Homebuilders Association: The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is predicting this year will end with 500 single-family houses started, down nine per cent from last years 552 starts. , according to Times Colonist. A decade ago, 927 new single-family houses got underway, Casey Edge, of the Homebuilders Association, said. The following year, in 2004, there were 962 starts, he said. A lower number of single-family houses being built in Greater Victoria this year reflects not only struggling consumer confidence but tougher mortgage rules imposed by Ottawa, said the executive director of the Victoria Homebuilders Association. CMHC released its third-quarter housing forecast on Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Charlie Angus: At a news conference Friday, Charlie Angus also faced questions about why MPs don't have to submit to an audit of their travel and living expenses by the auditor general in the same way that senators now do, according to CBC. Angus pointed out a Deloitte audit released on Tuesday found that Senator Pamela Wallin spends more time in Toronto than in Saskatchewan, the province she was appointed to represent. Senator Pamela Wallin, left, speaks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a campaign rally in Saskstoon during the 2011 federal election. Wallin was appointed as a senator from Saskatchewan, but a Deloitte audit found she spends more time in Toronto and Ottawa. Liam Richards/Canadian Press A New Democratic Party MP is calling for the government to answer whether all current senators meet residency qualifications to sit in the Senate. Angus has written a letter to Minister of State for Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre asking him what action he intends to take to ensure senators adhere to residency rules. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

National Security Agency: WASHINGTON - New revelations from leaker Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency has overstepped its authority thousands of times since 2008 are stirring renewed calls in Congress for serious changes to NSA spy programs. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. An internal audit provided by Snowden to The Washington Post shows the agency has repeatedly broken privacy rules or exceeded its legal authority every year since Congress granted it broad new powers in 2008. FILE - This June 6, 213 file photo shows the sign outside the National Security Agency NSA campus in Fort Meade, Md. The NSA has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the intelligence agency broad new powers in 2008, The Washington Post reports. In one case, telephone calls from Washington were intercepted when the city's area code was confused with the dialing code for Egypt. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File The reaction from lawmakers undermines White House hopes that President Barack Obama had quieted the controversy with his assurances of oversight. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadas Federal Skilled Trades Program: Eric Byrne, 31, the plumber who settled in Toronto, and Paul Lyttle, 29, the electrician now based in Calgary, are among as many as 3,000 newcomers slated to be accepted in 2013 under Canadas Federal Skilled Trades Program, according to The Star. To date, the successful applicants in the program have come from Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and India and Eight months after Ottawa launched a new program to recruit immigrants in skilled trades, the first plumber and electrician both from Ireland received their official welcome Friday. The program was initiated in January to target prospective immigrants whose skills and experience fall into one of the 43 occupations in demand in the countrys construction, transportation and manufacturing sectors. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

National Security Agency: The violations, according to the May 2012 audit, stemmed largely from operator and system errors like inadequate or insufficient research when selecting wiretap targets. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. U.S. can spy on nearly everything on the Internet, Snowden reveals The National Security Agency violated privacy rules protecting the communications of Americans and others on domestic soil 2,776 times in one year, according to an internal audit leaked by former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden and made public Thursday night. Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell: sources (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Celine Dion: I ve been playing a game recently. The rules of Good Canada/Bad Canada are simple: Take anything Canadian and assign it to one of two piles. Nickelback is Bad Canada, but the beaver on the nickel is Good Canada. Celine Dion is Bad Canada, but Carl Wilsons book about Celine Dion is Good Canada. In a country of respect and consensus, GC/BC is essential. There are no limitations on its application: Stephen Harpers hair is Bad Canada; the feel of crisp arbutus bark crumbling in your hand as you stand on the beach of a Gulf Island? Good Canada. More from Craig Taylor's Summer Essay Series, according to Globe and Mail. In letters and in love, its the message that always counts This summer, expat Craig Taylor is rediscovering his homeland through the Canadiana collection of the Abbey Bookshop in Pariss Latin Quarter. This is his seventh instalment. A literary mission statement: Go where you re not supposed to go (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Edward Snowden: The lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told Russian news agencies Thursday that Snowden and his father had acted against legal advice. He urged them to refrain from any further contact, even using encrypted messages, until meeting in person. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. The Snowden effect: U.S. government demands cast chill on encrypted e-mail industry The Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden says the fugitive National Security Agency leaker has been in direct contact with his father over the Internet for the first time since fleeing the U.S. and being granted temporary asylum in Russia. Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell: sources (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mohamed Naguib Hussein Fakhry: Canada called in Egypt's envoy Mohamed Naguib Hussein Fakhry on Thursday to urge Egypt's military-backed government and the Muslim Brotherhood to "immediately sit down together, reconcile their differences and work tirelessly to halt this deadly standoff," News has learned, according to CBC. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Canadas ambassador for religious freedom, Andrew Bennett, issued a joint statement on Thursday to condemn the violence against Christians in Egypt and The Canadian government has summoned Egypt's charg d'affaires to Canada to reiterate its deep concern over the violence in Egypt, while authorities there gave police the green light to use deadly force to protect themselves and key state institutions from attacks. Officials at Foreign Affairs told Fakhry that Canada believes that "implementing a transparent democratic system that respects the voices of all Egyptians, including members of civil society and religious minorities, is the best way to restore calm and give all Egyptians a stake in the future stability and prosperity of their country." Concerns over Christian minority (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Phoenix Coyotes: But before they had even completed the deal to buy the Phoenix Coyotes from the league, Gosbee, LeBlanc and their partners were already in the crosshairs. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. On one hand, they understood the consternation; Coyotes fans had gone through an emotional roller coaster in four years of waiting for an owner. GLENDALE, Ariz. - George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc fulfilled every Canadian boy's dream last week by becoming NHL owners. The issue was the five-year out clause they put in an arena lease agreement with the city of Glendale. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Alex Davidoff: Alex Davidoff was assaulted and held against his will for two days on July 21, police say, adding his alleged abductors threatened to kill him and his grandchildren unless he paid them, according to CBC. Both accused will be back in court at the end of the month to enter a plea on kidnapping, assault and extortion charges and One of two men charged with kidnapping and beating an Edmonton businessman has been granted bail. In provincial court on Friday, a judge ordered Raheel Khalon, 26, freed on $10,000 bail, but under several conditions: He must observe a curfew. He must find employment. He must stay away from Davidoff and David Chipere, his co-accused who remains in custody. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.