As an immigration law firm heavily entrenched in social justice issues and considerations, the plights of refugees and their fraught journeys to Canada are our daily reality. As such, we find insights like Karl Nerenburg’s absolutely crucial. On rabble.ca, Nerenberg weighs in with a spot-on article putting the uncomfortable spotlight on the nasty underbelly of our trade negotiations with the EU.

Hungary, a member of the EU in good standing, is no longer a democracy. 6 million Roma people in Hungary face discrimination in almost all aspects of life, from employment to housing to education. The EU’s focus, these days, is not on the larger issues of democracy and human rights. It is almost exclusively economic.

Canada’s ongoing trade negotiations with the EU represent our most significant trade initiative since the historic North American Free Trade Agreement. We know this is a big deal; the value of a Canada-European Union (EU) trade deal is all over our news – far more than the abuses of Roma in Hungary. Until we start applying more pressure to the EU to live up to its stated principles, we  are ‘trading away human rights.’

Read the article here.

Hey, Rabble? We  need more Karl Nerenbergs and fewer Ezra Levants please!

Today it is Easter Monday, a statutory holiday in which many people are enjoying a paid day off with their families. In Canada, some statutory holidays, or holidays in which employees receive paid days off, differ from province to province; some are recognized across Canada, and some only affect federally regulated employees. It can, furthermore, be hard to keep track of holidays which allow you to take time off, and holidays that simply mark a “special day” of the year. These “special day” holidays are St. Patrick’s Day, Valentines’ Day, Aboriginal Day, and Discovery Day. If you’re feeling confused, here’s a guide to Canada-wide, and Ontario-specific holidays:

Statutory holidays recognized across Canada:

• New Year’s Day (Wed, January 1 in 2014)
• Good Friday/Easter (Fri, April 18 in 2014)
• Canada Day (Mon, July 1 in 2013)
• Labour Day (Mon, September 2 in 2013)
• Christmas Day (Wed, December 25 in 2013)

All five holidays are celebrated nationwide and are paid days off for all employees. If you are a federally regulated employee, you will also get Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Thanksgiving and Boxing Day off; generally non-federal employees to get these holidays off as well.

Statuary holiday specific to Ontario:

• Family day, the second week of February (Mon, February 17 in 2014).

Optional holidays in Ontario:

• A civic holiday on the first Monday of August (Mon, August 5 2013)
• Remembrance Day on November 11

Canada prides itself as the most multicultural country in the world. Compared to the US, where all cultures tend to converge within the American cultural ‘melting pot,’ Canada does well to accommodate cultures in a city like Toronto where we have Chinatown, little Italy, little Portugal, Greektown, Mogadishu, and so on.

However, multiculturalism—one that seems to satisfy only the social needs of new immigrants—has its limits. The presence of so many speak-alikes only serves the meet and greet needs of newcomers and does little to help in economic development and the long-term settlement needs of the immigrants.

Skilled immigrants have more to gain from multi-literacy than from multicultural programs. In a nutshell, multi-literacy is a universal system that attempts to understand people from a scope wider than their newly-adopted environment. It is an acknowledgement that these people can never express themselves adequately enough in their newly-adopted culture to attract equal attention from those who dish out favours.

In the educational system, for instance, children of immigrants struggle with language, culture, mannerisms and social integration in addition to the already difficult curricula. Very few end up in the Dean’s list. Considering that bright students are usually rewarded with scholarship in post-secondary academic institutions, these poor kids stand minimal chances at acquiring the financial help they deserve.

Most immigrants do not come to Canada to socialize and integrate with folks from home. They actually come to find employment to better their lives. However, the multicultural system does not seem to accommodate the immigrants’ mannerisms, social habits and forms of expression.

In Canada, everyone looking for work must draft a resume, must show up for an interview, must establish eye contact with the interviewers and will be judged on eloquence and confidence in a system that is sometimes completely alien.

People express themselves better in a language they are familiar with. In a situation where an immigrant must speak English eloquently to get hired, chances are that a natural speaker with less qualification will use his or her natural communication skills to push their interview to the end. These inequalities cannot be addressed by multiculturalism but by multi-literacy.

The inability to express oneself adequately have made many skilled immigrants to return to schools and colleges to re-perfect a skill they already have. In the institutions where they enroll, part of the reason why many do not excel is because they learn the language, the culture, the mannerisms and the curriculum simultaneously. They can hardly beat a local whose only headache is the curriculum.

In a Multi-literacy approach, immigrants can be judged using a model favourable to their culture, their modes of expression and possibly their language. If hospitals and the justice system can use interpreters in their work dispensation, there is no reason why employers should not follow suit.

As we pride ourselves with our multiculturalism—especially in Toronto—it is good to ponder and know that we have only satisfied the needs of a minority. The many—those who came to help us drive the economy—are languishing with unemployment, underemployment and many other unspoken consequences that include separation and mental illnesses.

Victor Karanja is an Immigration Consultant based in Oshawa, Ontario.

Doctors & lawyers launch groundbreaking lawsuit to combat refugee healthcare cuts

“These reductions will cost the health care system as much or more in emergency care and have already caused a great deal of suffering. It is also far below the standard any democratic country should provide for refugee claimants or any other human being under their jurisdiction. These cuts are inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada’s international obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. Worse than that, they are mean and callous. People with severe medical conditions are being put at risk; they are suffering unnecessarily for the saving of a pittance.”

- Lorne Waldman, president of  Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL,) describes the  legal challenge that launched in the Federal Court of Canada this weekend, arguing that the federal government’s cuts to refugee health care are unconstitutional

“We are saying we are a sanctuary city. [People living in the city without legal status] are not criminals, they are working and they are working hard…keep your hearts open.”

- Councillor Cesar Palacio supports Toronto’s decision to become a ‘sanctuary city,’ which would ensure undocumented workers can access city services without fear of repercussions

“I feel for people who want to live here and enjoy the quality of life that we’ve built up over the century. I respect what they want. But so many of us got what we wanted by following the rules. We lined up.”

- Councillor Norm Kelley offers another perspective on the “sanctuary city” decision

“Kathleen Wynne’s victory is being described as a triumph for women, for diversity, for smart modern leadership campaigns, for social justice, and many other things…One of the things we celebrate in our new Premier is a triumph of civility, which in many places is becoming lost. Throughout her public life, as in her private, Premier Wynne has displayed respect and courtesy. It has won her allies and friends, and some commentators have said it brought other leadership contenders to her side at the end. Many have commented that her training as a mediator has been vital, but we suspect it is something deeper in her character.”

- Alan Broadbent at The Maytree Foundation congratulates Wynne & describes her “path of civility”

“[Access without fear policy] is an important step by our municipal government and it is crucial to improving population health in Toronto.  Undocumented workers face extreme health risks and are without access to legislated minimum standards with regard to employment terms and conditions and workplace health and safety. These workers face adverse mental health outcomes: anxiety, depression and trauma stemming from fears of deportation. Additionally, barriers to services and poor working conditions have adverse consequences for women and children. Providing enhanced access means that all residents are provided with services regardless of their immigration status.”

- David Leacock, Policy and Research Intern at the Wellesley Institute, on “Sanctuary City” movement

“My grandfather worked in a meat-processing plant in the Junction in west-end Toronto, and eventually opened a laundry. He was part of the “bachelor society” of married men who were inhumanely separated from their wives and children for decades…For the surviving head tax payers and spouses, redress can be seen as a simple matter of justice, but it is much more than that. For the community, redress is transformative. It can change how everyone sees a Chinese person in Canada — that is, as a person who is part of a community with a long history in this country.”

- Toronto lawyer Gary Lee shares his family’s story of perseverance and sacrifice in the time of Canadian Chinese head tax, & explores why redress settlements are so important

“Romania means my youth, my dreams, my summer vacations reading Ionel Teodeoranu, Rebreanu and Marin Preda, my first kiss at the Black Sea. It means playing with kids in haystacks and sleeping at my grandmother’s house in a bed near the stove with a black cat purring at my feet. My country doesn’t mean corruption and bad politicians, doesn’t mean injustice or ignorant people, to me. My country is my past, but also my present. My country is a big important part of who I am today.”

- From a personal essay for Canadian Newcomer entitled “My Two Cultures”

Q: “Can you outline one strategy you describe in your book for newcomers looking to succeed in Toronto?

A: “Most of you probably didn’t realize it but, before migrating to Canada, we had a network of people and contacts that we approached when we needed to get something done. This is invaluable for success. Now that we have moved away from the old network, what we have to do is develop such a network here, too. This is not that hard. Just create new friends who work in the industry you want to work in. Befriend people who share the same ideals…”

- From our interview with the author of “How to Succeed in Toronto,”  Hirantha Nandasena.

“I was taken to the CID fourth floor in a van. On the way, the officials started accusing me of working for the LTTE in London. They punched and kicked me in the van. The officials kept me in a single cell. They began questioning me about LTTE supporters in London and started beating and torturing me. I was whipped with electric wires and suspended upside down and beaten with sand-filled plastic pipes. They tried to suffocate me with a petrol-infused plastic bag. They said, “You took part in anti-government demonstrations in the UK…”

- Having been denied asylum in the UK, P.K., a 32-year-old deportee from Sri Lanka, shares his horrifying story of torture upon return to Sri Lanka (Human Rights Watch).

Recently we discussed cultural difference in the workplace, and the disturbing phenomena of “cultural fit.” When researching that post, we consulted a workplace guide that discussed the acceptability of touch and cross-cultural expressions of emotion, and today’s post focuses on one very specific aspect of workplace performance: emotional labor. Emotional labor means regulating your behavior to display the appropriate emotions in a workplace environment. Do expectations of workplace emotional labor differ cross-culturally? What are the implications of emotional labor requirements for Canadian newcomers, specifically those occupying low-income jobs in the service industry?

This post focuses on the service industry because service workers are generally considered the “faces” of the company, and therefore very closely regulated emotional labor is almost always required. For example, if you’re asked the same question 50 times by 50 different customers, you might be expected to answer the question in a way that suggests you’ve never answered the question before. Emotional labor might be expected in voice jobs, like telemarketing work: since people can detect smiles over the phone, you might be expected to smile as you take someone’s takeout order. As income inequality reorients the consumer marketplace toward luxury services for the rich, like “destination clubs” and “concierge medicine,” consumer expectations change and trickle down; the new services “set the standards for lower-cost versions” that cater to the merely affluent, setting new standards for emotional labor in the service sector.

Workplace emotional labor is generally divided into two strategies: deep acting and surface acting. Deep acting entails modifying one’s actual emotional state, e.g., by trying to empathize with the customers; while surface acting refers to modifying one’s outward emotional display, e.g., facial expression, tone of voice, gestures, etc. Since deep acting changes your entire perception of a situation and produces real feelings, it’s less exhausting and there is less internal conflict – as one might feel after hours of faking emotions. Deep actin, therefore, the more convincing and less exhausting option, is both subtly and openly encouraged. Ideally, workers who actually conjure up the positive emotions they must express to customers, more frequently experience positive emotions and thus have higher levels of job satisfaction (Fisher, 2000). From the organization’s point of view, the display of positive emotion can lead to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repatronage.

While the “deep acting” side of emotional labor may facilitate task effectiveness and self-expression, it also may heighten customer expectations unreasonably, and may trigger feelings of  alienation for the worker. It can also cause people to self-identify with their workplace role, and with the Canadian Temporary Foreign Workers Program expanding at a rapid rate and primarily filling the service sector with underpaid, overworked immigrants, requiring, and regulating, a degree of emotional labor within the job can do psychological violence, from keeping the worker from looking elsewhere to suppression of unhappiness to feeling subservient to customers – which, in the context of radical power differentials, can be hugely problematic. Studies have shown, furthermore, that ongoing emotional labor in service industry positions can lead to depression and other health conditions. Cognitive dissonace, a feeling of profound discomfort triggered by inconsistencies between our beliefs, feelings, and behavior, is prominent as well.

Workplace requirement for emotional labor, furthermore, differ cross-culturally: in certain workplaces in Japan, only half of conceptualized ideal service includes emotional labor; instead virtues like promptness. Some roles indicate emotional labor is an explicitly stated requirement: McDonald’s has written “feeling rules,” for example. In  Western service sectors, ideal workplace performance emphasizes emotional labor to a sometimes ludicrous degree: one coffee shop requires staff to touch one another regularly, insisting that this kind of contact benefit sales. These cross-cultural differences can be disorienting and have negative affects on workers and customers alike.

According to current trends, requirements for emotional labor will only intensify. Little research has been done on intercultural service work, but one researcher suggests that cultural competence, or the ability to adapt effectively and flexibly in culturally diverse settings, may be a key. Coupled with explanations of Canadian verbal and non-verbal codes, cultural competency and sensitivity training for both employees and employers might be a start for intercultural service encounters that are healthier for employees, both newcomers and non-newcomers alike.