UforChange Dept: Launched three years ago with funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, UforChange offers young artists 16 29 who live in and around the highrise St. James Town neighbourhood the break they need, according to The Star. UforChange does it through free workshops, five days a week, with free materials. The first phase focuses on arts education and life skills: Participants get a chance to learn from working professionals in a field that interests them, such as fashion, dance, music and production, drama, writing, graphic and visual arts, film or photography all with state-of-the-art equipment and a pilot project that gives low-income and newcomer youth an opportunity to tap into the artist within is transforming a long-neglected Toronto neighbourhood from the inside out. Sean Roman, the program s arts and media manager, sees UforChange as a place where young people living in a diverse highrise community with a high unemployment rate can re-boot their lives. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigrant Women Dept: "I think there's a greater understanding that we need to be culturally competent when we're offering treatment for women. We see a lot more immigrant women from Africa ... and many of them have had this cutting procedure done when they were children," said Dr. Margaret Burnett, chair of the social and sexual issues committee, according to CTV. Medical students, for the most part, don't know what to do when offering care for these women, Burnett indicated and the recommendation is part of a policy statement on the subject published in the February edition of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. "So what that means for us as physicians in Canada is we're kind of confronted with this kind of anatomical difference, and we need to know how to treat them," she said Tuesday in an interview from Winnipeg. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Valentine's Day Dept: Last week's explosions in the Thai capital announced the apparent arrival of international terrorists in this Southeast Asian nation, revealing a plot allegedly aimed against Israeli diplomats. But big questions remain about who was behind the plot, and why, according to CBC. Was it part of a covert tit-for-tat war in which Iranians are hitting back at Israel for allegedly killing Iranian nuclear scientists in Tehran? Were the assailants part of a global terror network? If they were professional assassins, why were they so inept and it began when three men blew up their house accidentally on Valentine's Day in Bangkok. It ended with a gory scene that looked more like Baghdad: A bloodied, would-be bomber with severed legs moaning on a glass-strewn sidewalk after another botched blast. So far, three Iranian citizens have been detained in the case, though police say they haven't revealed anything substantial under interrogation. A Thai court issued an arrest warrant for an additional Iranian suspect this week, and on Tuesday, police were investigating the discovery of stickers plastered on Bangkok utility poles and billboards that may have marked routes for intended victims. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Criminal Law Dept: Nicholson said the law, which includes mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences, is "very targeted.", according to CBC. "But again, ours is a Canadian solution to Canadian issues and we make no apology for that." Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is standing by mandatory minimum sentencing legislation, despite a new warning that such laws don't work. "We develop our criminal law legislation looking at the experiences from around the world, from Britain and other countries," Nicholson said at a news conference Wednesday in Regina. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Dolores Sandoval Montreal Div Dept: Best of all, their names are a feast of spelling challenges. Those folks who fear change through immigration are missing the joy of seeing what the new Quebec is, according to Montreal Gazette and thank you for that colourful full page of smiling Canspell spellers on Feb. 17. Dolores Sandoval Montreal div (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

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.