 | Tuesday, December 07, 2021 | | Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Immigration backlog leaves many people in limbo, with no way to get an update | | | Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had a backlog of nearly 1.8 million immigration applications as of Oct. 27, and many applicants tell CBC News they feel stuck, with no clear way to check on their files.
Deepak Talwar, for instance, says he's tired of waiting for his permanent residency (PR) application to make its way through the system. After more than two years of contacting IRCC through online forms, emails and calls, he says he still only receives boilerplate responses from the department, leaving him and his family in limbo.
IRCC says it has experienced processing delays amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But nearly two years into it, most of the department's in-person offices remain closed.
According to data received from IRCC, Canada's immigration backlog includes: - 548,195 permanent residence applications.
- 775,741 temporary residence applications.
- 468,000 Canadian citizenship applications.
Before the pandemic, processing times for PR applications averaged six months. Talwar said that when he submitted his application, IRCC's website said the maximum wait time was 18 months, which, for him, came and went on April 23 of this year.
Lou Janssen Dangzalan, an immigration lawyer in Toronto, said even urgent cases fall on "deaf ears." IRCC was unjustly using the pandemic as a justification for the delays, he said, and now has switched to using the Afghan crisis. Dangzalan said he believes the delays are being caused by shortages of staff and resources, outdated immigration infrastructure and technology, and a lack of political action.
In May, the Information Commissioner of Canada released a report that found IRCC was inundated with access-to-information requests from applicants simply seeking information about their immigration files, because they felt they had no other means to receive direct updates. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, IRCC received 116,928 access requests — an increase of 42 per cent over the previous year.
In an email, IRCC acknowledged the ongoing delays and said it has improved technology and digitized its operations. "Ongoing international travel restrictions, border restrictions, limited operational capacity overseas and the inability on the part of clients to obtain documentation due to the effects of COVID-19 have created barriers within the processing continuum," the statement said, in part. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Canada's spy agency says China's attempts to distort and influence media in Canada "have become normalized." The warning is contained in documents prepared for Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director David Vigneault ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year that focused on the rise of foreign interference in Canada. CSIS says such interference has become "more sophisticated, frequent, and insidious." Spokesperson John Townsend said foreign states target both mainstream media outlets — print publications, radio and television programs — and non-traditional online outlets and social media channels to pursue their goals. Read more about foreign interference here.
Humiliation, intimidation, isolation and other forms of controlling behaviour are factors in most domestic violence cases and were among the warning signs identified in the intimate-partner homicides recently analyzed by CBC. Some advocates say those who exhibit such behaviour should be prosecuted. "It's not as hard to recognize coercive control as people might think that it is, because it is a pattern of behaviours that make someone feel afraid," said Andrea Silverstone, the CEO of Sagesse, a Calgary-based organization that works with individuals and organizations to prevent domestic abuse. She says Canada is "overdue" for a conversation on adding coercive control to the Criminal Code. Read more about the issue here.
Officials have flagged numerous, ongoing environmental violations by Coastal GasLink that could harm sensitive waterways along the pipeline's route through northern B.C. Inspectors with B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) said Coastal GasLink failed to comply with orders in 2020 to fix nearly two dozen sediment and erosion problems on watercourses and wetlands. In a written statement to CBC News, Coastal GasLink said it took "immediate action to remedy the EAO reports' findings of non-compliance." Spokesperson Natasha Westover said Coastal GasLink respects the EAO's findings, but that they represent "a snapshot" at the time of inspection. "Erosion and sediment control is dynamic and changes constantly. We adapt along the way and are constantly evaluating," she said. Read more about the violations here.
The U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses, raising the question of whether Canada will follow suit. Canada's Minister of Sport, Pascale St-Onge, said the government has yet to decide whether it will engage in a similar boycott of the Games, which begin on Feb. 4. "We are, of course, very preoccupied with the violations of human rights in China. It's not a decision that we're going to take lightly, and as soon as we have made the decision, we will communicate it to you," she said. Read more about the boycott here.
Now for some good news to start your Tuesday: Michael Yellowlees is kilt to last. He arrived at Cape Spear, N.L., on Sunday after nine months of walking across Canada to raise money for a Scottish charity. The 32-year-old from the town of Dunkeld and Birnam, Scotland, walked over 8,000 kilometres — in a kilt, and with his dog, Luna — from Tofino, B.C., to Canada's most easterly point. Yellowlees raised $63,000 for Trees for Life, a charity that works to restore the Caledonian Forest of the Scottish Highlands. "The support has been amazing right throughout Canada, from the West Coast all the way across," he said. He also found a welcome surprise when he arrived at Cape Spear: his mother had flown from Scotland to meet him at the finish line. Read more about Yellowlees's journey here. | | | FIRST PERSON | Here's how I used to edit my selfies to look pretty — and why I won't do it anymore | Madison O'Dell, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity High School in Torbay, N.L., shares a candid look into the pressure to look good on social media and the process she uses to get there. Read it here. | | | | | | |  | What’s really driving inflation? Politics vs. reality | You’ve probably noticed that prices of practically everything — food, gas, haircuts, housing — have been going up lately. Canada’s inflation rate is now the highest it’s been in 18 years.
In Parliament, the Conservative Party has been pointing fingers at Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government and calling on it to quit racking up deficits. They’ve even come up with a nickname for the problem: #Justinflation.
But economists say this isn’t a normal inflation problem and warn normal solutions may not work.
Today, we’re speaking to economist Armine Yalnizyan about why your bills are rising and to CBC Parliament Hill reporter Aaron Wherry about how that’s playing out politically.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: Dec. 7 | | | 1837: The rebellion in Upper Canada erupts into violence when government officials are shot at Montgomery's Tavern just outside Toronto.
1876: The Canadian steamship Northern Light begins the first regular service from P.E.I. to the mainland.
1941: Japanese planes begin their attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
1995: British Columbia's NDP government becomes the first in Canada to order automakers to produce less-polluting vehicles. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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