Rights And Democracy Dept: This newspaper has joined the chorus, for what we believe is good reason. One of the arguments we and others have used is that the world has no shortage of people who beyond doubt truly do need a place of safety. Queue-jumpers create a danger that all Canadians will turn sour on the whole idea of welcoming refugees, according to Montreal Gazette. And yet now, eight long months later, our vaunted promise of "fast-tracking" some Haitians for admission has produced only a few arrivals. The goofy shared-jurisdiction system by which Quebec has barged into the immigration field is no doubt one culprit. But can that really explain the full scale of this inertia? A local chapter of Rights and Democracy reported last week that thousands of claimants and their families still languish in bureaucratic limbo and amid the furor touched off by the arrival in Canadian waters of the MV Sun Sea, many Canadians have expressed skepticism, gusting to cynicism, about the refugee status claimed by the ship's paying passengers, Tamils from Sri Lanka. Last January an earthquake killed as estimated 225,000 people in Haiti, and destroyed the housing of one million more. Beyond dispute, Haitians moved to the top of the list for compassionate immigration consideration. And with a substantial Haitian population already here, the way to go was obvious: Quebec promised to accelerate family reunifications; Ottawa nodded in support. As reported in the news.
@t montreal gazette, refugee status

Scythe Dept: And no wonder so many people have something to say about euthanasia. We're all involved. There's no avoiding it. We're all under the same sentence of death. You spend most of your time not thinking about it, but it's just a question of when and how. And do you get to choose how or don't you?, according to Montreal Gazette. And not only do I not want to be present at my own death: I'd like to skip all the others, too, particularly people close to me and the existence of Geoffrey Kelley's commission on euthanasia indicates that Quebecers are ready to tackle death. They've done abortion, gay rights and immigration. Now, it's time to move on to death. Nothing but the big ones! Notice how I say "you" and not "we." Death is an event we don't want to be part of. Woody Allen's right. You don't mind dying, but you just don't want to be there when it happens. Can I have a raincheck? you ask the hooded monk figure with the scythe. No, this is one of the things that might happen to "you" but not to "me." Not yet, anyway. As reported in the news.
@t raincheck, sentence of death

Dept: The province is extending an $850,000 program that helps temporary foreign workers. Even though the economy has not fully recovered from the recession, the province says investing in foreign workers now will help down the road. As reported in the news.
@t foreign workers,

Security Risk Dept: What do you mean Tamil migrant? When did these people apply for immigration to Canada, like all of the others before them? Since when is a deliberate, illegal attempt to enter Canada, acceptable? Why are they not put on a plane and sent back home to apply through the process correctly?, according to Calgary Herald. Richard Ostashek, Re: "Sri Lankan migrant deemed potential security risk," Sept. 9. What a sham. And I, like all of the other working stiffs in this country, will pay the bill. As reported in the news.
@t illegal attempt, working stiffs

Publication Ban Dept: She is the first adult to be released from the group of nearly 500 migrants who arrived in Esquimalt Aug. 13, after months at sea. Her name cannot be released because of a publication ban, but she is pregnant and has three children, according to Montreal Gazette. "We're holding a noise demonstration to let the ... Tamil women and children know we're here to support them," said Nassim Elbardouh, from No One Is Illegal, a refugee and immigrant rights group and a pregnant woman from the boat of Tamil migrants was released from Burnaby's youth prison Monday, following a detention hearing. Meanwhile, about 70 demonstrators gathered outside the Burnaby youth prison on Saturday, banging pot and pans in hopes a group of Tamil women and children would hear them from inside the prison walls. As reported in the news.
@t youth prison, tamil women

Publication Ban Dept: She is the first adult to be released from the group of nearly 500 migrants who arrived in Esquimalt Aug. 13, after months at sea. Her name cannot be released because of a publication ban, but she is pregnant and has three children, according to Vancouver Sun. "We're holding a noise demonstration to let the ... Tamil women and children know we're here to support them," said Nassim Elbardouh, from No One Is Illegal, a refugee and immigrant rights group and a pregnant woman from the boat of Tamil migrants was released from Burnaby's youth prison Monday, following a detention hearing. Meanwhile, about 70 demonstrators gathered outside the Burnaby youth prison on Saturday, banging pot and pans in hopes a group of Tamil women and children would hear them from inside the prison walls. As reported in the news.
@t vancouver sun, tamil women

Irb Dept: The women are among a group of 492 Tamil migrants who arrived in British Columbia on Aug. 13. They will not be released until a verdict is given by federal court, according to Globe And Mail. A pregnant woman was the first to be released on Monday by the IRB, but CBSA has declined to confirm if they will appeal the decision in that case. They have 15 days from the date of the ruling to appeal. The appeal process requires CBSA to prove that a legal or factual error was made by the IRB in ordering the release of the women. Federal court officials said on Wednesday morning they have received applications from CBSA but no hearing has been set. As reported in the news.
@t factual error, court officials

Om Puri Dept: Though the story of George s clan took place in a grubby suburb of Manchester in the early 1970s, its portrayal of the immigrant experience and familial strife were sufficiently universal that East is East became a worldwide hit, according to The Star. But a new sequel to East is East reveals a different side to the character. As Puri says in an interview the day after Sunday s world premiere of West is West at Roy Thomson Hall, this may come as a surprise to viewers who thought they had George pegged and among the 200-plus characters that Om Puri has played on screen during the Indian actor s 34-year career, a chip-shop owner named George Khan occupies a special place. In the 1999 British film East is East , George was both lovable and fearsome as he tried in vain to exert his will over his long-suffering English wife and a big brood of children who, like their father, felt torn between two cultures. Thus did the hot-tempered George become a signature role for an actor who d already become a familiar presence in both Indian cinema and movies made in the West including the 1998 screen adaptation of Rohinton Mistry s Such a Long Journey . As reported in the news.
@t rohinton mistry, such a long journey

New Immigrants Dept: Francis Dura and Renaldo Verdeflor made the decision after federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney denied their final appeals to stay in Canada, said the Yukon Federation of Labour, which has been lobbying on the men's behalf, according to CBC. "In his words, new immigrants to Canada are supposed to be fully versed in sort of the do's and don'ts, and abide fully by the Immigration Act." Two Filipino men caught working in Yukon without proper paperwork are agreeing to leave Canada voluntarily, rather than face deportation. "When you look at the Immigration Act it certainly doesn't favour, in my opinion, any new immigrants. There was a technical breach of the act and we did hear back from the federal minister who refuses to intervene in the case," labour federation president Alex Furlong told News on Tuesday. As reported in the news.
@t federation of labour, immigration act

Student Partners Dept: Canada already has 50,000 students from China and a new program is intended to attract more. iStock Immigration minister Jason Kenney says the government hopes to attract more students from China to Canadian colleges through a new Student Partners Program, according to CBC. "International students bring with them new ideas and experiences and contribute both financially and culturally to the communities and institutions where they study," Kenney said in a news release and the federal government wants to attract more Chinese students to Canadian community colleges, technical institutes and polytechnics to add to the 50,000 already studying here. The program aims to expedite student visa applications for students applying from participating countries and colleges. In order to have their visa application processed under the program, students must submit certain documentation and allow colleges to report on their attendance at classes. As reported in the news.
@t canadian colleges, immigration minister