About Us

We are a group of 6 First Year Global Development Studies students from Queens’ University in Kingston, ON. In our lectures and course readings, we investigated the idea of Canada as a society divided by the idea of the immigrant other, with a focus on discrepancies between those who portray characteristics of ‘whiteness’ and other races. We also explored the false idea of multiculturalism and its effects on immigration policies and practices, the wrongs in the Canadian immigration system and gendered immigration practices. As a group, we chose to investigate the various discriminatory practices and biases embedded within Canada’s current immigration policies and guidelines. Issues of immigration relate to the ‘real world’ as they affect the structure of Canadian society as a diverse nation composed of a spectrum of immigrants and settlers from a multitude of different countries. The immigration policies existing in Canada are relevant not just to those who wish to immigrate into the country, but also to those who are already settled, as they ultimately establish the future of the country by determining who will and will not be allowed entry.

Monday, 25 March 2013

Impacts of Bill C-31


       In the week after Bill C-31 was passed in Parliament, there has been a radical drop in the number of refugees requesting asylum in Canada. Based on data from the first 7 weeks of 2013, “on average, 164 foreigners are claiming asylum weekly in 2013, down nearly 70 per cent from the average weekly claim for the past five years, which was 537” (Chase 2013). Immigration Minister Jason Kenney championed this bill as a way to protect Canada from so-called “bogus refugees,” yet what he has ended up doing is scaring refugees off entirely (ibid). As well, the Conservative government wanted to save money in social, education and health benefits, as well as lessening the financial burdens on tax payers who fund the benefits for refugees while their cases are heard. It is now expected that the total savings for provinces and territories could grow exponentially as a result of mass declines in asylum claims. The government also justified this bill by saying that it would allow them to get through the accumulation of refugee applications, which “exceeds 29,000 today” (ibid). However, all that this bill appears to do is grant the government the power to kick people out of the country and to impose stricter criteria on refugees. It appears that the government is really the only beneficiary to this bill, as it allows them to save money and make good on their shortcomings and ineffectiveness. On the other hand, Bill C-31 makes it even tougher for those fleeing from persecution and danger to find asylum, with more stringent criteria and less individual consideration.
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