Tag: jason kenney

Dalhousie prof: Kenney's ideological rhetoric on failed refugees obscures truth

Carrie Dawson, DalhousieCarrie Dawson, (left)an English professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was watching and reading how Jason Kenney talked about the problem of failed refugee claimants who land on our shores while he was minister of citizenship and immigration. She has a few issues with the language Kenney and other Conservative government ministers used over the last several years on this topic. Dawson has a piece in the current issue of the University of Toronto Quarterly with the title “Refugee Hotels: The Discourse of Hospitality and the Rise of Immigration Detention in Canada.” I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by cutting straight to her conclusion:

Continue reading Dalhousie prof: Kenney's ideological rhetoric on failed refugees obscures truth

How much to spend to create one job? Kenney's benchmark different than Goodyear's

Kenney

Last week in the House of Commons, Employment Minister Jason Kenney was asked why his department did not renew funding for a Halifax agency that helps at-risk young people find and hold on to jobs. The program had been in operation for a decade and, as CBC News reported, had followed all the rules to qualify for the $191,105 it was seeking this time around.

It did not get the money. Continue reading How much to spend to create one job? Kenney's benchmark different than Goodyear's

A test for Trudeau? Canada's Liberals split on Iraq combat mission

TrudeauVotes
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau (C) stands to vote against a government motion to participate in U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants operating in Iraq, The motion passed 157 to 134. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)

Justin Trudeau is facing the first serious test of his leadership of Canada’s Liberals in the wake of a parliamentary vote to send Canadian fighter jets to Iraq.

Trudeau and most Liberal MPs voted agains the idea.

But Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister and a globally recognized human rights defender, abstained from the vote, saying in a statement that his “principled absention”, as he called it, was a result of his recognition that military intervention against Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria is required but that the Harper government’s proposal lacked “clarity.”

Cotler, former Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and former Liberal cabinet ministers Lawrence MacAulay and Mauril Bélanger were also absent from Tuesday night’s vote. Continue reading A test for Trudeau? Canada's Liberals split on Iraq combat mission

The courts vs the Harper cabinet: This time it's over refugee health care

Jason Kenney

This morning, Federal Court of Canada Justice Anne Mactavish delivered a sharply worded judgement slamming a decision, made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet, to deny some refugee claimants the benefits of Canada’s publicly funded health care system.

It’s the latest clash between the Harper government and the country’s judges.

Some quotes from the 256-page judgement [which you can read for yourself here]: Continue reading The courts vs the Harper cabinet: This time it's over refugee health care

Message to journos from Minister Kenney: Call us before writing sob stories from refugees facing removal

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney this evening released what is to me, at least, a remarkable statement that takes direct issue with some reporting in La Presse and also takes on the claims of a refugee — Kenney’s office calls her a fugitive — facing deportation.

Here’s the release in full (the hyperlinks, with more background, are provided by me): Continue reading Message to journos from Minister Kenney: Call us before writing sob stories from refugees facing removal

Jason Kenney refuses to talk about Conrad Black. And he refuses to talk a lot about it.

According to sources our newsroom spoke to, Conrad Black’s application for a Temporary Residency Permit (TRP) was pretty straightforward and he got one. So, when my former boss gets out of jail in Florida, he will be able to come back to Canada on his TRP. The TRP is good for a year.

During that year, one presumes he will apply for “permanent resident’ status and, assuming he gets that, he will proceed to apply for full Canadian citizenship.

His application for citizenship is not without controversy. I, for one, am saddened, most of all, by the fact that, in 2001, he quit on me, you and every other Canadian when he chose another country over ours simply to receive a foreign honour. There are tens of thousand of foreign nationals around the world who would love to join the tribe that is Canada. When all of those who have never committed a crime or turned their back on this great country have become Canadian citizens, then, by all means, let those who renounced their Canadian citizenship and went on to acquire a criminal record in another country be considered for membership in our tribe.  Continue reading Jason Kenney refuses to talk about Conrad Black. And he refuses to talk a lot about it.

On the subject of those fake new Canadians at the citizenship ceremony

Well, I must say, that story that moved on the CP wire this morning by Parliamentary Press Gallery colleague Jennifer Ditchburn sure had us talking in our Sun Media newsroom in Ottawa. (And in other newsrooms as well apparently!)

I don’t want to knock Ditchburn’s writing on this because it’s a bit of a complex story but it’s quite clear from many reactions to those who read her story that many of you finished reading the first draft of her piece (it has since been updated) and came way with the belief that Sun News Network colluded with the political staff working in Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s office to produce and broadcast a ceremony for Citizenship Week that was stuffed with fake new Canadians. Continue reading On the subject of those fake new Canadians at the citizenship ceremony