N.S. Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter: Dexter kicked off his bid for re-election in the Cape Breton town of Port Hawkesbury, where his government helped keep a paper mill running with a $124.5-million aid package in 2012, according to 660 News. He wasted little time taking aim at the Liberals, the perceived front-runners in a campaign where the economy, leadership and energy are expected to be the big issues and PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter returned Saturday to the scene of what his New Democrats see as an economic triumph to call a provincial election for Oct. 8, reminding voters that his party has directly intervened in the economy when jobs were on the line. This community represents the decision that I think governments need to make, which is to invest in communities and invest in good jobs, Dexter said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

QUEBEC Quebec Premier Pauline Marois: Marois says her comments were made in the context of a discussion about different models of integration around the world, according to The Star. Related: QUEBEC Quebec Premier Pauline Marois says she didnt mean to offend anyone with comments blaming multiculturalism for social unrest and bombs in Britain. She says Quebec needs to come up with its own system, based on its own history and values. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

QUEBEC - Quebec Premier Pauline Marois: She said her comments were made in the context of a discussion about different models of integration around the world, according to Times Colonist. "It's up to Quebec to develop its own model, according to its own values and history," Marois said Saturday in a statement posted to the Parti Quebecois website and QUEBEC - Quebec Premier Pauline Marois says she didn't mean to offend anyone with comments blaming multiculturalism for social unrest and bombs in Britain. Marois added that she didn't intend to interfere with United Kingdom policies. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Saul Klein: Saul Klein, into his second year as dean of the program, is preparing to expand the undergraduate ranks next year and the graduate program down the line. All our programs have seen strong interest increasing, said Klein, noting the undergraduate intake will increase next year to 300 students from the current 240. As for the Masters program, we are looking at where expansion will happen and when. , according to Times Colonist. We saw a 40 per cent increase in applications this year, Klein said, noting expansion is constrained by available resources of physical space and faculty. There is a lag in our ability to ramp up and serve the increase in demand. As the latest crop of University of Victoria business students was frantically coming up with new sustainable business plans during an ice-breaking challenge competition Friday, the dean of the Gustavson School of Business was doing a little planning himself. Currently, the Masters of Global Business program takes 40 UVic students and another 40 students from partner schools each year. But Klein said its popularity requires they start looking at how they can increase the intake. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

unemployment rate: The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 per cent, the lowest in nearly five years. But it fell because more Americans stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed. The proportion of Americans working or looking for work fell to its lowest level in 35 years, according to 660 News. Employers have added an average of just 148,000 jobs in the past three months, well below the 12-month average of 184,000 and WASHINGTON U.S. employers added 169,000 jobs in August and many fewer in July than previously thought. Hiring has slowed from the start of the year and could complicate the Federal Reserves decision later this month on whether to reduce its bond purchases. Julys job gains were just 104,000, the fewest in more than a year and down from the previous estimate of 162,000. Junes figure was revised to 172,000, from 188,000. The revisions lowered total job gains over those two months by 74,000. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Riam El-Safadi: Riam El-Safadi has collected thousands of dollars in supplies to try to alleviate suffering in the war-torn nation and even travelled to Syria to deliver those supplies, according to CBC. El-Safadi, who travelled with Canadian and American doctors to Syria last September, has been sending medical supplies, hospital beds, surgical tools, and even body bags, as a volunteer with the non-profit group Canadian Relief for Syria and A British Columbia man is risking his life to provide medical aid to his homeland of Syria. "I've seen at least seven people killed in front of me," he said. "I've seen one mortar shell land about 60 feet from me, and I thought I was going to die." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Saint Marys University: And now that shes speaking out, shes worried about reprisals from the Saint Marys University Students Association, according to The Chronicle Herald. She was in tears, Bennett said. I asked her, Have you ever been in that situation? and she just nodded her head. And I said, Dont worry. I m going to take care of it and A Saint Marys University student who served as a frosh leader last year says she complained to the student union at the time about the offensive nature of orientation week cheers and frosh activities, but nothing was ever done. Alexandria Bennett said after a frosh week event last year known as Turfburn, a first-year student approached her saying she was bothered by a cheer about rape. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lai Wah Heen: Before this job, I didnt have benefits, said the 60-year-old Chinese immigrant. I didnt have anything. Only the wage, according to The Star. They said they were closing the whole department, said Chu, who currently relies on loans to cover his familys basic expenses. They didnt say it was reopening. If it was, they needed to hire me again and For 17 years, Ricky Chu served the lauded dim sum at Lai Wah Heen restaurant with a smile. The unionized job at the Metropolitan Hotel eatery fed his kids, after all. When a new owner took over the hotel in January, the high-end restaurant was shut down. Chu lost his job. But he considered it salt in the wound when Lai Wah Heen reopened in March without him or ten other servers who were laid off. In their place was a non-unionized staff. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Liberal MNA Lawrence Bergman: I don't remember a more serious comment by a head of state in Quebec in the recent years. What basically she's doing and she hasn't denied yet, as far as I know, is she's establishing a link between multiculturalism and terrorist acts or riots between communities, he said. Part pep rally, part working group, Liberal supporters and more than a half a dozen Liberal MNAs exchanged ideas and concerns at a pair of gatherings in Montreal and Sorel Saturday. We've lost so many jobs here in Quebec that's also a preoccupation of my constituents, said Liberal MNA Lawrence Bergman, who represents the D'Arcy-McGee riding, according to CTV. Liberal, the word means to defend freedom, like Mr. Couillard just said, and right now freedom is under attack, said Liberal supporter Felipe Morales and Liberal leader Philippe Couillard did not shy away from the hot-button debate on the PQ's proposed Charter of Quebec Values at a weekend Liberal gathering. On Friday, Couillard demanded an apology from Premier Pauline Marois after she was quoted in Le Devoir saying multiculturalism has pushed people to violence in the United Kingdom. He reiterated that point Saturday. We were talking about ethics and governance, which is a big issue. They want the party to be more open, said Karin Marks, a Liberal supporter and the former mayor of Westmount. Some think the premier's statements on so-called Quebec values may attract more people to the Liberal party. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

employment program: The non-profit society PEERS was forced to close its centre and cancel an employment program after years of complicated funding restructuring that included a new fee-for-service model. The new billing system required that PEERS provide detailed personal information for its services, even though the society worked to support sex workers unconditionally and protect their confidentiality. , according to Times Colonist. Mungall and Esquimalt-Royal Roads MLA Maurine Karagianis sent a letter to Don McRae, minister of social development and social innovation, this week, urging him to meet with PEERS to come up with a solution. The recent closing of a drop-in centre that provided safe, non-judgmental services for sex trade workers in Victoria might be the first casualty among specialized employment programs struggling to fit into a rigid new provincial case management system, critics warn. The extra administrative work and loss of privacy has raised concerns in the employment services sector that other programs for vulnerable groups might have to close, said Michelle Mungall, the MLA for Nelson-Creston and opposition critic for social development. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.