Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Officials in Baird's office said he had separate phone conversations on Sunday with US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Foreign Minister of the French Republic, Laurent Fabius. He spoke with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Friday, according to Huffington Post. Prime Minister Stephen Harper also was pulling the diplomatic levers over the weekend, discussing the situation in Syria by phone on Saturday in separate conversations with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande and MONTREAL - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and other western leaders applied more pressure on Syria on Sunday, with a call for Syrian authorities to allow the United Nations immediate and unfettered access to the site of last week's alleged chemical attack. The ministers "shared their outrage" about recent events in Syria, especially the purported use of chemical weapons, said an foreign affairs official in an email. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Casey Mecija: In a post on Tumblr published on Friday, lead singer Casey Mecija said that she felt the media ascribed a selective narrative of otherness for her and the Toronto septet's music because of her race, gender and sexuality, according to Times Colonist. "I can't help but feel tired by the ways that my brown, performing body comes into contact with the multicultural sensibilities of Canadian audiences. I am frustrated by the ways that my Asian-ness and my sexuality have been at times hidden and at times showcased to support notions of an 'inclusive' Canadian multiculturalism." TORONTO - The Toronto-based indie pop band Ohbijou is going on indefinite hiatus, with its frontwoman challenging how Canadians engage with multiculturalism and critics' perception of the group. "I can't help but feel sadness for the ways my body has been inscribed as a performer," Mecija wrote. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kohshi Kuwahara: TOKYO - In a shabby back-alley office in Shibuya, a Tokyo district known for youth culture and tech ventures, defectors from corporate Japan are hard at work for a little-known company they fervently believe will be the country's next big manufacturing success. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Kohshi Kuwahara, 26, worked for more than two years at electronics giant Panasonic Corp. before hopping to Terra Motors Corp., a little-known venture that pays far less but is out to conquer the world with its stylish electric scooters. As with his colleagues at Terra, he resiled from the hidebound culture of big Japanese companies and felt a deep sense of frustration at their eclipse by rivals such as South Korea's Samsung and America's Apple. In this Wednesday, July 24, 2013 photo, Terra Motors employees, Koshi Kuwahara, right, and Shimpei Kato work at its headquarters at Tokyo's Shibuya district. In a shabby back-alley office in Shibuya, known for youth culture and tech ventures, refugees from corporate Japan are hard at work for the company they fervently believe will be the countrys next big manufacturing success. Despite having some of the developed worlds least hospitable conditions for starting a new business, Japans near-monolithic salaryman culture of guaranteed lifetime employment at a household name corporation is facing erosion. Ventures are sprouting again after a decade marred by some high-profile failures and a striking aspect is their focus on manufacturing. Kuwahara worked for more than two years at electronics giant Panasonic Corp. before hopping to Terra, a little know venture that pays far less but is out to conquer the world with its stylish electric scooters. AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi Like a startup anywhere in the world, its bare-bones setup crackles with an optimistic energy and urgent sense of purpose. What's different, for Japan, is that this startup's talent is drawn from the ranks of famous companies such as Mitsubishi, Michelin and Nissan. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadian citizenship: Cruz, a Tea Partying senator from Texas disliked by both Democrats and Republicans for being rude, rebarbative and patronizing, and also for his weird resemblance to Sen. Joe McCarthy was born in Calgary. He is renouncing the Canadian citizenship he suddenly claims not to know he had been burdened with. He wants to be president, a job open only to natural-born Americans. How painful it must have been to be told You re Canadian. Polite. Mild-mannered, according to The Star. Cruzs new anthem has great adjectives. Glorious and free can hardly compete with spacious, amber, purple and fruited. But adjectives have not favoured Ted personally. Voters complain about your greasy vibe, MSNBC host Chris Matthews calls you a terrorist. Because what the guy has done basically says, my goals are, is demolition. Blow up health care. Blow up the continuing resolution. Bring the government to a standstill, and then make us forfeit on the national debt and So. Farewell then, Ted Cruz. You are leaving us for American buckshot, climes and unaffordable health care. Is it something we said? Sings he now O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain! where once he sang God keep our land glorious and free. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Edward Snowden: Snowden, who is wanted in the United States for leaking details of U.S. government surveillance programs, had planned to fly to Havana from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport a day after arriving from Hong Kong on June 23. , according to Reuters. Citing several sources, including one close to the U.S. State Department, Kommersant newspaper said the reason was that at the last minute Cuba told officials to stop Snowden from boarding the Aeroflot flight. MOSCOW - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden got stuck in the transit zone of a Moscow airport because Havana said it would not let him fly from Russia to Cuba, a Russian newspaper reported on Monday. But Snowden, who eventually accepted a year's asylum in Russia after spending nearly six weeks at Sheremetyevo, did not show up for the flight although he had been allocated a seat. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

West Bank refugee camp: RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinians during an early morning raid in a West Bank refugee camp on Monday, hours before negotiators met for another round of peace talks, Palestinian sources said, according to Reuters. Witnesses said the Israeli forces opened fire and hospital officials told three men were killed and By Ali Sawafta and Noah Browning Israeli border police said they entered the Qalandiya camp, near Jerusalem, to arrest a man and were confronted by a crowd throwing firebombs and rocks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Charter: Many critics have noted that such proposals would be incompatible with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Its understandable they might think our national Charter is the place to deal with such a Quebec Charter if it became law. But that view misses the point, according to The Star. This changes everything. Of course such issues of balance cant be properly dealt with by the Canadian Charter, with its fussy one-dimensional focus on rights. No, this is a matter for equalization and Details of the forthcoming Charter of Quebec Values that leaked out last week have been met with stern condemnation. Most Canadian pundits agree that the Parti Qu b coiss proposal to ban public employees from ostentatiously wearing religious symbols such as headscarves, kippahs and crosses goes too far toward intolerance and even totalitarianism. Looked at carefully, the Quebec Charter is no mere assault on human rights rather, its an exquisitely calibrated attempt to find social balance. So says Quebec democracy and citizenship minister Bernard Drainville, who promised amid last weeks uproar that Canadians will find his forthcoming bill to be very balanced, a happy equilibrium between respect for human rights and respect for the common values of Qu b cois. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Liberal party: In a 2003 interview with marijuana activist Marc Emery , the then-NDP leader though still not an MP said he and the party supported a plan for pot that seems to closely resemble the platform of the Liberal party in 2013. Watch part two of the video here , according to Huffington Post. He then goes on to explain what potential NDP legislation might look like and Today the NDP and Liberals disagree about marijuana, but Jack Layton once sounded a lot like Justin Trudeau on the subject of legalization . "I'd like to invite you to support our party which is in favour of modernizing our marijuana laws and creating a legal environment in which people can enjoy their marijuana in the peace and quiet of their own home or in a cafe without having to worry about being criminalized," Layton said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Brudenell River Resort: Seventy-one MPs and senators will meet over three days at the Brudenell River Resort, starting Tuesday, according to CBC. MacAulay expects those issues will include employment insurance changes, cuts to public service jobs, the lobster fishery and the economy and The federal Liberal Party caucus will meet on P.E.I. this week to discuss issues that may arise in the fall session of Parliament. "We spend our summer out in the constituency, dealing with constituents, finding out the issues, and then we meet as a caucus, and put a program in place in order to bring the problems that are facing constituents to the floor of the House of Commons," said Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Coalition Leader Francois Legault: Coalition Leader Francois Legault said judges, police officers and elementary- and secondary-school teachers should be restricted from wearing religious symbols like veils, hijabs and turbans, according to Huffington Post. Premier Pauline Marois expressed pleasure at the news and LAC-MEGANTIC, Que. - The Parti Quebecois' controversial minorities plan took a big step toward becoming a reality as the party holding the likely swing vote backed major parts of it Monday. Legault's vote is key because the Parti Quebecois has only a parliamentary minority and needs support from one of the two main opposition parties to pass its Charter of Quebec Values. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.