Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests

Environics Institute survey 1st to probe Canadians' views on citizenship
By Kazi Stastna, CBC News Feb 15, 2012; and Environics In The News Feb 15, 2012 , ERG

Extracts:
..."To be a good citizen, it means to contribute to the society, to obey the laws of the country, to help other citizens, to volunteer, and it's a rewarding feeling when you do all those things," said Sara Jhangiryan, an Armenian-born resident of Toronto who became a Canadian citizen last year.

...Usha George, dean of Ryerson University's Faculty of Community Services, says the survey's findings confirm a lot of what those working with new Canadians know already.

... "Canadians who were not born in Canada are more proud than naturally born Canadians simply because we had the choice of being Canadian," said Vikram Kewalramani, who immigrated to Canada in 2006 from India. "It wasn't something that, literally, was a birthright. We consider it a privilege."

... Tolerance of others who are different was among the top five behaviours survey respondents considered a "very important" part of being a good citizen.

... "I am equally proud of both citizenships," said Natasha Nikolovska-Angelova, 32, who became a Canadian citizen last April. "Macedonia is more like my mother … the country where I was raised, and Canada is the country I chose to live in. It's like the spouse you choose.… It's the country of my future."

On the same shelf:

Children of Immigrants: Their surprising perspectives revealed, CBC

14th National Metropolis conference, 2012 Feb 29-March 3, sessions on immigrant children, youth & families: immigrantchildren.ca

The 14th National Metropolis conference theme is Future Immigration Policies: Challenges and Opportunities for Canada. It will be held February 29 – March 3, 2012 at the Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto.

Immigrants still lagging in jobs mart, Peel Region Unveils Labour Market Survey Findings

ML Brampton Guardian, South Asian Focus » Thu, 11-Feb

Staff Report
Immigrants are still lagging their Canadian-born counterparts in the jobs market.
That’s the short answer of a Peel-centric report on how immigrants are faring in finding employment.

The report, The Peel Immigration Labour Market Survey, has just been released to Regional Council.

Peel is considered to house one of the highest concentrations of South Asians in the GTA. The survey is the first study ever conducted that provides local data on the labour market in Peel.

“This study is one of three key immigration initiatives led by the Region’s Human Services department in Peel,” said Janet Menard, Commissioner of Human Services. “The study findings reveal there is a significant gap in skill utilization, income and credential recognition of immigrants in the workplace. continue reading

See also:

Peel Region Unveils Labour Market Survey Findings - First Peel-specific report shows immigrants lagging behind in accessing the job market 

In the sample of 1,425 immigrants and Canadian-born Peel residents surveyed:

• Of the immigrant respondents who have international work experience, only about one-third were successful in obtaining their desired employment.
• Lack of Canadian work experience was reported as the barrier faced most often for immigrants and correspondingly, lack of work experience was reported most often by Canadian-born individuals.
• Networking was a serious barrier for both immigrants and Canadian-born individuals but more significant for immigrants.
• One in four immigrants accessed some government-funded employment services, and just under one-third obtained more education and credentials in Canada.
• Both immigrants and Canadian-born individuals report underutilization of their skills in their current job. Recent immigrant respondents are less likely to utilize their skills at work, but skill utilization improves with length of time in Canada, and through full recognition of credentials by employers.

Funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the study was done in collaboration with Ryerson’s Diversity Institute in Management and Technology. The final report was prepared by PinPoint Research. The complete report of survey findings will be available to the public to download on Feb. 22, 2010 at www.peelregion.ca/labourmarketsurvey.

Building Bridges between Authors, Academics, and Judges

I found in today's Globe and Mail: You can't judge a book by its scholar? by Thomas Hodd

The opening lines: "Why aren't Canada's top literary prizes employing actual literary critics on their juries?"

The bottomline: "Who knows, allowing Canadian literature scholars to participate in award juries might also help bridge the chasm between the literary community and the educators who make the curriculum decisions that keep Canada's literary tradition alive. And that would certainly be a good thing for writers and publishers, as well as for our students."

Wonder, why literary awards are not synchronized with academics, literary critics, judges, etc., all talking with each other?

Canada, though not as prolific (and historically comparable) as America and Britain, yet has some good leads even in the foreign market, reading from the travelogue of Michael Bryson and his aggregated post @ Underground Book Club:

Doing a quick survey of an Oxford bookstore, I found titles prominently displayed by Margaret Atwood, Guy Vanderhague, Jane Urquart, Austin Clarke, Rohinston Mistry, and Yann Martel. Actress Neve Campbell graced the cover of the Sunday Times Culture magazine.

A Times feature on actress Isabella Rossellini highlighted her recent role in an avant-garde film by Winnipeg’s Guy Maddin.

And going by the marketplace, a sample of Amazon's recent anthologies, show Canadian literature is no way short of any other literary contribution of the world:



On the same shelf:

Judging the judges: the PM's Literary Award - On Line Opinion

Book Award Tragic: Speed Reading Judges for $110000 Australia-Asia

Writing award sparks literary controversy Title fight: Judges of a ...

IF YOU'RE A JUDGE IN A LITERARY AWARD, AND YOU KNOW ONE OF THE AUTHORS INTIMATELY, WHAT DO YOU DO? [source]

Chris Hurst: Why You Shouldn't Volunteer to Judge a Literary Award

They Call It the Orange Award Because Books Get Evaluated Like Last Week's Fruit

Governor General's Awards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Library Services for Newcomers to Canada: Embracing Cultural Diversity

by Kendra Bender (MLIS student, School of Library &
Information Studies, University of Alberta, CANADA), Information for Social Change Issue 26: Winter 2007- 2008.
Excerpt from the Canadian Library Association 2007 Students Article Contest
Press Release states: "The second runner-up is Kendra Bender for "Library Services for Newcomers to Canada: Embracing Cultural Diversity". Kendra is a student in the MLIS program at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. Comments on this entry were that it incorporates both personal experience and a professional research approach, it was well-written, timely and focuses on Canada. Kendra will also receive a cash prize courtesy of the Wosk Family and a choice of CLA publications." Read full press release.
Extract:
"...To help public libraries improve collections and services for Russian immigrants in Toronto, Dali (2004) conducted a study of the reading habits of this population. Unfortunately, the majority of respondents sampled in her survey were not satisfied with the collection of Russian-language books in their public libraries. However, the public library was characterized as a “place to spend time”, where English language materials about the history and customs of their new country could be accessed for free.[23] Accessing materials for free was a theme that reoccurred in Dali’s research. Improved income did not seem to reduce the respondents’ inclination to use the public library for acquiring desired Russian-language titles (if available), precisely because they were offered at no cost." continue reading
See also on the same shelf:

• Diversity Resources - Accommodation, Tolerance and Coexistence
• Religious Education of the Young - Multifaith Resource Series no.1
• Save the Time of the Godly: Information Mediators Role in Promoting Spiritual & Religious Accommodation

•  The Countries You May Like to Go with your American / Canadian MLIS - A literature survey
• Factors in success or failure of foreign-trained librarians in Canada