year battle with her employer over its failure to accommodate her.

In a decision handed down on Friday, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal said the federal agency discriminated against Fiona Johnstone and employees like her who seek accommodation based on family status.

Johnstone had been working a variety of shifts as a full-time officer at Pearson Airport in Toronto and had a good record with her employers when she had her first child in 2003.

Both before going on maternity leave and before returning to work in 2004, Johnstone had asked her employer if she could come back on an altered schedule, one in which she worked three static 13-hour shifts a week, with no preferred start time.

To read the full article visit: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/08/07/tor-human-rights-family.html

Employment Equity Coalition writes to Harper

The Employment Equity Coalition, made up of several labour and community organizaitons and individuals, has written in open letter, dated August 03, 2010, to Prime Minister Stephen Harper pointing out the fallacies being propagated by the Ministers in the Federal Government in attacking Canada’s Employment Equity Program.  The letter points out that, contrary to the claims made by some Ministers including Hon. Stockwell Day, the President of the Treasury Board, and Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, “(e)mployment equity guarantees merit-based hiring because it removes artificial barriers to employment.  All too often, qualified candidates from racialized communities do not get hired because of their race or ethnicity.”

And the letter goes on to point out that the, “…current legislative framework that supports employment in the federal public service is found in the Employment Equity Act, 1995, s. 15 (2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and provincial human rights legislation and policies. The purpose of this framework is to ameliorate the historical and current marginalization of members of designated groups not only in hiring practices, but in promotion and retention practices as well. Yet despite nearly 25 years since the Employment Equity Act was first put in place, there continues to be serious under-representation of workers from the Aboriginal communities, visible minorities, women, and people with disabilities in the federal public service, the single largest employer in Canada”.

To read the full letter, visit: http://equityaction.ca