Missus Dept: Well, the missus has finally spoken up about it all, in Harper's Bazaar. Key quote: "I chose not to act from ego because I just felt like it would be too crushing for my children.", according to Montreal Gazette. But won't she also have to explain it to son Cassius, 10? Maybe she'll make Dad explain it to him and remember actor Balthazar Getty, father of four, leaving wife Rosetta to take up with starlet Sienna Miller two years ago? Remember the pix of him smooching with a topless Miller on a boat at some Italian resort? Remember him finally crawling back home? She added this: "I'm going to have to explain this to my daughters one day." Those would be Grace, 8; Violet, 7; and June Catherine, 2. As reported in the news.
@t montreal gazette, sienna miller

Asylum Seekers Dept: They say the federal government already has all the legislative leeway needed to keep asylum seekers in detention until they are satisfied they qualify as legitimate refugees, and that any plan to crack down on human smugglers should not end up punishing legitimate refugees, according to Montreal Gazette. "I'm not any fan of human smugglers, but if they are so nasty, why is it that we're locking up the victims?" asked Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees and lengthening the time some refugee claimants spend in detention after arriving in Canada will deter neither future asylum seekers nor the smugglers they pay to organize their passage, immigration lawyers and asylum specialists say. They were reacting to reports the Harper government is considering legislating longer detention times for refugee claimants who arrive in large numbers at the same time, as has happened in the last year when two boats -with a total of 568 Sri Lankans -landed on the B.C. coast. As reported in the news.
@t human smugglers, canadian council for refugees

Canadian Council For Refugees Dept: They say the federal government already has all the legislative leeway needed to keep asylum seekers in detention until they are satisfied they qualify as legitimate refugees, and that any plan to crack down on human smugglers should not end up punishing legitimate refugees, according to Vancouver Sun. "I'm not any fan of human smugglers, but if they are so nasty, why is it that we're locking up the victims?" asked Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees and lengthening the time some refugee claimants spend in detention after arriving in Canada will deter neither future asylum seekers nor the smugglers they pay to organize their passage, immigration lawyers and asylum specialists say. They were reacting to reports the Harper government is considering legislating longer detention times for refugee claimants who arrive in large numbers at the same time, as has happened twice in the last year when boats -- carrying a total of 568 Sri Lankan Tamils -- arrived in B.C. As reported in the news.
@t legitimate refugees, human smugglers

Dollar Figure Dept: The announcement comes nearly one month into the legal journey of the Tamil migrants, which often takes 21 months. The LSS is mostly funded by the provincial government. It receives money like other kinds of legal aid services, but can’t tap those funds for immigration cases, according to Globe And Mail. In the meantime, the lawyers are being advised that they have a limited amount of hours left for which they can bill, including preparation and actual court time and mark Benton, executive director of Legal Services Society, said the society is nearing the end of its annual immigration budget, of $1.5-million, due to the unforeseen arrival of the 492 migrants, who arrived on the MV Sun Sea last month. “We were running on budget before the Tamil marine arrivals but this has been a substantial increase,” Mr. Benton said. Although he declined to provide a dollar figure of the remaining budget, he said the society is reaching out to the federal and provincial governments for additional funding. As reported in the news.
@t provincial governments, court time

Aurobindo Dept: For her son Aurobindo and his wife, Amrit, the program’s success is also a relief: “We know she is in a safe place having fun.”, according to Globe And Mail. But in a system already struggling to deal with an aging population, it is remains even harder for immigrant Canadians to find places that care for seniors with dementia by serving cultural appropriate food, accommodating religious beliefs, and most importantly, where staff know their language and at first she was reluctant to go, preferring to stay at home where she lives with her son and his family. But those objections soon fell away. “The girls here are very social,” she says. “They treat us so nicely.” Day programs and nursing homes for immigrants with dementia remain in short supply in Canada, a troubling reality for a disease that makes communication complicated even when caregivers and patients share the same language. With the help of vocal grassroots organizations and a growing pool of doctors, the South Asian and Chinese community have developed some senior services - such as India Rainbow and the multi-purpose Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in the Toronto area. As reported in the news.
@t grassroots organizations, chinese community

Immigration Authorities Dept: Immigration officials at the Narita International Airport detained Hilton for several hours after her chartered plane landed there Tuesday, and then asked Hilton to stay overnight at an airport hotel for more questioning on Wednesday before allowing her to enter the country, according to The Star. Under Japanese law, immigration authorities are empowered to deny entry to those who have been convicted of drug-related offences and celebrity socialite Paris Hilton was held for questioning by officials at Tokyo airport, where she had flown for business one day after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine in Las Vegas. The 29-year-old actress and hotel heiress was scheduled to attend a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday to promote her fashion and fragrance lines, but that appearance was cancelled. As reported in the news.
@t fragrance lines, hotel heiress

Torontonian Dept: By comparison, 32 per cent of the broader Torontonian population felt the same way, according to Globe And Mail. At a debate at the University of Toronto last week, Mr. Ford pointed to extensive waiting lists for social housing and family doctors: Better for the city to eliminate those lineups, he argued, before accepting anyone else and a Nanos poll done for The Globe, CTV and CP24 found 48.8 per cent of Ford supporters either disagree or somewhat disagree with the statement “Toronto would benefit from welcoming more new Canadians to the city.” It’s a view Mr. Ford himself has espoused, arguing in multiple debates that Toronto simply “doesn’t have room” to accept any more newcomers. His rival candidates have shot back that this is tantamount to xenophobia, especially problematic in a city where half the population is comprised of immigrants. As reported in the news.
@t cp24, rival candidates

Charest Dept: Mr. Charest will have an opportunity on Thursday to rebuild his credibility when he testifies before the public inquiry. Based on Mr. Charest’s past statements, he will contradict everything former justice minister Marc Bellemare has told the commission, according to Globe And Mail. Mr. Charest has denied any ties between party fundraisers and the nomination of judges. He has also denied Mr. Bellemare told him of influence peddling by party fundraisers and the Bastarache Commission into allegations of influence peddling in the nomination of judges has seriously crippled voter confidence in Mr. Charest, polls show. Mr. Bellemare’s allegations that party fundraisers exerted “colossal” pressure on him to appoint or promote three judges are at the heart of the public inquiry. Mr. Bellemare, who was justice minister from April, 2003, until he resigned a year later, went public with his allegations last spring. As reported in the news.
@t voter confidence, influence peddling

Legal Merit Dept: It often depends on access to a good lawyer and the political leanings of the judge, says a paper by a joint Canadian and American research team, according to The Star. The findings are significant since immigration appeals can make up 85 per cent of the federal court s caseload. And once denied by the court, a case is dismissed and a study of more than 600 Canadian court rulings on immigration and refugee appeals has found favourable outcomes aren t always based on legal merit. The rulings relate to would-be immigrants and refugees who appealed to the Federal Court of Canada after their claims were denied by immigration officials and refugee adjudicators. As reported in the news.
@t immigration officials, federal court of canada

City Archives Dept: Speaking with a Mandarin translator, Mayor Wayne Wright offered the apology during an emotional ceremony at city hall on Monday night, making the municipality the first in Canada to offer such an apology to the community, according to CBC. "At this time the City of New Westminster formally apologizes to the Chinese community for its past action, and it looks forward to working together in the spirit of friendship," he told the crowd, which included many long-time Chinese-Canadian residents of the community and the City of New Westminster, B.C., has formally apologized to its Chinese-Canadian community for historic discrimination after unearthing evidence of racist policies spanning a 66-year period in the city archives. "The City of New Westminster acknowledges, based on a review of city records covering the period from 1860 to 1926, that it acted in a discriminatory manner towards its Chinese community," said Wright. As reported in the news.
@t racist policies, discriminatory manner