Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier | Université Laval (original) (raw)

Research by Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier

Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice Families and the Law, 35 p.

Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, 110 p., 2023

This paper dresses a landscape of the federal obstacles for (im)migrants to access permanent stat... more This paper dresses a landscape of the federal obstacles for (im)migrants to access permanent status, and explains how such obstacles systematically interfere with the exercise of the right to access justice and protection of the law in Canada. New demographic trends confirm that accessing permanent status lead as much to circular, return on onward migration than to permanent settlement and access to citizenship. Permanent status confers important rights, such as the right to re-enter in the country but, more generally, it empowers workers with the capacity to assert rights, enjoy the protection of the law and access to justice and reparation if necessary. Indeed, while some analysts might refer to such federal obstacles, requirements, or conditions for permanent status as simple “snakes” in the grand ‘Snakes and Ladders’ game that all immigrants presumably have consented to play with the Federal government upon admission in the country, such restrictions in fact do not constitute simple “snakes” or interference with access to justice that could easily be found justified under court’s scrutiny. For most individuals, these constitute minefields that destroy them and their families and negate their right to justice and reparation, and protection of the law, in case of right violation in Canada. This is important, because the obstacles to justice for (im)migrant workers hoping to secure, in one way or another, permanent status, always indirectly refer to agents, consultants, employers that thus operate with these hundreds of thousands of workers *outside of* the Rule of Law. As such, this paper discusses how federal obstacles to permanent status fundamentally infringe on the integrity of the Rule of Law and, ultimately, also erode Canada’s democratic nature. The paper concludes with an image of what would constitute a permanent status policy for workers that is compatible with Canada’s constitutional protections - and, thus, what would constitute a worker status revocation and deportation policy that could, under a court’s scrutiny, be found non-arbitrarily, proportionate, minimally impairing and, thus, justifiable in a free and democratic society.

Global Labour Rights Reporter, vol. 3 no 1, 18-28

Global Labour Rights Reporter III (1) Protecting the Labour Rights of Migrant Workers and Refugees, 2023

International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network - GLRR

Le Futur de la diversité, 2023

International Labour Organization et Presse de l'Université du Québec

The Future of Diversity - ILO, 2021

Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organization may ma... more Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organization may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit X Contents X Contributors vi X Preface ix X Introduction Diversity, equality and inclusion, discrimination and exclusion: Defining the concepts, understanding the debate and analysing the political discourse 1 Christiane Kuptsch and Éric Charest X Part 1. Diversity management and the economic case for diversity 1. Unpacking the business case for gender diversity 15 Jae-Hee Chang 2. The tone at the top: Challenging diversity Marie-Soleil Tremblay, Hanen Khemakhem and Patrice Gélinas 3. Improving gender equality through collective bargaining Verena Schmidt and Manuela Tomei 4. Commitment to inclusion as a diversity management strategy Katarzyna Hanula-Bobbitt 5. Diversity, migration and the economy Theo Sparreboom, Sarah Kups, Jesse Mertens and Sandra Berger X Part 2. The illusion of equality-Inclusive structures needed 6. When home affects pay: An analysis of the gender pay gap among crowdworkers Abigail Adams and Janine Berg 7. The future of work for LGBTI people 121 Gurchaten Sandhu 8. Ageing in diverse societies 135 Ruxandra Oana Ciobanu The future of diversity iv X Part 3. Discrimination and violence that impede diversity 9. "You think you're 'one of the boys' but you never really are": The impact of discriminatory violence on the retention of women in the construction industry in Quebec Laurence Hamel-Roy and Élise Dumont-Lagacé 10. Feminist workplaces: "Safe spaces" for black women? Jade Almeida and Marlihan Lopez 11. Recognizing the legitimacy of a deep unease: Improving the analysis of systemic discrimination by considering microaggressions experienced in a society in denial about racism and sexism Karine Bellemare and Éric Charest X Part 4. Exclusion by design and how to overcome it 12. The polymorphic conception of systemic discrimination: Unions between discourse and action in Quebec Diane Gagné 13. State restriction of workers' rights to equality, liberty, security and access to justice through employer-tied labour (im)migration programmes: The Canadian example Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier, Hannah Deegan and Marie-Èveline Touma 14. Who is a "migrant" in diverse societies? Blurred concepts and their policy implications

Laws

In June 2019, the Government of Canada implemented the Open work permit for vulnerable workers (O... more In June 2019, the Government of Canada implemented the Open work permit for vulnerable workers (OWP-V) policy, authorizing immigration officers to issue open work permits to migrant workers on employer-specific work permits if they demonstrate reasonable grounds to believe that they are experiencing abuse or are at risk of abuse in their workplace. Drawing on research conducted by a community organization on the impact of the policy, this article examines the policy’s potential to remedy the problematic effects of the employer-specific work permit and whether it has been implemented efficiently. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with organizations that provide direct legal and social support to migrant workers in Canada. Additionally, two datasets regarding the role of the OWP-V policy in IRCC’s employer compliance regime were analyzed. The research concludes that the OWP-V policy cannot be expected to counteract the high risk of abuse imposed on workers through the employer...

Ph.D. Law (LL.D Université de Montréal) , 2018

An international judicial controversy began in 2011 when a slight majority of the Constitutional ... more An international judicial controversy began in 2011 when a slight majority of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea reached a conclusion contradicting a 2006 unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Israel. In the 2006 ruling, Israeli justices held that employer-tied work permit systems, even if incorporating a “change of employers” procedure, create a “modern form of slavery” and, more specifically, constitute unjustifiable state violations of migrant workers’ fundamental rights to liberty and dignity. Thus, key judicial issues remain unsettled: could policies other than employer-tied work permit systems similarly impact (im)migrant workers’ fundamental rights? Does empirical evidence confirm that “harm reduction” measures, including ‘change of employers’ procedures, may significantly reduce an employer-tying policy’s impact on individuals’ right to liberty (and/or to security of the person and access to justice)? If not, which labour (im)migration policies would be compatible with the respect of workers’ fundamental rights? Canada’s immigration law incorporates all types of employer-tying measures: (A) ‘worker sponsorship/blacklisting’ privileges, (B) ‘worker binding’ privileges, (C) ‘worker transfer’ privileges, and (D) ‘worker repatriation’ privileges. By reproducing legal mechanisms characteristic of past state practices which tied indentured workers, slaves and/or former slaves to employers, contemporary immigration frameworks, including various Canada programs such as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, rely on employer-tying policies compelling (im)migrant workers in the country to, at all times, “obey and comply with all rules set down by the employer.” The Canadian SAWP also specifically incorporates the three “harm reduction” measures discussed by Israeli and South Korean highest court justices. When analyzed using the Supreme Court of Canada’s “liberty/security/access to justice harms” framework, empirical evidence shows however that, despite the enforcement of such “harm reduction” directives, employer-tied (im)migrant workers face (1) state restrictions to their physical liberty, (2) state-induced increased risks of harm, (3) restriction of their freedom from state interference with psychological integrity, (4) state restriction of their right not to be held under servitude, and more precisely of their freedom to make the fundamental choices to quit one’s employer, to quit one’s occupation, and to quit one’s place of residence or work, (5) state obstacles to access justice in the country, and (6) state denial of procedural fairness. In this context, to allow (im)migrant workers’ exercise of their fundamental rights, open work authorizations must replace (directly or indirectly) employer-tied ones, and co-governmental management and pre-financing of (im)migrant workers’ international recruitment, sponsoring, placement, integration, and deportation processes respecting procedural fairness, must replace the current recognition of employers/agents’ ‘worker acquisition’ and ‘worker removal’ privileges. Since empirical evidence also confirms that state-induced family separation restricts individuals’ right to psychological integrity, and that exclusions to permanent status procedures restrict individuals’ right to access to justice in the country, further analysis are necessary to better understand the link between the respect of fundamental rights and the recognition of family reunification and permanent legal status procedures upon arrival.

Conference Migrants at Work - Queens University, 2018

In 2006, the Supreme Court of Israel recognized, in a unanimous decision, that the governmental i... more In 2006, the Supreme Court of Israel recognized, in a unanimous decision, that the governmental issuance of employer-tied work permits to foreign workers creates a "modern form of slavery" and, more precisely, that it violates individuals' fundamental right to liberty. Other types of temporary labour migration programs have been documented as less restrictive of migrant workers' fundamental right to liberty, physical and psychological integrity, and access to justiceor more precisely, to their implied fundamental right not to be held in servitude. For decades, migrant associations and nongovernmental organizations around the world have been advocating for the respect of workers' fundamental rightsand in particular for the removal of state restrictions on the right to change employers. In 1998, the UK government agreed to issue sectoral work permits to foreign domestic workers employed by a foreign national residing in the country-instead of employer-tied work authorizations. Even though this less restrictive framework was confirmed by both civil society groups and state agencies as effective in reducing the abuses and obstacles to justice experienced by these workers, the U.K. government reintroduced, in 2012, the issuance of employer-tied work permits for foreign domestic workers. In the US, the evolution of legal schemes that imposed conditions of servitude on workers confirms that even when an explicit limit exists on the legality of state restrictions on workers' rights, such as a constitutional recognition of their fundamental right not to be held in involuntary servitude, repeated interventions by the courts has proven necessary to force policymakers to stop facilitating employers' access to a supply of unfree workers. The limited impact of direct pressure for progressive policies, of formal rights recognition, and of the first legal initiatives challenging the legality of employer-tied labour migration programs demonstrates that in order to secure for migrant workers the right to change employers, court decisions that broadly recognize the incompatibility between workers' fundamental rights and any form of employer-tying policy are necessary. Furthermore, the most effective court decisions would include detailed accounts of alternative labour migration policies that have a neutral or positive impact on migrants' rights.

LL.D. thesis initial submission - Faculté de droit/Université de Montréal, 2016

An international judicial controversy was consolidated in 2011 when the Constitutional Court of t... more An international judicial controversy was consolidated in 2011 when the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea contradicted a 2006 decision of the Supreme Court of Israel. In the 2006 ruling unanimous Israeli justices held that employer-tied work permit systems, even if incorporating a “change of employer procedure”, create a “modern form of slavery” and, more specifically, constitute a state violation of migrant workers’ fundamental rights to liberty and dignity. Thus, the few court decisions on temporary labour migration programs leave, in particular, one key judicial issue unsettled: could one or various “harm reduction” policies negate the destructive impact of restricted work authorizations on the fundamental liberty and security of the person of (im)migrant workers? The Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) is characterized by the three harm reduction policies discussed by Israeli and South Korean highest court justices. However, when analyzed using the Supreme Court of Canada’s “liberty/security harms” doctrine, empirical evidence shows that under such harm reduction policies (im)migrant workers do face (1) restrictions to their physical liberty, (2) increased risk of harms, (3) denial of procedural fairness, (4) barriers to the making of fundamental choices to quit one’s employer, one’s occupation, or one’s place of residence, (5) obstacle to access justice and reparation in the country, and (6) state-induced psychological stress ̶ including state denial of the fundamental right to family unity. By reproducing legal mechanisms characteristic of past state practices which tied former slaves to employers, contemporary immigration frameworks, as in Canada, often incorporate employer-tying policies excluding workers from access to permanent legal status recognition while compelling them – in some cases for more than 25 years – to, at all times, “obey and comply with all rules set down by the employer.” In sum, empirical findings are compatible with the conclusions reached by Supreme Court of Israel’s justices in 2006, which state that, unless based on the issuance of unrestricted work authorizations, temporary labour migration programs always constitute state restrictions of workers’ fundamental right to liberty and security. Furthermore, recent empirical evidence, in particular on workers’ conditions under employment-based immigration schemes, such as the longstanding Canadian Caregiver program, confirms that unless such unrestricted work authorization is associated with the automatic issuance of work permit/status allowing access to school for accompanying spouse/child(ren) and an independent access to permanent status upon arrival, temporary labour migration schemes will always at least result in state restrictions on (im)migrant workers’ capacity to claim rights, access justice, and enjoy the protection of the law.

CÉRIUM/REDTAC-(im)migration Working Paper, 2015

Moving the Temporary Labour Migration Debate to the Fundamentals: Employer/Agent-Bonded Migrant W... more Moving the Temporary Labour Migration Debate to the Fundamentals: Employer/Agent-Bonded Migrant Workers as Victims of State Violations of Human Rights

CÉRIUM/REDTAC-(im)migration Working Paper, 2014

Western States have developed a range of national and bilateral programs to identify sectoral lab... more Western States have developed a range of national and bilateral programs to identify sectoral labour shortages and admit just-in-time foreign workers under temporary rather than permanent legal status. Statistics on occupations filled between 2004 and 2009 by guestworkers in Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia) show that some labour shortages addressed by the presence of guestworkers were less acute than others. Moreover, researchers have recently identified that the presence of guestworkers in Canada have or would put a significant downward pressure on the wages and work conditions of certain categories of local workers. This downward pressure has been explained, in particular, by the restrictions on rights and freedoms of certain groups of guestworkers. In order to minimize the negative economic impact of guestworkers

Conférence sur les travailleurs migrants temporaires du CÉRIUM/REDTAC-(IM)MIGRATION, Montréal, 10 mai , 2013

Réseau de recherche sur les travailleurs migrants temporaires du CÉRIUM/REDTAC-(IM)MIGRATION 10 m... more Réseau de recherche sur les travailleurs migrants temporaires du CÉRIUM/REDTAC-(IM)MIGRATION 10 mai 2013

Revue Québécoise de Droit International, 2013

À la migration internationale de travailleurs sont associés différents programmes d'admission au ... more À la migration internationale de travailleurs sont associés différents programmes d'admission au sein du pays d'emploi, imposant des conditions restreignant parfois significativement la liberté et la sécurité des travailleurs migrants. Le présent article se penche sur l'interdiction de changer d'employeur. Se basant sur les effets auprès de la main-d'oeuvre touchée, les auteurs abordent les différentes formes de cette exigence d'un point de vue historique et global, pour ensuite se pencher plus spécifiquement sur la situation des travailleurs étrangers temporaires au Canada. À travers l'articulation des différents programmes applicables, l'article traite des conséquences de l'interdiction de changer d'employeur sur l'exercice des droits et libertés fondamentales. Que ce soit par l'intermédiaire du Règlement sur l'immigration et la protection des réfugiés ou encore de diverses pratiques administratives, l'imposition d'une restriction au changement d'employeur place les travailleurs migrants en territoire canadien en position de vulnérabilité pouvant être qualifiée de condition de servitude selon les termes de la Convention sur les pratiques analogues à l'esclavage. Enfin, les auteurs proposent une analyse de cette interdiction à la lumière de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés, plus particulièrement quant au droit à la liberté et la sécurité et à la liberté d'association. Cross-border movements for the purpose of employment are associated with different conditions, often restrictive of liberty, linked to the migrant workers status. This article addresses the imposition to these workers of a prohibition to change employer by many governments worldwide. Based on the concrete effects on migrant workers' lives, the authors tackle the multiple forms and facets of this prohibition, internationally as well as in Canada. Through the presentation of the various programs of admission of foreign workers in Canada, this article explores the consequences of the restriction to change employer on these workers fundamental rights and liberties. This prohibition imposed by the Canadian government, through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations or diverse administrative practices, puts migrant workers in a vulnerable position that can be qualified as a servile status under the terms of the international Convention on Practices Analogous to Slavery. Finally, the authors offer a deeper analysis of the prohibition to change employer in the light of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights, more specifically in regards to the right to liberty and security of the person as well as the freedom of association. * Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier coordonne le réseau de recherche sur les travailleurs étrangers temporaires du REDTAC-(im)migration au Centre de recherche et d'études internationales de l'Université de Montréal et complète actuellement le programme de doctorat de la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Montréal. Myriam Dumont Robillard est une avocate impliquée dans la défense des droits des travailleuses migrantes admises au Québec à titre d'aide familiale. Elle est inscrite au programme de doctorat en droit à l'Université McGill.

Nouveaux Cahiers du Socialisme no. 9, 2013

La violation systémique des droits et libertés des travailleurs étrangers temporaires comme strat... more La violation systémique des droits et libertés des travailleurs étrangers temporaires comme stratégie antisyndicale : Bilan du gouvernement Harper 1 er août 2012 Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier, Doctorante en Droit, Université de Montréal L'admission de travailleurs sous statut légal lié à l'employeur La majorité des travailleurs étrangers admis annuellement au Canada se voient octroyés à l'arrivée non pas le statut de résident permanent, mais bien celui de travailleurs étrangers temporaires (voir graphique I). Sauf exception, ces derniers se voient refuser l'accès aux programmes d'accueil et d'intégration financés par le gouvernement fédéral ou les gouvernements provinciaux 1. Graphique I Source : Citoyenneté et immigration Canada 2 1 Le gouvernement de l'Alberta finance un service d'information à l'intention des travailleurs migrants sous statut temporaire en Alberta : Alberta Ministry of Human Services, « Temporary Foreign Worker-Information for workers-Advisory Offices », 2012. 2 Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada, « Faits et chiffres-Tableaux sommaires, Résidents permanents et résidents temporaires 2011», 2012.

Canadien Issues/Thèmes Canadiens, 2010

Immigration and Diversity Issues Gaining Prominence Canada accepts some 250,000 immigrants and re... more Immigration and Diversity Issues Gaining Prominence Canada accepts some 250,000 immigrants and refugees annually • Are newcomers finding jobs and succeeding economically? • What impact has diversity had on Canada? • Do newcomers face barriers? • Why do immigrants settle primarily in our larger cities? • Are there social and economic challenges? Are we responding appropriately? Mobilizing the Network • Five Centres of Excellence, located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax/Moncton generate policy-relevant research on immigration and diversity • Metropolis Conferences attract 700+ participants yearly • Metropolis Presents is a public forum to discuss research and policy findings on emerging issues • Metropolis Conversations are closed-door sessions of experts that contribute to a more informed debate on immigration policy • An Interdepartmental Committee of federal partners meets quarterly for cross-cutting policy discussion • Our publications transfer research knowledge to policy-makers and practitioners • Our award-winning suite of websites provide access to hundreds of articles and working papers • Co-chair of the International Metropolis Project, the largest immigration network of its kind, bringing together more than 30 countries and international organizations Connecting the Research, Policy and Practice The Metropolis Project Secretariat is the bridge between research, policy and practice • Supports and encourages policy-relevant research of interest to the Government of Canada • Increases the uptake of research findings by policy-makers and practitioners • Manages the international arm of Metropolis Our Partnership and Network Metropolis involves more than 5,500 participants from all over the world

Outre le Code du travail, plusieurs aspects de la législation québécoise engendrent un traitement... more Outre le Code du travail, plusieurs aspects de la législation québécoise engendrent un traitement spécial pour les travailleurs agricoles, notamment au sein du droit de l'immigration. L'impossibilité de facto à joindre une unité syndicale accréditée pour les salariés au sein des exploitations agricoles qui réduisent leurs activités à l'hiver doit être analysée dans ce contexte plus large de discrimination systémique des travailleurs agricoles au Québec. Aussi, compte tenu de la documentation sur les conditions de vie et travail de cette main-d'oeuvre, il est possible de conclure que cette exception du code du travail non seulement engendre un obstacle majeur à l'exercice de leur liberté d'association, mais constitue également un obstacle à l'exercice du droit à l'intégrité physique et psychologique et du droit de ne pas être discriminé sur la base de la condition sociale. 1 Article présenté lors du séminaire du CÉRIUM/REDTAC-(im)migration/Travailleurs étrangers temporaires « Constat de la CDPDJ : Récents développements dans la recherche sur le préjudice systémique subi par les travailleuses et travailleurs migrants au Québec », Montréal, 7 décembre 2012