immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

Ben Bernanke: When he takes questions this week after a Federal Reserve meeting, Chairman Ben Bernanke will confront investors' fears that rates are headed higher, according to Times Colonist. Bernanke cautioned that the Fed would slow its support only if it felt confident the job market would show sustained improvement. And earlier in the day, he said the Fed must take care not to prematurely reduce its stimulus for the still-subpar economy and WASHINGTON - Is the era of ultra-low interest rates nearing an end? Financial markets have been gyrating in the 3 1/2 weeks since Bernanke told Congress the Fed might scale back its effort to keep long-term rates at record lows within "the next few meetings" earlier than many had assumed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Pervez Musharraf: Most of the defendants were arrested early Monday as federal authorities raided 14 franchise stores. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were executing search warrants at more than 40 other stores across the country suspected of similar infractions, authorities said at a Brooklyn news conference, according to Times Colonist. Four defendants who hold both U.S. and Pakistani citizenship belong to a family that has participated in social events with Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, prosecutors said in court papers as they highlighted foreign ties while successfully arguing against bail for most defendants. Another defendant is a citizen of the Philippines. The government said the defendants pocketed tens of millions of dollars in the scheme, hiding some money and NEW YORK, N.Y. - Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island and in Virginia were charged Monday with making tens of millions of dollars by exploiting immigrants from Pakistan and the Philippines, in part by paying them using the stolen Social Security numbers of a child and three dead people while stealing most of their wages. "These nine defendants created a modern-day plantation system, with themselves as overseers, with the immigrant workers as subjects, living in their version of a company town," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch told a news conference in Brooklyn. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

British Prime Minister David Cameron: Speaking hours ahead of the summits official opening at a lakeside golf resort, Cameron said he expects formal agreement to launch negotiations on a European-American free trade agreement. He said a pact to slash tariffs on exports would boost employment and growth on both sides of the Atlantic, according to 660 News. Referring to Northern Irelands ability to leave behind a four-decade conflict that claimed 3,700 lives, he said leaders of the Group of Eight wealthy nations should be inspired by the setting the lush lakelands of County Fermanagh to deliver their own economic breakthrough and British Prime Minister David Cameron says leaders gathering Monday for the G8 summit in Northern Ireland should reach speedy agreement on trade and tax reforms, and draw inspiration from the host countrys ability to resolve its own stubborn conflict. This will be a summit that will drive growth and prosperity all over the world, Cameron declared as he arrived at the summit venue ahead of leaders from the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, France, Italy and Japan as well as the 27-nation European Union. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Meb Rashid: Mr. Kenney, come clean with the Canadian people. This policy is flawed. Its mean-spirited. Its cruel and you know it. Stop your attempt to score political points on the backs of some of the most vulnerable amongst us. Stop your bogus propaganda, Dr. Meb Rashid of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care told 350 protesters at a Toronto rally Monday, according to The Star. The protest in front of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada building on St. Clair Ave. E. was one of 19 organized by health-care workers across Canada, including one in Hamilton, where medical students and residents at McMaster University were advised not to wear their lab coats at the protest and On the one-year anniversary of Ottawas refugee health cuts , protesters urged Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to stop his bogus propaganda against asylum seekers. We were here one year ago to tell this government these cuts were cruel and dangerous. We are now seeing the consequences. We will continue to fight against these policies. We will be persistent and relentless until the government comes clean and these cuts are rescinded. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Nova Scotia Department of Justice: Thirty-five workers employed with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice attended Mondays announcement, which marked the grand opening of their New Waterford office, according to CTV. What we wanted to do, our government, was to put jobs in areas underserved by government and had employment issues, so we are happy the way it turned out, says Deputy Premier Frank Corbett and The town of New Waterford, N.S. has added a $3-million yearly payroll to its economy, as part of a government program to relocate civil service jobs to more rural areas. The employees are maintenance enforcement staff who help collect court-ordered payments stemming from family breakups. The work was previously done in four locations, but is now centralized at a former call centre complex in the Cape Breton community. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Syria moves to top of G8 agenda, according to Globe and Mail. Harper rules out arming Syrian rebels, lashes out at Putin Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny talk outside Farmleigh House in Dublin, Ireland, Sunday, June 16, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS news Western intervention is beginning in Syria, and it is about time. The vast human slaughter in Syria has not been enough to shock the conscience of humanity into acting. But a broader understanding of self-interest has provoked action, albeit limited, because the mounting costs of not acting are becoming clearer. It is, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in the U.K. Parliament last week, a grotesque dilemma. But continued Western hand-wringing and procrastination will not solve it. More Related to this Story Putin sides with thugs, PM says as G8 splits over Syrian conflict (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care: The National Day of Action, organized by Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, will include demonstrations in front of legislatures, city halls and immigration offices from St. Johns to Victoria, according to CTV. They are taking to the streets to challenge changes to the Interim Federal Health Program, which offers temporary health care benefits to refugee claimants and Canadian doctors are gathering across the country today to protest the federal governments cuts to refugee health care benefits. In Toronto and Montreal, large groups of physicians, nurses and medical students waved signs that read: Health for all and Proud to protect refugees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mantolino Property Services Ltd.: A Dartmouth businessman whose employees once cleaned Halifax Regional Municipality facilities faces dozens of counts of immigration fraud after a Canada Border Services Agency investigation, according to The Chronicle Herald. The agency believes 28 people were victims of the fraud and Hector Mantolino, owner and operator of Mantolino Property Services Ltd., paid some cleaners from the Philippines as little as $3.13 hour and told them to lie about their wages if they wanted to stay in this country, the agency alleges. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mantolino Property Services: Its a case that one Halifax immigration lawyer describes as modern-day slavery, according to CTV. Most of the workers were brought from the Philippines to work for Mantolino Property Services as cleaners in 13 buildings owned by the Halifax Regional Municipality, including the mayors office and New details are emerging in the case of a Dartmouth businessman charged with 56 counts under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Hector Mantolino is accused of counselling 28 Filipino workers to lie about their wages if they wanted to stay in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

city of Brampton: In Brampton Civic Hospital, the palliative care unit where patients go to die can be the most lively, according to Globe and Mail. Interactive A window to Canada #039;s future: how Brampton became a city to watch This is part of a series on how the diverse and growing city of Brampton, Ont., provides lessons for Canada's future. There are the sobbing family members, the revolving door of friends who come to pay their respects, and, in this suburban hospital that serves one of the most diverse populations in Canada, plenty of religious rituals. The Brampton Diaries: A five-part series (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.