In terms of job ghetto-ization, minorities continue to feel trapped in minimum wage jobs, barely able to afford the basic necessities of life. The support for equal opportunities in employment and career advancement needs to be accelerated. Minorities continue to experience delays in accessing immigration services. The processing times are long and rules sometimes seem to change without notice, leaving people in limbo while they wait for government to approve applications. Minorities continue to experience difficulty in accessing credit which can be a barrier to those wishing to start their own business or enterprise, continue their education, achieve home ownership, or obtain even simple items like a cellphone. Positive ‘immigrant’ role models continue to be few and far between. According to recently released Canadian Census figures, fourteen per cent of Saskatoon’s residents speak an ‘immigrant language’—a language other than English or French. That number is huge. However, when you look at the management sector, when you look at our leaders in government or on the Boards of Directors in both the private and public sectors—when you look at people in positions of authority, that same level of diversity is not apparent. There is a gap at the senior management level which means the voice of that fourteen per cent is not present when key decisions are made. Our agency has initiated a program aimed directly at closing this gap; providing leadership training for minorities and pathways into board governance. On a very positive note, we have witnessed real improvements and encouraging practices within Saskatoon’s Police force. Police officers are now required to take Cultural Diversity training in order to increase their sensitivity to the needs of new Canadians. Our agency holds a seat on the Saskatoon Police Advisory Committee on Diversity and works to show minorities that the police are a part of our community, not apart from it. In addition to this, we have seen the Saskatoon Police make a conscious effort to recruit cultural minorities to the force and to ensure that they have a trained pool of interpreters to assist with communication. We support efforts to strengthen human rights commissions in Canada and to ensure that they have adequate funding to process complaints in a reasonable period of time. Canada’s provincial human rights commissions must assume a higher profile in our communities and do more to network with local agencies such as Global Gathering Place in promoting minority rights. 3