Soli*City | Urban Sanctuary, Migrant Solidarity, and Hospitality in Global Perspective: A Partnership Project
Canada prides itself to be an inclusive and accessible society. However, for newcomers with disabilities, the level of protection expected in Canada may not apply to them. While Canada has taken steps to make immigration more accessible, one major barrier still exists; disability.
Continue reading “Accessibility for Newcomers with Disabilities in Canadian Cities”Dr. Judith Bernhard is a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and the founder of the University’s MA program in Early Childhood Studies. She also teaches in the Immigration and Settlement Studies MA program and is affiliated with the PhD program in Policy Studies. As part of the North American Hub of Soli*City project, Dr. Bernhard and her colleagues, Dr. Julie Young and Dr. Luin Goldring, are currently completing a literature review on the extent to which a Sanctuary City can help to overcome barriers to access for families with young children. We interviewed Dr. Bernhard to learn more about her perspective on Sanctuary Cities and how it relates to her research.
Continue reading “Perspectives on Sanctuary Cities: An Interview with Dr. Judith Bernhard”“We’re touched by their hospitality and they’re touched by our endeavours to support them.” This is how a student nurse delivering medical supplies describes the work of volunteers at an NGO in Poland that supports Ukrainian refugees. Residents in the Netherlands, the UK, and other countries who are opening their homes to refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine practice a form of “bottom up” hospitality.
Canada touts itself as a multicultural and accepting nation – but is it? Canada’s “sanctuary cities”, such as Toronto, illustrate that issues remain in creating the progressive cultural mosaic so often promoted about the country. Take Toronto’s “Access T.O” policy. The law is meant to provide undocumented persons access to an abundance of city services, like paramedic aid, without needing to provide government identification. On paper it may seem helpful, but in practice, it tends to fall short. We interviewed Dr. Meghan Joy to speak on these issues.
Continue reading “Interview with Dr. Meghan Joy on Sanctuary Cities ”It is important to highlight that at the time of writing, only few local authorities in Africa are directly engaging in questions of migration. Nevertheless, research shows that in the last years a growing number of African local authorities have started participating in transnational projects and networks that provide them with various opportunities:
Continue reading “African intermediary cities as actors in urban migration governance. A blog mini-series by Janina Stürner-Siovitz (4)”