City insists it is not a sanctuary city, but an engaged one
Montreal is not a “sanctuary city,” but it’s a “responsible and engaged” one that will stand up for the rights of newcomers whose immigration status is precarious, Mayor Valérie Plante said Wednesday as she unveiled the city’s new action plan on immigration. In 2017, under the previous administration, city council unanimously adopted a motion declaring Montreal a sanctuary city. But the term was misleading and could create a false sense of security among undocumented immigrants, Plante said, noting that only the federal government has the power to halt deportation proceedings. “We have decided no longer to speak of Montreal as a sanctuary city, but rather to talk of a city that is responsible and engaged, that emphasizes concrete actions to protect the whole Montreal population, whatever their status, without fear,” she said at a news conference in the multicultural St-Michel district. Sanctuary cities are those that limit their cooperation with authorities seeking to deport unauthorized immigrants, but Montreal’s 2017 declaration was more about guaranteeing access to municipal services to people, whatever their immigration status. Plante said the change in terminology does not imply the city is any less determined to protect the rights of newcomers without status. “It’s actually to set things straight. It’s about being very transparent and not to make false promises to people who are already vulnerable because of their status,” she said. The city’s Bureau d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants à Montréal (BINAM) is working out a policy, to be ready in 2019, that will allow people without status to access city services like swim classes, libraries and day camps without having to provide their address or information on their immigration status, said Marie-Christine Ladouceur- Girard, the director of the 15-employee city agency. One possibility, she said, would be to have community organizations working with such people vouch for them. While the city can’t prevent authorities from carrying out deportation orders, it can see to it that police do not launch inquiries into people’s immigration status without good reason, Plante said: “We want to reduce the demands placed on people to answer questions about their status,” she said. Another aspect is Montréal Nouveau Départ, a digital platform that will centralize information on immigration and local services from all levels of government. The measures are among 30 outlined in the action plan, whose goal is to create “the winning conditions that will help speed up the integration of newcomers to maximize their full participation in life in Montreal.” With a budget of $24 million, of which half is coming from the provincial government, the three-year plan pledges to make the city more inclusive, boost participation in the job market, and reduce the employment gap between immigrants and native Quebecers. Other goals include protecting non-status newcomers from abuse and improving access to quality housing. The action plan targets six zones: Montréal-Nord, Villeray— Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension, Anjou and Saint-Léonard, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Saint-Laurent, and Côte-des- Neiges—Notre-DamedeGrâce. Reacting to the Coalition Avenir Québec’s plan to reduce immigration to Quebec by 20 per cent, confirmed Tuesday by Immigration minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, Plante said she is concerned about the cut’s effect on the current labour shortage. “In Montreal, we have a shortage; we have jobs that are not being filled,” she said. “So obviously that perspective worries me.” However, the human face of immigration concern is equally important, she said. “Something I’d like to get across is that when we talk about immigration levels, that means the contributions made by people who come to Quebec and to Montreal. It’s fundamental, it’s part of the social fabric and it’s building our communities,” she said. “Behind the numbers, we are talking about people,” Plante said. “These are families, people who leave their country to come here and who do so with their hearts and their guts,” she said. Plante noted that Premier François Legault has said his government will admit fewer immigrants, but take better care of them. “I’m waiting to see those measures. What does that mean, take better care of them?” she asked. “I think that today, we are showing elements of an answer on what it means to take care of newcomers so that they participate fully in society,” she said.
Measures include:
Encouraging access to a diversity of professional opportunities; facilitating access to all kinds of jobs within the civil service. Ensuring equal access for all to municipal services. Keeping Montrealers abreast of and involved in efforts to better integrate immigrants, both economically and socially. Identifying systemic barriers faced by immigrants and reducing discrimination. Increasing access to municipal services for refugee claimants and other newcomers with precarious status and protecting them from abuse and criminal acts.