Language Skills Dept: Manitoba's rapid rise of immigration has resulted, heavily, from an aggressive provincial nominee program that allows it to tailor recruitment to its needs. The federal study found the immigrants recruited here find jobs almost equally as rapidly as those in the hot job markets of more westerly provinces. Their earnings are much lower, however, and far fewer land a job equal to their skills, according to Winnipeg Free Press. The U of W-led study also found that while the vast majority are putting down roots, those surveyed also continue to complain their credentials and pre-immigration job experience is not recognized when they arrive and begin looking for jobs here. Spouses of the principal applicants have numerous difficulties, especially in language skills and somewhat in integration into the community and ottawa wants to tighten the rules for who comes into Canada under provincial selection programs, stressing English-language skills and a better match to the needs of the labour market. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney launched a study after scandals and fraud erupted in the programs on the East Coast, but his proposed fixes will cut into the numbers of newcomers streaming into Manitoba as well. This is somewhat at odds with other studies of the Manitoba program that found higher success rates for immigrants in their fields or related ones, but that is likely because of small sampling -- 100 immigrants -- through personal interviews by the University of Winnipeg researchers. Further, the province believes the disparity in incomes and job classification is because Manitoba recruits not for specific professions or trades, but to fill a wider variety of jobs when its economy was growing pre-2010. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Davos, Switzerland Dept: The prime minister's pension bombshell dropped at the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland this week is set to spark a war of words when lawmakers return to Parliament on Monday. The rhetoric has been ramping up since Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a speech at the World Economic Forum Thursday, that an overhaul may be necessary as a growing population ages making supplements like Old Age Security economically unsustainable. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Otis Wood Dept: Then there is Hubert Green, who ran a crew of about 40 street-level dealers in southeast Scarborough, supplying them with cocaine to sell and guns to arm themselves, according to The Star. I take responsibility for breaking the law and I know I must be punished, read a statement dictated by Wood and read out in court by his lawyer, Rudy Koch and meet Otis Wood, a churchgoing family man. They are the same, remorseful man, his sentencing hearing in Superior Court was told Friday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

YWCA Dept: The wave of aboriginal "immigration" from reserves during the last 50 years means the poverty they face is no longer hidden, he said Saturday, according to CTV. "Toronto has been described, quite rightly, as the largest reserve in the country," he said. "This problem is no longer out there, this problem is right here and speaking at the YWCA in Vancouver, Rae said the relationship of governments with aboriginal people "is a great example of truly unfinished, unreconciled business in the country." Rae said many of Canada's largest cities now include "aboriginal ghettos" where the anger fuelled by inequality has led to suicide and crime. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ontario Law Dept: Unaware of tenants rights under Ontario law, new immigrants like Islam are being asked by landlords to pay as much as a full year of rent upfront to secure their first home because they have no Canadian employment or credit history, according to The Star. Sad to say, there is a subset of landlords who prey on newcomers lack of education of the law and lack of understanding of the rental situation, said Geordie Dent, of the Federation of Metro Tenants Association and rafiqul Islam paid his landlord $8,600 of rent upfront for a bachelor apartment in Mississauga. Housing advocates say such demands are illegal and the exploitation of immigrants has become all too common, due to loopholes in the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act, as well as weak provincial enforcement. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney Dept: After waiting nearly 24 hours, the government announced Tuesday that Leon Mugesera had been sent back to his native Rwanda the previous day, according to CTV. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney made the announcement in Montreal. He said that, for 16 years, Mugesera abused tools available to him to avoid deportation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Honour Killings Dept: On Sunday, Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, were each found guilty on Sunday of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the Shafias' three daughters and the older man's first wife, according to CTV. Amin Muhammad, a professor of psychiatry at Memorial University in St. John's, Nfld. and an expert on honour killings, said such a crime is usually committed when a female establishes a relationship with a man outside of her family and perpetrators of honour killings do so under the mistaken belief that their actions will restore respect for their family in their community, says a Canadian expert on the phenomenon. The Crown had argued the deaths were honour killings, an attempt to restore the family's dignity in the wake of the girls' rebellious behaviour. The family denied these claims, but Justice Robert Maranger called the killings an "honourless crime" when addressing them after the verdict was handed down, saying the victims were killed because they "offended your completely twisted concept of honour that has absolutely no place in any civilized society." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Dept: Issue by issue, vote by vote, he has come undone. Whether burying transit or unloading Toronto Hydro, selling public housing or putting together the budget, the Chief Magistrate has become the Main Obstacle, according to The Star. Because he s incapable of understanding others, Ford has found it hard to be a consensus-builder, which, in a weak-mayor system like Toronto s, is critical and just a year into his term, three left to go, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is a spent force. His much publicized 320-pound bulk notwithstanding, he seems a husk. Despite those all-nighters last year, Ford is a poor listener. Worse still, he isn t the least bit curious about the larger world, let alone Toronto. His ideas are strongly held but barely formed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Northern Uganda Dept: The disease causes young children and adolescents to nod violently in an apparent seizure. It happens frequently throughout the day, including when they eat, according to The Star. A team from the Atlanta-based health organization is returning to Uganda in February to consult with local officials about a treatment trial and nodding syndrome a disease with epileptic-type symptoms prevalent in parts of northern Uganda is a medical mystery that is confounding medical researchers and scientists alike. Over the past year there has been a growing outbreak in northern Uganda, specifically in Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. It is believed that thousands of cases have developed, but officials from the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control CDC have only been able to confirm a couple hundred. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Rubio Dept: Each candidate has as much as offered Mr. Rubio the vice-presidential running mate spot. Each has heaped praise on the Tea Party favourite 40-year-old who rocked Florida politics in 2010 by running then governor Charlie Crist out of the Republican Party, according to Globe and Mail. So why is Mr. Rubio playing so hard to get and but Mr. Rubio, the Republicans great Hispanic hope, has been coy about whom he s backing in Tuesday s GOP primary in Florida. He is officially staying neutral in the hotly contested race, even as Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney are both claiming kinship to him. Mr. Rubio won his Senate seat against Mr. Crist, who ran as an independent candidate after quitting the GOP when he stood little chance of beating Mr. Rubio in a primary. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.