, by 91亚色 sociology Professor Luin Goldring and University of Toronto sociology Professor Patricia Landolt, was published Tuesday by the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). Given recent major changes in Canada鈥檚 immigration system, including large increases in the number of temporary foreign workers and new pathways to permanent residence, this finding has important implications, says Goldring.

Luin Goldring

The study authors define precarious work as employment that is insecure and of lower quality. They point out that immigrants with these types of jobs are often exposed to labour practices that 鈥渆rode, violate or evade employment standards.鈥� This is especially of concern in a context where 鈥渁 growing number of newcomers spend time navigating various forms of temporary and probationary legal status before they can apply for permanent residence,鈥� while others remain in a temporary category or stay in Canada without work or residence authorization.

The authors鈥� quantitative and qualitative analyses are based on original data from a sample of 300 Latin American and Caribbean immigrant workers in the Greater Toronto Area. A key finding is that exposure to precarious work during the initial period in Canada had a lasting negative impact on these workers. As they put it, the effects of living with precarious legal status can be 鈥渟ticky鈥�; the transition to secure status 鈥渄oes not put people on par with those who entered with secure status.鈥�

In light of this, Goldring and Landolt identify several ways to mitigate the effects of precarious status on immigrant economic outcomes, including faster transitions to secure legal status and permanent residence, open work permits for temporary migrant workers, improvements in workplace equity and broader access to settlement services.

The Impact of Precarious Legal Status on Immigrants鈥� Economic Outcomes by Goldring and Landolt can be downloaded free of charge from the 鈥檚 website.

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The exhibit, by master of environmental studies (MES) student Carey Satin (right), is on display today and tomorrow at the ZigZag Gallery on first floor of the Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, Keele campus.

The photographs are from Satin鈥檚 summer volunteer work in Honduras, where she performed coral reef assessment research with the nonprofit environmental conservation network . Satin researches sustainable dive tourism, looking at the relationships between tourism and conservation, and on how marine tourism might be geared to help marine conservation. She believes, 鈥淎reas lucky enough to have coral reefs can learn to use them sustainably [as a resource],鈥� and she hopes that her research will help to develop such practices.

Her photographs display the aquatic landscape in Honduras, part of the second largest barrier reef in the world. 鈥淢y hope was to capture and captivate an audience,鈥� Satin says. 鈥淚 really wanted to show the observer things they may not have seen before, such as the coral feeding at night or the fluorescence of the Caribbean reef octopus. I wanted to highlight the diversity of form [within a single coral reef]鈥 want people to realize what is at stake.鈥�

Left: A giant hermit crab is just one of the photos in聽the exhibit by Carey Satin

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the Western Hemisphere, spanning over a thousand kilometres from Mexico to Honduras, following the eastern coastline. Considered to be one of the most biologically diverse aquatic sites in the world, it sustains local and international food and tourism industries and plays a crucial role in the health of the Caribbean Ocean鈥檚 ecosystem. The reef, however, is threatened by negative human influences, including ocean acidification, sedimentation, exploitative fishing and irresponsible recreation.

Left: A photo from Carey Satin's exhibit, Rock Beauty, shows the vibrancy of colour at the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef

Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) student Aaron Manton, who visited Satin鈥檚 exhibit, described the photography as 鈥渆xtremely vivid鈥lmost abstract-looking.鈥� Thalia Felbert, also an FES student, said 鈥淚鈥檓 surprised to see so much colour鈥hen you take light into a dark aquatic atmosphere, the environment reacts to it. [These photos] capture reality in the moment. A lot of environmental photos focus on destruction, [which] are used in mainstream media to get people鈥檚 attention.鈥� But Felbert thinks Satin鈥檚 photos take another angle.

They reflect 鈥渂eing in the moment鈥either a completely happy or sad picture.鈥� They would make her feel hopeless, she said, if the photos focused on environmental degradation. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 already happened, then there [would be] nothing I can do.鈥�

Right: Cleaner Shrimp on Great Star Coral during Daylight, by Carey Satin

In her approach to photography, Satin understands the need to show the beauty. 鈥淭o appreciate the bleakness of the parking lot, you have to know the beauty of what the forest looked like.鈥�

Satin hopes to encourage new interest in coral reefs. 鈥淚 wanted to target my exhibit to those who were not already familiar with the issues threatening coral reefs. I wanted to first make sure to highlight the beauty, to share the love I have for the vibrancy of the reef. It would be the most fantastic thing to influence others to want to learn more about coral reef ecosystems. Life is art, diversity is art. Our world is full of profound beauty, it is so important that we do what we can to protect it.鈥�

For more information, contact the Wild Garden Media Centre at ext. 30533 or eco@yorku.ca.

Submitted by Michael Young, FES communications graduate assistant

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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