Office Of Religious Freedom: North America

Foreign Affairs Department Dept: Tens of thousands in Pakistan and China, Sudan and Egypt will risk arrest, torture and death as they seek to mark Christ's arrival 2,000 years ago, according to Montreal Gazette. The government has said it will provide more details on the project in the new year and while Christians in North America and Europe celebrate Christmas by opening gifts and sipping eggnog this weekend, people who share their faith in an estimated 130 countries will be contending with some form of discrimination. During the spring federal election, the Conservative party proposed creating an Office of Religious Freedom, a body within the Foreign Affairs Department that would cost an estimated $20 million over four years and seek to safeguard religious minorities abroad. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.