Calgary Herald Dept: The success of this tournament is thanks to great support from participants and volunteers, and the dedication and organizing abilities of Shannon and Peter Smed, according to Calgary Herald. Husband Peter worked for a number of years with elder brother Mogens in his furniture manufacturing plant but left in 1998 to found Oasis Wellness Centre & Spa. Business-wise, things have gone well and in 2001 they were looking forward to becoming parents. However, in the seventh month of pregnancy, their baby Scott died and Shannon had to deliver him in the hospital. One of the small comforts in their devastating tragedy was a gift of a teddy bear by hospital staff and monday's Scott Smed Invitational golf tournament is in its 10th year helping families who are experiencing the pain of losing a child during infancy or pregnancy. This year, the event is expected to raise $150,000, bringing the total to a remarkable $650,000. Shannon Bowen-Smed is president and CEO of Bowen, a staffing and workforce contracting firm in business here for 25 years. Inducted into the Women's Executive Network Canada's most powerful women, she increased revenues from $6.7 million to more than $35 million over the past 10 years and has a staff of 30 in her Calgary office. As reported in the news.
@t seventh month of pregnancy, calgary office

Plains Of Abraham Dept: In the 31/2 years since Curzi entered the National Assembly, he has suggested that immigrant children shouldn't be allowed to go to Englishlanguage daycare and complained about Sir Paul Mc-Cartney singing in English on the Plains of Abraham, according to Montreal Gazette. And he has raised the possibility of restricting access to health services in English and as an old-school nationalist, Pierre Curzi, the Parti Quebecois critic for language, often has his ceinture flechee in a knot over something. He has also expressed alarm that there are too many people on Montreal Island whose mother tongues are not French, which is like complaining that there are too many people born black, or Jewish, or Muslim, or gay. As reported in the news.
@t parti quebecois, montreal gazette

St Laurent Dept: Voters in the Liberal stronghold of St-Laurent went to the polls, with Fournier claiming the seat left vacant when former public security minister Jacques Dupuis resigned in August, according to CTV. Final results Monday evening showed Fournier won with a strong lead of 64 per cent, with Parti Quebecois candidate Phillipe Leclerc claiming 18 per cent of the vote and justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier has reclaimed the St. Laurent riding for the Liberals in a by-election held Monday. Dupuis represented St-Laurent for the past 12 years. As reported in the news.
@t jacques dupuis, security minister

Rsquo Dept: It was Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, according to Globe And Mail. It was the day after Jacob’s 15th birthday; having been foiled at playing paintball – the lineups were too long – the boys were heading to Jacob’s house to celebrate and what they caught, respectively, were pieces of an incident terrifying in its randomness and which but for one man’s prudence and one boy’s magnificent presence of mind, would have been fatal in its consequences. At 16.33.32 by the TTC clock, or about 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon rush, Jacob Greenspon and four friends, on a day off from Northern Secondary School, were caught by a camera going through the turnstile at the Dufferin subway station. As reported in the news.
@t afternoon rush, presence of mind

Sea Arrivals Dept: Immigration experts say it’s surprising, given this revelation, that the Conservatives began talking publicly about a crackdown on human smuggling only when the Sun Sea neared Canada last month, according to Globe And Mail. The first of the Sun Sea arrivals in B.C. was ordered released from detention on Monday by the Immigration and Refugee Board. The refugee claimant, a pregnant woman with three children, could be freed after she provides an address where she will be staying and the documents have come to light as Mr. Harper’s government readies measures to deter boatloads of illegal migrants – like the 490 Tamils who rode the MV Sun Sea to Canada in August. Sources say options for discouraging vessels of refugee claimants will be brought before the Harper cabinet during the week of Sept. 19. Measures under consideration are believed to include intercepting ships at sea, enacting harsher penalties for those behind the smuggling operations – and striking deals with allies to stop boats before they head to Canada. As reported in the news.
@t refugee claimants, immigration and refugee

Immigration Policies Dept: The report, entitled "Human Trafficking in Canada: A Threat Assessment," was prepared for the RCMP's Immigration and Passport Branch to provide the Mounties with an overview of human trafficking activities in Canada, as well as the extent of organized crime involvement in the practice, according to CTV. The report found that human traffickers exploit Canada's immigration policies to bring foreign workers into the sex trade. Criminal groups use passports from travel visa-exempt countries, such as Israel, Estonia, Latvia and Korea, to bring victims to Canada and the majority of human-trafficking convictions in Canada between 2005 and 2009 involved victims who were brought to Canada to work in the illegal sex trade, RCMP say in a new report. Looking at data from investigations between 2005 and 2009 that had human trafficking elements, the Mounties found that: Recent convictions for human trafficking have mostly involved victims who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada "trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation." Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is largely associated with organized prostitution occurring behind fronts, such as escort agencies and residential brothels. Many human trafficking suspects are linked to other organized crime activities, such as credit card, mortgage and immigration fraud, prostitution and conspiracy to commit murder. As reported in the news.
@t human trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder

S South Dept: The seat, a Quebec Liberal party stronghold, was left vacant when former Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis resigned in August, according to CBC. Fournier was first elected to the national assembly in 1994 for the Ch teauguay riding on Montreal's south shore. He served as minister for several departments before deciding to take break from politics in 2008 and voters in the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent are heading to the polls Monday for a provincial byelection. The Saint-Laurent riding has been represented by a Liberal since its creation in 1966, and candidate Jean-Marc Fournier is hoping that statistic remains true after polls close. As reported in the news.
@t jacques dupuis, security minister

Canadian Diplomats Dept: This time, the government shouldn't just “watch” the ship, as it did with the MV Sun Sea, but send Canadian immigration and police officers overseas to assist their Thai counterparts and stop the vessel from setting sail. The smugglers should be arrested and charged, according to Globe And Mail. This weekend, the headquarters of the Canadian Tamil Congress was broken into, and a computer containing the names of some claimants, and their overseas relatives, was stolen. Immigration officials also found destroyed identity documents on board the Sun Sea, evidence they say shows refugee claimants are trying to conceal their true identities and canadian diplomats in Sri Lanka warned the federal government eight months ago of a “perfect storm” of circumstances that would result in human smugglers targeting Canada. The end of the 30-year Sri Lankan civil war, the defeat of the Tamil Tigers and the release of more than 100,000 Tamils from detention camps created push factors for a mass exodus. Why wasn't the government better prepared? The RCMP should also charge the captain and crew of the MV Sun Sea, which brought 492 Tamil refugee claimants to Canada this summer, and of the Ocean Lady, which ferried 76 Tamil passengers last fall. As reported in the news.
@t tamil refugee, globe and mail

Self Advocacy Dept: Arjang, a general surgeon from Iran, and Ghoshal, a family doctor from India, say they have passed all the qualifying medical exams in Canada but failed to get a residency spot, and hence a licence to practise in Ontario, according to The Star. Representing the self-advocacy group, the Association of International Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, they said restricted licences would allow them to work in limited capacity under supervision while working toward a full licence provided they pass the qualifying academic and clinical exams, but not necessarily with the required residency experience in Canada and foreign-trained doctors Mitra Arjang and Parampal Ghoshal donned their stethoscopes and white gowns on Monday not to treat patients, but to protest. With the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario headquarters on College St. as backdrop, the two immigrant physicians launched an online petition Monday asking the province and the regulator to issue restricted licences for foreign doctors to practise in Canada. As reported in the news.
@t international physicians, college of physicians and surgeons of ontario

Canadian Territory Dept: The cabinet is assembling a bundle of options to be announced within weeks, aimed at preventing more shiploads of migrants from coming here, according to The Star. Sources say a few around the cabinet table suggested invoking the Constitution s notwithstanding clause to override the Charter, so officials would have more leeway to deal with large groups of suspicious migrants and oTTAWA Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the federal government does not need to override Charter rights in its efforts to stop ships full of illegal migrants from reaching Canadian shores. The courts say the full range of Charter rights and protections apply to foreigners anywhere in Canadian territory, regardless of who they are or how they arrived. As reported in the news.
@t immigration minister, jason kenney