Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire: Hamilton spoke with Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire on Friday to get his take on these trends. The city's top cop said the decrease in crime speaks both to Hamilton's economic resurgence as well as to the quality of its law enforcement. Moreover, he defended his campaign at council to increase funding for the police force, arguing cuts to service would have direct impact upon safety upon Hamilton streets, according to CBC. First of all, we need to be really, really clear that this report is about reported crime. So we have to keep up all of our efforts and our educational outreach to encourage people to report crime, particularly in the areas of domestic violence and sexual assault. There are a lot of reasons, but we believe those are underreported crimes and Police heralded on Wednesday a new Statistics Canada report showing the violent crime rate in the Hamilton area in 2012 was down 19 per cent over the previous year the largest decrease of any region in the country. And for the fifth year in a row, the study suggested, the city saw a drop in its overall crime, down seven per cent from 2011. Related: Hamilton sees largest violent crime decrease in Canada What impact do you hope this report will have on the perception of how safe Hamilton is? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Adam Giambrone: Scarborough Guildwood, according to The Star. The candidates: Liberal hopeful Mitzie Hunter, the CivicAction chief executive officer, is in a tight race with the Tories Ken Kirupa, a realtor and past president of the Canadian Tamils Chamber of Commerce. Former Toronto city councillor Adam Giambrone is the NDP candidate while Nick Leeson is running for the Greens and Ontarios governing party could be in for a difficult dose of reality on Aug. 1, when five long-held Liberal ridings go to the polls in Premier Kathleen Wynnes first electoral test of her leadership. Here is a look at the issues, the players and the polls: Vacated by: Margarett Best (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Edward Snowden: In a letter dated Tuesday, the attorney general said the criminal charges Snowden now faces in the United States do not carry the death penalty and the U.S. will not seek his execution even if he is charged with additional serious crimes. The letter followed news reports that Snowden, who leaked details of top-secret U.S. surveillance programs, has filed papers seeking temporary asylum in Russia on grounds that if he were returned to the U.S., he would be tortured and would face the death penalty. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. The attorney general's letter was sent to Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov, the Russian minister of justice. WASHINGTON -- Striving to get Edward Snowden back to America, U.S., Attorney General Eric Holder has assured the Russian government the U.S. has no plans to seek the death penalty for the former National Security Agency systems analyst. Snowden has been charged with three offences in the U.S., including espionage, and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

John Kinahan: The investigation is ongoing, the allegations have not been proven, and the urologist maintains his hospital privileges. Kinahan was operating Friday and did not return calls for comment, according to Times Colonist. The B.C. Nurses Union noted that a patient privacy breach is a serious allegation and it is confident VIHA will thoroughly investigate anyone and everyone involved and VIHA has also hired a third-party lawyer specializing in labour, employment and human rights to investigate the alleged privacy breach by Dr. John Kinahan. The nurse who apparently first received the image did not respond to an email request for comment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Soulpepper Theatre Company: Great Expectations: Awkward, silly, and as flat as the Kent marshes, according to Globe and Mail. Review The Crucible: A sterling, timely warning about mass hysteria video Albert Schultz celebrates two major life events at the end of the month, one right after the other. On July 30, the artistic director of Soulpepper Theatre Company will turn 50. The next day, his production of American playwright Tony Kushners six-hour, two-part epic, Angels in America , officially opens. More Related to this Story Entertaining Mr. Sloane: A 50-year-old satire that retains the power to shock (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada Border Services Agency: Although Khurshid Begum Awans removal on Wednesday was eventually cancelled following protest by her cardiologist, refugee advocates criticized the Canada Border Services Agency for its actions, according to The Star. Three officers just showed up at the emergency room and informed her she was under arrest. Its really disturbing. We call on health-care providers and administrators to ensure people accessing health services are safe from border agents and A Pakistani grandmother recovering from a heart attack was arrested at a Montreal hospital by border officers and told she would be deported from Canada the next day. There is no reason for this kind of belligerent and intimidating tactics, said Rosalind Wong of Solidarity Across Borders, who was with the woman at the Montreal General Hospital when the arrest occurred Tuesday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

EHS Communications Centre: The phone jars me awake. A blurry 3-something on the clock. EHS Communications Centre calling to patch me together with the Life Flight physician, who has been woken up multiple times already, and a surgeon in Antigonish, according to The Chronicle Herald. They are now flying to Antigonish where four other victims are being assessed and stabilized. They are what remains of the seven people, all under 21 years old, unbelted, who were in a subcompact car that went off the road and I stumble out of the room so as not to wake my wife. The Life Flight physician briefly recounts the futile attempt by the team, who landed at a roadside in Cape Breton, to help resuscitate a car crash victim now the third fatality at the scene. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird: Baird rebuffed critics and experts who say the move signals the end of the Harper governments strategy in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, according to 660 News. I want to underline: it continues to be a big priority and OTTAWA Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says he ll take the lead in Canadas relations with Latin America after the recent cabinet shuffle eliminated the portfolio for the region that usually went to a junior minister. One of the realities is having a minister and a minister of state with one minister of state having geographical priority it didnt allow me to spend as much time as I would like on these files, Baird said Thursday at a podium shared with his Mexican counterpart, Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Finance Department: The shortfall was larger than the $1.8-billion deficit recorded in the April and May period a year ago, the Finance Department reported Friday, according to CTV. This year, the government is projecting an $18.7 billion negative balance, although the first two months represents a setback in reaching that goal and OTTAWA -- Ottawa's finances got off to a rocky start in the current fiscal year, posting a $2.7-billion deficit that was nearly $1 billion more compared to the same period last year. The 2012-13 fiscal year ended with an estimated $25.9 billion shortfall for the government -- the first year Ottawa failed to make significant progress in reducing its deficit since the recession. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

manufacturing plant: The automaker said Friday that it will invest $30 million into its Princeton, Ind., plant with the goal of increasing production of the SUV. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. The plant builds a gas version of the Highlander and will begin producing a hybrid version before the end of this year. ERLANGER, Ky. - Toyota says it will add 200 jobs at a manufacturing plant in Indiana as it looks to boost production of its Highlander mid-size SUVs starting next year. The company says that will create more than 200 new jobs, boosting employment at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Inc. to roughly 4,700 workers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.