Global Culture

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Canada’s immigration policy stating that:

Canada’s diversity, properly nurtured, is our greatest strength

Rob Mickleburgh from the Globe and Mail is covering Harper’s participation at the United Nations’ World Urban Forum with an article entitled “Harper defends Canadian diversity”.

While Harper’s address to the forum was centered around the nation’s efforts to battle terrorism, there were a number of remarks focusing on a multicultural Canada by

preserving and strengthening the cultural diversity

There was mention of budget destined to give young people a better chance through community programs.

Reiterating on some of the comments made in the post “social networking skills”, the government is committed to continue its current immigration policy, and realizes that it must provide support for these people to become active members of our society. The mechanisms are not clear, and to be best of my knowledge, beyond english and french lessons and job search advisory there is very little being done these days. This is where our project at Global Culture can help improve the situation. Our objective goes well beyond the integration of immigrants to their new lives, but it is an important element of our strategy.

We must demand Harper’s comments to materialize in the form of funds channeled through NGO’s and other foundations to support this and other similar projects. There is a lot more at stake than helping new immigrants find jobs.