Project Summary

This collaborative project brings together researchers from Saint Mary's University and regional immigrant-serving agencies represented by the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association (M.I.S.A).  On the basis of theoretical analysis and empirical research findings, and with community partnerships forged throughout, the goal has been to provide timely and critical reflections on how changes to security and immigration laws relate to the nature, forms and challenges of contemporary Canadian citizenship, with gender, race, ethnicity and class at the forefront.

The project examines the impact of the definition of terrorism contained in Bill C-36, Canada's latest security legislation, and related aspects of Bill C-11 (dealing with changes to immigration law), on ethnic and immigrant communities at the domestic level.  It aims to uncover and analyze the effects of this legislation and the human security agenda on diverse women and men in Atlantic Canada. The gendered implications, in particular, are highlighted in this study. How relatively recent changes to the ideas and practices of security and immigration influence the nature and forms of citizenship in Canada has been an over-arching concern.

The project raises a series of broad questions. For example: how do women and men from different ethno-racial groups figure into and fare in, these new security/immigration/citizenship formulations? Are certain identities being disproportionately affected by the legislative changes in these areas and with what implications? Are categories like "us" versus "them" being constructed and what are the consequences for women and men? What are the effects on interethnic relations and relations among immigrant women's groups when certain groups are labeled as "enemies"? Have the perceptions of service providers changed as a result of changing laws? Does this have an impact on service delivery to immigrants? And so on.

The project works on both practical and theoretical levels. Practically, the project engages in outreach, building connections between researchers, immigrant serving and multicultural organizations, ethno-racial communities and policy makers. It spurs dialogue and fosters public education on the changes and challenges of the new legislation through formal and informal networking. The project works with partners in the community: with key immigrant and multicultural organizations in Halifax, Fredericton, Moncton, St. John's, Saint John and Charlottetown. Guided by a "Regional Advisory Committee" and Local Reference Groups, Regional Workshops, training sessions and town hall meetings have been organized. The project also offers grounded research that reveals how recent reforms concretely play out for ethno-cultural communities, racialized minorities and women in Atlantic Canada.

This research was gathered in various ways: through townhalls, focus groups, surveys and in-depth interviews conducted in all six cities, plus the collection and analysis of legal cases. On a theoretical level, the project studied anti-terrorism initiatives and broader ideas and understandings of human security from various perspectives: comparatively, at the domestic level, and from a gender-based analysis.

In addition, beyond the identification of limitations and/or gaps in these policies, policy recommendations (i.e. possible remedies) that place the concerns of gender, race, ethnicity and class at the forefront are being made.