Germany and France to push for joint EU immigration and security policies

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Germany and France are to launch a drive for more concerted European immigration and security policies following the foiled attack on an Amsterdam-Paris high-speed train and with Europe reeling under the strain of the biggest migration emergency since the end of the second world war.

Francois Hollande is to travel to Berlin on Monday evening to draft common Franco-German initiatives on immigration and security with Angela Merkel. They will also focus on the worsening situation in eastern Ukraine.

Berlin, in particular, is increasingly determined to push a new system of mandatory quotas for refugees across the EU despite the plan being rejectedamid acrimonious scenes by EU leaders at a summit in June. The European commission is also to propose a new “permanent” system of emergency refugee-sharing across the union. Read more

Multiculturalism: An idea gone sour

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When the word ‘multiculturalism’ began echoing in the West after the collapse of communism in the late 1980s, many on the left sides of the ideological divide suspected it to be yet another expression of ‘post-modern capitalism.’

However, in 1991, when the new Soviet regime crushed an attempted coup by the defeated forces of Cold War communists, and broke the Soviet Union into pieces, many young people in developing nations did manage to find certain aspects of multiculturalism to their liking.

To them, it meant that now the West was opening up to allowing immigrants to live (in Europe and the US), according to their (the immigrants’) cultural mores, without having to entirely integrate to the mores of Western societies.

 

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U.S. and Canadian Immigration Policies: A Comparison

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The immigration landscape of North America is constantly changing. Canada and the United States, to a large extent, followed parallel trajectories in the earlier parts of their immigration histories. Both countries initially drew principally on migrants from the British Isles and Europe, before expanding their catchment area to other regions of the world. Over time, however, Canadian and U.S. immigration policies have diverged in significant ways. Immigration issues are in the news in both countries these days, perhaps more so than usual. Canada is in election mode, with many new Canadians expected to vote for the first time.

Meanwhile in the United States, a combative Republican Presidential nominee contest, led by the enigmatic Donald Trump, has placed immigration policy to the fore. But what are we really talking about when we talk about immigration? How does Canada differ from the U.S.? Read more

‘Multiculturalism’ Is Leading This Name to Now be the Top Choice for Baby Boys in Britain

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It seems as though England is shifting away from traditionally British names such as Oliver and James.

Studies have confirmed that the most popular name for boys in London is Muhammad, if you include other variations of this name such as Mohammed, Muhamad and Muhammet.

Reports from the Office for National Statistics state there were 3,588 Muhammads, 2,536 Mohammeds and 1,116 Mohammads, adding up to a total of 7,240 babies with the name in 2014.

In fact, Muhammad was the most common baby boy name in England and Wales in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and the second most popular in 2007 and 2010 when tallying up its fourteen spelling variations. Read more

Court challenge slams new Citizenship Act as ‘anti-Canadian’

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Two legal advocacy groups are launching a constitutional challenge to the Conservative government’s new Citizenship Act in federal court, calling it “anti-immigrant, anti-Canadian, anti-democratic, and unconstitutional.”

Both the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers are filing a judicial review application and a statement of claim Thursday arguing that Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, creates a “two-tier citizenship regime” that discriminates between dual nationals — born here or abroad — and naturalized citizens.

The legal challenge focuses on some key provisions in the act which add an intent to reside in Canada provision before being granted Canadian citizenship, expand the grounds upon which a person can have his or her citizenship revoked and amend the procedures that lead to that revocation.

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CANADA’S LIBERAL LEADER BACKS MUSLIM FACE COVERINGS, OPPOSES CALLING HONOR KILLINGS ‘BARBARIC’

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Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, has a history of courting Muslim voters through flirtations with Islamic fundamentalism. This has included addressing a mosque with ties to Hamas and defending the niqab. Trudeau has described himself as lucky to be the member of …

Read moreCANADA’S LIBERAL LEADER BACKS MUSLIM FACE COVERINGS, OPPOSES CALLING HONOR KILLINGS ‘BARBARIC’

190,000 Canadians in Hong Kong just lost voting rights – if treated as second-class citizens, will they act like them?

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What social contract exists between Canadians living in Hong Kong, and the faraway nation which provides them a passport? Is geographical proximity an essential component of that contract, if the passport holder wants to enjoy the full privileges of Canadian citizenship – say, by voting in the upcoming federal election?

It’s no abstract debate. Last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued a ruling that eliminates federal voting rights for long-term expats, including an estimated 190,000 of the almost 300,000 Canadians in Hong Kong. The basis of the ruling, which upholds a voting ban on those who have lived outside Canada for more than five years,  was  summarised by Chief Justice George Strathy, who described Canada’s political system as based on “geographically defined districts”.

Allowing all non-resident citizens to vote “would allow them to participate in making laws that affect Canadian residents on a daily basis, but have little to no practical consequence for their own daily lives”, Strathy said in the July 20 ruling. “This would erode the social contract and undermine the legitimacy of the laws. The legislation [prohibiting voting by five-year non-residents] is aimed at strengthening Canada’s system of government and is demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

That political rights should hinge on geographical presence grates with Yuen Pau Woo, the former president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation, now a distinguished East Asia fellow with the think tank. Read more

City For Sale: Vancouver, Foreign Money, And The Demise Of Home Affordability

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There is Canada, and there is Vancouver. For people unfamiliar with Western Canada’s largest city, it may appear Vancouver is indeed one of our country’s major urban centres— a vital, integral component of our overall nationhood. They couldn’t be more misinformed. Yes, geographically-speaking, Vancouver is part of Canada. Beyond this, however, lies a truth seldom recognized—namely, that our fair city is an aberration within Canadian society.

Nowhere is this more apparent than upon investigation of the number one vehicle of the local economy— real estate, and the foreign money fuelling its engine.Truly, Vancouver is the “wild, wild west” of Canadian business culture. It appears anything goes in this lotus-land of the west, and the way things have gone for the past thirty years is in the direction of Asia, and in particular, the nation of China. Read more