Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 8th, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Marion Newrick is the executive director, and they're with the Community Action Resource Centre.

Good morning to you, Mr. Gomez and ladies. Thank you for coming. You will each have up to seven minutes to make a presentation to the committee.

We will start with Mr. Gomez.

[Colin Gomez, Coordinator, Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, Naylor-McLeod Group Limited]

Thank you very much.

First of all, I want to say it's an honour and privilege to be here today. I really want to thank Guelph's Liberal MP Frank Valeriote for putting my name forward to this committee.

I have a prepared submission, but I'd like to speak more spontaneously, because I think I do that better. Also, what I've heard this morning has been very interesting to me, and I think I can respond to it.

At Naylor-McLeod we are a small school in a small city. In some ways I've felt that what government representatives have been saying here is that we ought to be favoured in terms of their policy of shifting funding, as I understand it. We also have an incredible amount of experience. We've been doing LINC training for more than 18 years, as long as LINC has been in existence. We've always been congratulated on our efforts and we've always been very responsible in our submission of all the required paperwork to the best of my knowledge.

We are a small school, as I said. We serve approximately 90 people in Guelph. That's 80 in LINC and 10 in ELT, which is a fairly recent program and very successful. I'll talk about ELT in a minute, because that's important to what's happening here.

But even though it seems like a small number, in fact that represents about half the number of immigrants being served in Guelph by only two schools. So when we are closed, there will be only one school left, no choice for immigrants in Guelph as to what kind of school they go to.

The other school in Guelph is run by the school board. It's quite different from ours, because they are able to combine, in single classes, students from their ESL program, which is run by the school board, and LINC students. So they end up with much larger classes than we have.

We feel that our classes have a pretty much perfect teacher-to-student ratio, about 15 people per class, roughly. I can say, because I've been teaching in LINC and ESL in private language schools for 13 years in Toronto and Guelph, that this is the most successful program I've ever been involved with. We have genuinely happy people.

I'd like to say that there are real advantages in small schools like ours, because we really can honestly say we are like a family. I would like to address this issue of the impact that these cuts have on immigrants, because I can speak to you about my friends in this case, my friends in our school. I can say they are absolutely traumatized by these cuts.

We, being as responsible as possible, cannot give them a clear answer as to what their future holds. We have a pretty fairly established idea that the other school in Guelph does not have the physical capacity or seat allotment to handle their needs--at least not for a full year when the next call for proposals process goes forward, because it's already past, of course. But I won't speak to what they can do, because I don't represent that school.

What I would like to say is that coming from a small school in a small city, we have learned a lot from our immigrants. We have faced all of the usual questions about why, for example, skilled immigrants frequently give up the process of trying to settle in Canada and return to their home countries in frustration--people like doctors and nurses and other skilled professionals.

We have had cases like that in Guelph, but we've also had quite a number of success stories of people who've found meaningful employment. It's partly because we can help them more individually as a small school. We can understand their needs. We can even adjust how we teach them, because we have that flexibility. We pay attention to what they need. With our having recently gotten the contract to do the ELT program, we can do that even better by training concentrated groups of nurses, doctors, and customer service people, again with great success with a job shadow program in that case.

I want to speak about the process in Guelph as it's been playing out lately. My understanding of what's happening is that CIC has cut funding to our LINC program but has decided that ELT could continue. What they haven't understood, and what's now becoming clear, is that the ELT program will have to also stop, because it cannot be sustained without the LINC program. We simply can't run our school to service only 10 individuals.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm afraid we'll have to stop, Mr. Gomez.

Am I right...?

No, I'm mistaken. Please proceed.

[Colin Gomez]

Okay. I'm not sure how much time I have left, in that case.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'll give you a few extra seconds.

[Colin Gomez]

Yes, okay.

Speaking about these things, I wanted to address....

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I threw you off. I apologize.

[Colin Gomez]

That's all right.

Well, I wanted to say, again, that we have some idea of what the impact of these cuts means to our people. But even when we're shutting down, we have hope. We have hope that perhaps this decision might even be reversed. Maybe that's a faint hope, because it doesn't seem to make any sense at all. It doesn't make any sense for Guelph. It doesn't make any sense for our people.

Of course, I've heard things from government representatives here about statistics for Ontario, but our students, our friends, are not statistics, and they don't understand that argument, which we duly presented to them, as we should. They haven't ceased to exist. They're still here. They're people with needs, and they are very important, as we always tell them.

When we teach LINC, we don't just teach English language. We teach about building a country. We teach about the history of Canada as a nation of immigrants. We teach them the value that they have for us as a country. And we feel like we're betraying them, in this case. They feel betrayed, and they have a right to feel betrayed.

I know that many of them are going home, because many of them feel that in the year to come, they'll have nothing in this whole adjustment process, if it can even be achieved at all.

It's very sad that this should happen. I don't want to be confrontational here, but I feel very strongly about this. I haven't mentioned, of course, the impact it has on teachers in this situation with the cutbacks all over Ontario. We have people who have been living in the province all their lives who have really been themselves traumatized about trying to find work where the job situation is pretty perilous now for LINC teachers--not to mention the coordinators.

This has an impact on a lot of people, and it will certainly have an impact on the city of Guelph. Guelph is well known, I think, in general as one of the five or six best cities to live in in Canada. It's been advertised that way, and it's true. But I can say now that with this loss of services to immigrants, it must be one of the worst places for immigrants to settle in, because--

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Mr. Gomez.

[Colin Gomez]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Again, I apologize for interrupting you.

Ms. Newrick.

[Marion Newrick]

Thank you for this opportunity to make the presentation today.

Community Action Resource Centre is a grassroots community-based organization in the west end of Toronto.

We were informed through a form letter just before Christmas that our federal settlement funding would end 100% on March 31. This brief was prepared with input from several other organizations, all of whom received the same form letter. These organizations include the Afghan Association of Ontario, the African Training and Employment Centre, the Bloor Information and Life Skills Centre, the Eritrean Canadian Community Centre, the Ethiopian Association, and the South Asian Women's Centre.

I would like to first say that it's disappointing that so many ethno-specific agencies who serve diverse cultures, and who have been severely impacted by this unfair decision, have not been given the opportunity to speak to the standing committee this week. They feel that their voices have been silenced. Nonetheless, we collectively appreciate this opportunity to tell you what is happening to us and its impact on our communities.

This decision by CIC will impact ethno-specific agencies particularly hard. It is inherently unfair for an immigration ministry to have systemic practices that destroy the newcomer communities that they are supposedly welcoming into our country.

A prime example is that of the Afghan Association. The federal government recently brought to the safety of Canada 1,500 Afghan immigrants who had acted as interpreters in Kandahar. Now the same ministry is de-funding the agency that is providing socio-cultural adjustments and other supports to these newcomers. This agency will also be left with several years of leased premises that must be paid, a debt of more than $300,000. This community can never recover from this level of debt. It is inconceivable that our government can think that this is justifiable.

According to Statistics Canada, there is still an increase in the number of immigrants who choose to call Ontario home, about a 23% increase. Our settlement staff help newcomers apply for health cards, PR cards, or other government documents. They help them get their children into school. They help them find housing, English classes, and trauma counselling. They help them get their documents translated. They help with issues of discrimination or around employment matters.

For some newcomers, the staff are the closest they have to a family member or a friend in their new country, reducing isolation and reducing the reliance on expensive health and mental health services. Our staff are not sitting around doing nothing, as if all of the issues for newcomers in Toronto are taken care of or are improving. In fact, we all know that is not the case.

The January 2011 update of the Toronto immigrant data employment initiative reports that, overall, immigrants lost 300 jobs, while Canadian-born gained 90,400 jobs. There were large job losses, 62,700 job losses, for immigrants in professional, scientific, and technical services; health care and social assistance; and the public administration sector.

From some of the statistics being used in the media, it would appear that temporary farm worker landings are included, which shifts the percentages. This class has almost doubled since 2003. The majority of these are in Alberta. There are many documented instances of abuse in the creation of a subclass of immigrant worker; on the one hand is the substantial loss in the number of immigrants gaining professional jobs, and on the other is the creation of this temporary subclass. Another type of immigrant, in the economic or provincial nominee program, does not require the same level and type of settlement services as the newcomer who comes from an area of conflict, war, or deep poverty.

There are so many issues at play. It is a complex set of circumstances. One would think that all of these factors and facets, and more, would be carefully considered before randomly implementing massive cuts such as these.

These are people's lives. We can't just play around with statistics. People are not numbers.

We, as agencies on the ground, know what we are seeing and dealing with every day, and we're saying that CIC is wrong in this case. The impacts of this decision, if allowed to stand, will be too great on Ontario, and in particular on Toronto.

Thank you.

[Diane Walter, Vice-Chairperson, Board of Directors, Community Action Resource Centre]

I would like to thank the committee for giving us this opportunity to present today.

I'd like to talk about the decision to de-fund. Since the notices to agencies were given in December, CIC has offered a variety of explanations for their decisions: Ontario immigration numbers are dropping substantially, therefore we should have less funding for newcomer services; this is not a cut, but a redistribution to other provinces where immigration is increasing; agencies have to be demonstrating a high level of performance and accountability in order to receive funding, implying that our agencies have been deficient in meeting our targets.

The ethno-specific agencies were severely cut. They also talked about how ethno-specific agencies were only serving their communities alone, which is total misinformation.

In our case, in March 2010, CIC provided renovations and moneys to purchase new equipment and furniture for a new location dedicated to settlement services. We signed a five-year lease. Four years will remain after March 31, for which we must pay. CIC is leaving us with a debt of over $160,000. As a board member, that concerns me greatly. CIC is indicating that they expect the return of any equipment purchased with CIC funding.

In a few short weeks from now, thousands of newcomer clients will be left without any sort of settlement program or workers to assist them. Our agency has already given termination notices to six workers, and our board is considering what the impact will be across the rest of the organization in order to manage the debt we will be left with after March 31.

It is estimated that almost 1,000 workers across Ontario are facing termination from their employment in less than two months from now. If it were a large corporation laying off so many workers, there would be legal obligations to have severance packages and an employee assistance plan. This is a huge financial toll, and there will be a drain on the charitable resources after March 31. CIC has provided no transitional plan to agencies like ours.

I'd like to conclude by summarizing this; I've cut a lot out, because we were restricted in our time.

Information on the decisions re the cut from CIC over the last few months has been vague and very generic. The non-profit charitable sector, in particular in Toronto, is being gutted by CIC.

CIC is leaving a legacy that they're actually bankrupting some of our communities. There was no consultation, no thought, no plan, no appeal--no care for the mayhem left behind.

We have a few recommendations, if I have time, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Go for it.

[Diane Walter]

Do I need to go fast? Okay.

First is full reinstatement of the funding cuts to agencies to ensure there's no loss of services to new immigrants in our communities. A new COIA should be signed immediately.

Second, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration should come to Toronto to hear directly from those agencies impacted, especially those that have been de-funded totally.

Third, there should be a requirement that CIC consult with the provincial government and the sector to ensure that change of this magnitude is incorporated, and all relevant factors are taken into consideration.

Fourth, a full review of CIC practices towards settlement agencies should be implemented.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Ms. Woodbeck in Thunder Bay, it's your turn.

How's the weather up there?

[Cathy Woodbeck]

It's very cold. It's a pretty chilly morning.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Well, we'll try to warm it up here.

You have up to seven minutes. Thank you.

[Cathy Woodbeck]

Thank you. And thank you again for accommodating me up here in the north when I wasn't able to appear before you.

We are the only settlement agency, actually a one-stop shop, for everyone who settles in northwestern Ontario. That's Sault Ste. Marie to the Manitoba border, approximately 1,500 kilometres and about 500,000 kilometres square. So anyone who is landing in that area is, really, our client.

We have had to take the approach of a one-stop shop, which works very well, in order to give and offer service to new Canadians in the northwest Ontario region. No one agency could take on one program at a time; the administration burden of that would just be too huge.

So we have four CIC programs running in our office for people spread across all of northwestern Ontario. We have a LINC language school. We have an assessment centre. We have settlement services, as well as what was formerly called the host program, which now has been changed to community connections.

Those programs working together really serve the newcomers who arrive in Thunder Bay and in the region through the access to each of them in one stop, which I think is probably one of the best approaches to newcomer settlement.

Our school serves about 70 students each term. We also hold a summer school class for those who can't be there during the regular year, and an evening class for those who are working during the day.

The northern region is also served through access via teleconference or video conference, like this, to place students into what is called the LINC home study, where folks can study online or by correspondence through a connection with us here in Thunder Bay. So we're the hub of the north.

We also provide interpretation and translation services through a provincial program as well as several other newcomer services—anti-racism, anti-oppression work, different things that we do through our association. We work very closely with our community and with all of the northern communities on settling new Canadians into our region.

We've had somewhat of a boom with mining in the north and we've had the promise of the “Ring of Fire” and of things that are going to be moving forward in northwestern Ontario. So we anticipate an increase in newcomers arriving in Thunder Bay.

We find that those who come, stay. We have an influx of folks from other communities who do come to Thunder Bay. Secondary migration to our region is fairly high, and we have not a lot of movement.

We also have a community of 300 Karen-speaking Burmese refugees in Thunder Bay, with seven more arriving tomorrow. So we have a mix of independents, professionals, and refugees arriving, most of whom apply for citizenship within the three-year period. Once their three years in Canada comes, they are, most often, applying for citizenship, which is really interesting.

There are no ethnic enclaves that newcomers can move into, so learning the language is key. Becoming a part of the community is critical. And that's what our services aim to help them do: learn the language, adjust, integrate, and settle successfully in all of our northern communities. We have a satellite office in Kenora that provides service to Dryden and Kenora, as well.

So why Thunder Bay? I think it's the smaller city, the safety, the available services—we have no wait lists in any of our programs—and available housing at good cost. We have people arriving in Thunder Bay on a weekly basis—newcomers.

There's so much more to settling newcomers than just finding a job. The family settlement and integration is what is key, and a holistic integration of newcomer families into our region. Our whole community is involved in this.

We were not seriously affected when the large influx of money came into the province with the COIA agreement. We really were given what we considered the funds needed for operating costs, true costs, at that time. So it wasn't a huge influx that's now gone, although now, with the cuts, our region has seriously been cut for service delivery and positions that will be lost.

Serving a huge region and a huge territory involves a lot of administrative costs. Being able to balance all that while providing front-line services as our main priority is really going to be difficult for us. We've had a fairly sizable percentage cut to our budget, and the northern region budget was cut quite severely.

We've been part of a small centre strategy, and I think that's critical. Small centres across Canada are a group that got together to try to look at how to create welcoming communities in small centres and how to increase and encourage immigration to the small centres. Communities in Newfoundland, and Moose Jaw, Thunder Bay, and Victoria got together and talked about settling newcomers in our regions and the support needed to do that and move out of the larger centres. I'd be happy to discuss that more later.

We felt we were partners in providing service with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We're the on-the-ground front-line service that provides what newcomers need to the point of becoming citizens. We feel like that partnership is not there any longer. It's a funding relationship now. It's a little different. We used to be able to provide the service and do that in a good clear partnership.

I think our region faces larger challenges. Occupancy costs are difficult, just from the point of heating and keeping one office open. To be able to do that, we have to have all the programs running in one place and combine all the occupancy and accommodation costs. It makes it difficult when you have to cut. Where do you cut? How do you do that without cutting staff? How do you provide the best front-line service? How do you still stay afloat? It's been difficult.

We would love to see something in RAP for the north for smaller communities, where we could support government-assisted refugees and joint assistance sponsorship refugees to come to our region where they can settle quite quickly and the community is very accepting and the service is available here. I think looking at how the refugee assistance programs could be expanded to some smaller centres would be beneficial and would provide some of the support we need.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Perhaps you could conclude, Ms. Woodbeck. Thank you.

[Cathy Woodbeck]

Sure.

I think as far as nation-building goes, and keeping the smaller communities afloat and an influx of service to our area and bringing new Canadians to Thunder Bay and to our region for jobs that we have available--there is employment available--it's critical to remember the smaller centres, the remote areas, the northern areas, can quite effectively settle newcomers but need the funding and support to do that.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Ms. Woodbeck, and the other presenters.

Members of the committee will now have some questions.

Mr. Kennedy, welcome to the immigration committee. You have up to seven minutes.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'll share my time with Mr. Wrzesnewskyj.

First of all, thank you all for coming and for what you're doing. I'm embarrassed that you have to be here. I've looked at these cuts since they came out in December, and there is no rationale that makes sense here. The minister didn't grace us with his presence, but these look very political in nature.

However, we would like to bring a light onto them. We'd like people to take this seriously.

I appreciate, Mr. Gomez, that you really do feel for the people who are being taught and will be taught no more in your community.

I mean, I think it's amazing that we don't look at that as some kind of tragedy, because somebody is learning, is going to go to work and support themselves, and in 60 days we're going to pull the plug on that. It makes no sense whatsoever. You know, this place is a bit of a bubble, but you want to believe that some of that can get outside of the bubble.

I guess what I want to put to you is that we've done some research, and it might not surprise you that some of this looks quite partisan-inspired in terms of fingerprints.

Ms. Newrick, I want to ask you about the Toronto experience. You've been working with a number of agencies in Toronto. How many of those agencies do you think feel comfortable, the ones that are...?

I want to make a point, too, that the ministry didn't make.

I wonder, Mr. Chair, if I could have one minute to ask you, is it possible, through you, to get a list of the allocations that have been made? The ministry didn't supply us with that information. We've been able to find out that the agencies that have been cut are very concentrated.

Ms. Newrick, can you tell us if any of the agencies you're working with believe there is some place for their clients to go?

[Marion Newrick]

Part of the problem is that such a determination has not been made. It's not only that they can go there, but that there is a service that will help them when they get there.

For example, it's no good sending a Vietnamese-speaking client to another agency if they don't have Vietnamese-speaking staff, or if they don't have specific expertise.

None of that mapping has been done at all. There has been no help provided to us to even determine if there is in actual fact another place to send our clients.

Also, there's the fact that other agencies are being cut back as well. So how can they expect to maintain their own service levels when they're cut back, as well as absorb our clients?

None of that thinking has been done.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

That's a point that has been made at these hearings. In addition to agencies that are being closed down both in Toronto and other points in the province, there are 33 agencies that are having their money taken away. There are at least 40 other agencies with cuts of between 15% and 50%. We have, I think, a significant problem believing that the ministry has things in hand.

I asked the regional chairs, the people in charge, where the contingency plan is. Have any of your agencies, or any of the ones you've collaborated with in terms of understanding these cuts, seen any contingency plans? Our estimate is that there is in the order of 100,000 people who are affected by these cuts across the province.

Has anybody seen the ministry...which we just saw here, some of the representatives? Are they in the field? Are they trying to match up needs? Is something happening with just two months to go until these cuts happen?