Newcomers face rising racism in Alberta as province debates immigration policy
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As debates unfold over Canada's immigration system, those who provide help to newcomers in Alberta say there has been an uptick of hostility toward immigrants.
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'I hear from people in my own communities — women specifically who wear hijabs — many bad things and we realize there is a need to educate people,' said Akram, with Calgary's Centre for Newcomers.
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'Clients are coming with severe anxiety and sometimes panic attacks after hearing racial slurs outside our door. We have instances where they're being harassed while walking in (the) downtown.'
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The Canadian Anti-Hate Network says charged debates about immigration in Canada and the United States are behind the rise in hostility toward immigrants online and in person.
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Racialized workers at the centre are increasingly being harassed, and he said people often walk by screaming at the centre.
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Ernst said he and those working with immigrants noticed the increase in the last year as the immigration system returned to the spotlight.
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He said the ongoing Alberta Next panel led by Premier Danielle Smith that's touring the province to hear public grievances with the federal government is stoking that anger.
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'Since (the) Alberta Next panel raised its ugly head, it's also created additional hostility with some of the comments associated to that,' he said.
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Ernst said he agrees that the population of newcomers in Canada and Alberta has exploded, but said governments need to stop using immigrants as scapegoats for housing and infrastructure issues.
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'It's not the people themselves that are creating that particular strain,' Ernst said. 'The problem is government policy.'
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The Alberta Next panel has already made stops in Red Deer and Edmonton and will return to Edmonton again, with visits to Fort McMurray and Lloydminster in August.
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Six surveys launched on the panel's website help inform what questions the government is putting to locals, and one of them is about immigration.
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'If Alberta isn't satisfied with the number or economic qualifications of newcomers moving to our province, we may have the option to withhold provincial social programs to any non-citizen or non-permanent resident who does not have an Alberta-approved immigration status,' says a video participants are required to view before taking the immigration survey.
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