Czech Republic Dept: Q104-FM is promising to send the contest winner to the Czech Republic to date a bevy of Czech beauties in a joint promotion with Flying Hearts International Dating Service that had the predictable result of sparking commentary about the crassness of the campaign, according to The Chronicle Herald. Contests of this nature are very troubling, said Rene Ross, executive director of the Stepping Stone organization in Halifax that provides support for sex trade workers and the Halifax rock radio station that gave us dancing fat guys and a contest in which listeners ate toenails for an opportunity to win prizes has reached a new level of outrageousness with a sexually charged mail-order bride contest, critics said Wednesday. Some of the criticism was serious and focused on socio-economic and cultural circumstances in the Czech Republic that might compel women to participate in such an initiative. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Gary Webster Dept: Ford s followers tossed Webster out regardless of having to pay him a hefty severance package and despite an appeal from McGuinty calling for stability and a clear direction from the city on spending an $8.4 billion transit investment from the province. We re running out of patience, McGuinty said, according to The Star. A solid majority of Toronto city council has voted against his plan. A host of credible transit analysts not just Webster have found Ford s vision wanting. And Ford has refused to publicly, and fully, accept that building a Sheppard subway will require more money from residents, either in the form of road tolls, soaring parking fees, or some other tax. That isn t the opinion of an anti-subway pinko ; it s from Ford s hand-picked transit adviser, Gordon Chong and even Premier Dalton McGuinty s public exasperation with transit antics at Toronto city hall has failed to blunt Mayor Rob Ford s determination to make things worse. As expected, his minions on the Toronto Transit Commission voted Tuesday to fire chief general manager Gary Webster. They did so less than two weeks after he had the nerve to express a professional opinion at odds with Ford s reckless demand for more subways a transit option that the city can t afford and doesn t need. None of that matters to Ford. With the confidence of a sleepwalker, utterly unaware of surrounding reality, the mayor blithely insists Toronto must build subways. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Harvard University Dept: A classic 1994 paper by Alberto Alesina of Harvard University and Roberto Perotti of Bocconi University studied 71 countries between 1960 and 1985 and found that higher levels of income inequality were associated with increased social instability. Their explanation was that unrest often erupts when a wealthy middle class is weakened as recently reported by the Economist magazine, according to The Star. What is the social impact of society with these kinds of economic class gaps? What lesson is there for the Harper government and anger at austerity is likely to be just one component of public dissatisfaction. Inequality is also an engine of protest. Monetary policy implemented with no understanding of the social cost of austerity is just short-sighted policy and does not serve the best interest of any country. Look at poverty levels in the U.S. or riots in the streets of Athens. By one estimate, 58 per cent of the real economic growth in America of the past 30 years was captured by the top 1 per cent of earners. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Newark Dept: NEWARK, N.J. - Americans living and working in New Jersey's largest city were subjected to surveillance as part of the New York Police Department's effort to build databases of where Muslims work, shop and pray. The operation in Newark was so secretive even the city's mayor says he was kept in the dark, according to Winnipeg Free Press. The result was a 60-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, containing brief summaries of businesses and their clientele. Police also photographed and mapped 16 mosques, listing them as "Islamic Religious Institutions." Standing outside of his store, Abdul Kareem Abdullah, is interviewed by the Associated Press regarding New York Police Department surveillance of the Muslim community in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. Americans in New Jersey s largest city were subjected to surveillance as part of the New York Police Department s effort to build databases of where Muslims work, shop and pray. The operation in Newark was so secretive, even the city s mayor says he was kept in the dark. For months in mid-2007, plainclothes NYPD officers snapped pictures of mosques and eavesdropped in Muslim neighborhoods. The result was a 60-page report, obtained by The Associated Press. It cited no evidence of crimes. It was just a guide to Newark s Muslims. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak For months in mid-2007, plainclothes officers from the NYPD's Demographics Units fanned out across Newark, taking pictures and eavesdropping on conversations inside businesses owned or frequented by Muslims. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Economic Struggles Dept: As a former Torontonian who works in Muncie, Ind., I was aggrieved to read Jennifer Wells article. Perhaps her brief encounter with the city s economic struggles did not allow time to appreciate Muncie s impressive efforts to provide opportunities to its 60,000 residents, according to The Star. Culturally Muncie boasts a children s museum and the Minnetrista cultural centre, featuring a museum and a popular farmer s market. Muncie s amenities include the extensive Cardinal Greenway bike paths, a shopping mall with four anchor stores, and supermarkets selling Ace Bakery breads and re: Desperate Muncie, Feb. 18 In recent years Muncie landed the Brevini USA plant that makes gearboxes for wind turbines, creating 445 new jobs. The city s support of green technology is also evident in its extensive transit system of hybrid and biodiesel buses. Next month, Muncie s 20,000-student Ball State University will inaugurate the U.S. s largest geothermal power project, cutting costs by $2 million annually. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Retirement Dept: The trouble is not that increases in expenditures for OAS are unsustainable as the baby boomers begin to reach retirement age. Rather it is that Canadians are starting their working lives later than ever, living longer than ever and wish to retire with lots of money while in their late 50s or early 60s, according to The Star. Making sure that Canadian workers can retire in comfort is possible in only two ways: Require workers to contribute more of their employment income to pension plans, or require workers to stay employed longer. Neither will be popular, but there is no magic bullet and the proposal by the federal government to increase the age of eligibility for Old Age Security from age 65 fails to address the problem facing Canadians. Making clear that this is the predicament shifts the debate from the OAS to the Canada Pension Plan. After all, it is the CPP that provides workers with a significant amount of retirement income. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadian Parliamentarians Dept: VANCOUVER - An attorney who helped U.S. politicians write mandatory-minimum sentencing laws during the 1980s has a warning for Canadian parliamentarians, according to Winnipeg Free Press. "When you start going down this road of building more prisons and sending people away for long periods of time, and you convince yourself that this is going to deter people you've made a colossal mistake," said Sterling, who now the president of the Maryland-based Criminal Justice Policy Foundation An attorney who helped U.S. politicians write mandatory-minimum sentencing laws during the 1980s has a warning for Canadian parliamentarians. He sayd imposing long jail terms for minor drug offences has been a mistake in the U.S. and won't work in Canada. AP Photo/Martin Mejia Imposing long jail terms for minor drug offences has been a mistake in the U.S. and won't work in Canada," said Eric E. Sterling, who once served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Evelyne De La Cheneliere Dept: MONTREAL - Evelyne de la Cheneliere laughs when asked if she ever considered becoming a teacher like one of her best known creations, Bashir Lazhar, according to Winnipeg Free Press. She's kidding, the playwright quickly adds, but she also points out she believes teachers have a huge responsibility and need more energy than she has and evelyne de la Cheneliere is shown in a file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand "No!" she says with a broad smile over a cappuccino in a trendy Montreal cafe. "My God, I would cry all day, every day." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ontario Legislature Dept: They can t run fast and these particular turtles can t even swim well, so there s can t be much sport in it. It s made all the weirder by the fact that snapping turtles were designated an at-risk species years ago. That means experts think they may be on their way to endangered status. How can that be compatible with allowing anyone with a fishing or small game licence to bag two a day in season?, according to The Star. How could they possibly know? They don t track the number of hunters, they don t track the turtles killed and they don t know how many turtles remain. Under the current rules hunters could legally kill every snapping turtle in Ontario, says Ontario Nature s biologist John Urquhart. Whose definition of sustainable is that and an 11,000-signature petition to end the snapping turtle hunt will be presented to the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday. It s a fair bet that just about everyone not on that list has no idea that turtle hunting is even a concern in this province. This petition, organized by the Friends of the Snapping Turtle, isn t the first demand for additional protections for this ancient, armoured creature. In the past, the ministry of natural resources has refused to say that the snapping turtle hunt is sustainable. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Bronson Pinchot Dept: Pinchot likely remains best known as the endearingly naive, quasi-Mediterranean immigrant Balki Bartokomous from the TV sitcom "Perfect Strangers." But unlike Balki, Pinchot is by his own admission "fiercely private" and an "introvert that does a pretty convincing performance as an extrovert." Still, he has decided to open his doors to America via "The Bronson Pinchot Project," which premiered Feb. 11 on the DIY cable network. In all, eight episodes were shot over 13 weeks at the end of last year in Harford, a village founded in 1790 and nestled in the Endless Mountains of Susquehanna County near the New York state line, according to CTV. His new show, though, is altogether different and hARFORD, Pa. For more than a decade, Bronson Pinchot has spent much of his downtime in the picture-book Pennsylvania hamlet where he found a dream home far from the stressful clamor of New York or L.A. His filmography includes 1980s hits like "Risky Business" and "Beverly Hills Cop," but since "Perfect Strangers" ended in 1993 after eight seasons, Pinchot has performed on and off-Broadway, appeared in touring theatrical productions and done voiceovers and audiobooks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.