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    Canadian Political Science Association
    2020 Annual Conference Programme

    Confronting Political Divides
    Hosted at Western University
    Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2020
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    Presidential Address:
    Barbara Arneil, CPSA President

    Origins:
    Colonies and Statistics

    Location:
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 05:00pm to 06:00pm
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    KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
    Ayelet Shachar
    The Shifting Border:
    Legal Cartographies of Migration
    and Mobility

    Location:
    June 04, 2020 | 01:30 to 03:00 pm
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    Keynote Speaker: Marc Hetherington
    Why Modern Elections
    Feel Like a Matter of
    Life and Death

    Location:
    Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 03:45pm to 05:15pm
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    Plenary Panel
    Indigenous Politics and
    the Problem of Canadian
    Political Science

    Location: Arts & Humanities Building - AHB 1R40
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:30am to 12:00pm

Race, Ethnicity, Indigenous Peoples and Politics



L07(b) - Competing Projects of (Im)migration and (Un)Belonging in Canada

Date: Jun 2 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Sedef Arat-Koc (Ryerson University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Yasmeen Abu-Laban (University of Alberta)


Session Abstract: This panel is designed to build knowledge of competing and complementary projects and strategies concerning (im)migration and societal belonging in Canada and answer the question of what sort(s) of integration and/or exclusion is on offer from these socio-political projects during a period of intense political and civil society contestation concerning (im)migration in Canada. Through this discussion of nascent and competing projects of (im)migration and belonging it is hoped to identify both obstacles towards and opportunities to build a more inclusive (im)migration imagination and society in the Canadian context. Presentations will include projects and ideologies of(im)migration and belonging from both “above” and “below.” Presenters are invited though not required to discuss, where applicable, the state, parties and movements’ 1) dominant ideology(ies) and world view(s) concerning (im)migration and belonging; 2) social base and institutional resources, including core constituencies and allied civil society actors and 3) scale(s) of operation, be they local, provincial, national and/or transnational. Cases to be examined will include 1) modern Canadian neoconservatism at the federal level 2) the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, 3) the Non-profit Migrant Settlement System in Canada and 4) Access Without Fear Policies in Canadian Cities. Session Organizer: John Carlaw, York University johnwjcarlaw@yorku.ca


Neoconservatism, (Im)migration and Societal Belonging in Canada Since 2015: John Carlaw (York University)
Abstract: In its relatively short time as a political party, both before and during its time in office (2008-2015) the Conservative Party of Canada and government has embarked upon an often contradictory yet creative project of political outreach and policies of exclusion in its treatment of (im)migrants, refugees and “ethnic Canadians” as it has sought to win office and exercise power. Their authoritarian populist approach to politics and policy has reinforced and further intensified existing social hierarchies between settler colonial and (im)migrant Canadians, particularly with their treatment of Muslims, refugees, migrant workers and prospective citizens. In part due to public exhaustion with some of the government’s most exclusionary policies and political rhetoric the Conservatives were defeated in the 2015 election. However they still maintain a substantial level of public support (34.4%, the highest share of votes of any party in the 2019 Canadian federal election) and remain Canada’s largest opposition party. Briefly placing recent developments in the party’s long-term context, this presentation considers the Conservative Party’s discourses and policy stances since the 2015 election. These include vocal opposition to Motion M-103, their 2018 policy convention, discourses concerning multiculturalism, 2019 election discourses and overall approach to refugees in the context of US President Donald Trump and rise of the far right globally. These developments and cases are examined in order to identify continuity and shifts in the Conservatives’ approach to questions of (im)migration and belonging in the Canadian context.


The Safe Third Country Agreement, Irregular Migration and Refugee Rights: A Canadian Policy Challenge: Zainab Abu Alrob (Ryerson University)
Abstract: This research provides a historical overview of the STCA’s development, legal and policy challenges and its implications for refugee protection. The legitimacy of STCA relies on the “continuing” designation of the U.S. as a “safe” country. This paper addresses key policy questions regarding the STCA in light of recent changes in asylum policies under the Trump administration. Multiple empirical studies raise concerns over refugee rights, the state of refugee protection and the risk associated with refugees being returned to the U.S. under the Agreement.


Laying Low: Access Without Fear Policies in Canada: Graham Hudson (Ryerson University)
Abstract: Seven Canadian cities have adopted formal Access Without Fear (AWF) policies, preferring not to use the term "sanctuary city". The focus of policies is to ensure that non-status migrants have equal access to core services without having to fear being detained or deported. But the history and implementation of AWF is characterized by other kinds of fear. The federal government cannot accept political responsibiltiy for the failures of its exclusionary polices, its lack of control over borders, or the shameful human rights consequence of in-land social and legal exclusion. Politics of fear related to securitization, broadly conceived, support public opposition to equal access. Municipal governments dependant on federal subsidies for settlement and integration fear the resource implications of opposing federal law and policy. These forms of fear have intersected in such ways as to require AWF advocates, including Cities, to strategically avoid overt public and jurisdicitional confrontations. Drawing on an on-going national study of the history and implementation of AWF policies in Canada, this presentation will idenitfy a common strategy of "laying low" in both the advocacy and implementation stages of AWF policies. It will focus in particular on the implications this has for scope and scale of AWF. policies and, ultimately, the place of cities in the governance of migration, citizenship, and security.


The Canadian Settlement System and Immigrant Settlement Agencies: A Case of Resilience and Precariousness: John Shields (Ryerson University)
Abstract: Resilience has been defined as “the capacity of individuals, communities and systems to survive in the face of stress and shocks, and even transform when conditions require” (Akbar 2017, ii). Successful migrant settlement requires the individual resilience of newcomers and institutional resilience from the organizations and communities that support migrants. This is particularly the case for non-profit settlement agencies that have been the back bone of the Canadian system of newcomer integration. This settlement approach has been well regarded internationally as a government funded community-centred way of supporting immigrants and refugees in their settlement needs and in fostering integration into Canadian society. Such non-profit agencies have been resilient organizations that have been adept at addressing changing migrant needs. However, this settlement system has been under stress due to the long-term negative impacts of neoliberal restructuring which has pushed non-profit settlement agencies to do more with ever less and worked to mute their advocacy role. This has produced a sector that is characterized by high level of precarity. This work examines the challenges and opportunities faced by these agencies and the migrants they serve, drawing an assessment of their state of their well-being and prospects for the future of the Canadian migrant settlement system.




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