Catherine Pinhas: In her very first interview, over dinner at Crescendo, an Italian restaurant overlooking the St. Lawrence River in the working class borough of Verdun, southeast of Montreal, Catherine Pinhas, says Canadians dont know that her husband is a sweet guy. Seated next to him, she describes a man who cares for people, visits friends at the hospital and has earned the long-time loyalty of his staff, according to Huffington Post. They see him as a big brute which is totally false. I could never be with a brute, she says, her brown eyes flashing. He is nice, he is kind. ...That, I would like people to know, she says, grabbing his hand tenderly. He smiles at her and VERDUN, Que. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair may come across as an angry, bullheaded and intransigent figure, but his wife wants you to know he is a really kind man even if he doesnt always show it. After a complicated order, substituting Mulcairs vegetable soup for another tomato juice, ensuring that Pinhass meal has no bell peppers, asking that she can have the arugula salad on special without ordering the $29 Table d H te and that the Boston cod for both has no breading, Pinhas says Mulcair is one of the best people she knows. But Canadians dont know it, she says. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: Planned rate increases are no longer necessary because the separate account through which the government manages the fund is looking healthier than it did a few years ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday, according to CTV. "More people are working, so more people are paying into the operating account of the employment insurance plan and fewer people are claiming," Flaherty said at an event south of Ottawa and OTTAWA -- Employers and workers will get a small break over the next three years as the Conservative government freezes employment insurance premiums at the current level. The account, which ran a deficit following the economic downturn, is on track to return to balance faster than expected. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Joseph Boyden: TORONTO - Acclaimed author Joseph Boyden says his highly anticipated new novel, "The Orenda," closes a chapter on a goal he's had his entire life. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. It's a rich period of history Boyden who has Irish, Scottish and Metis roots has been fascinated with since childhood, when he learned about it as a student at Toronto's Jesuit-run Brebeuf College School. Author Joseph Boyden is shown in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Penguin Canada On sale Tuesday, the story is an arresting fictional look at the sometimes brutal conflict between the Jesuits, the Huron-Wendat Nation and the Iroquois in the New World of the mid-1600s. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kirk Baert: We re going ahead no matter what, said Kirk Baert, the lead lawyer in a historic class action suit against the government of Ontario, according to The Star. Approximately 3,900 former residents of the Huronia Centre , a provincial facility for developmentally disabled children, are still alive. There were 4,500 when Baert launched the $1-billion lawsuit in 2010 and There can be no turning back. The trial date is set. Courtroom 5 in the old Canada Life building is booked for two months. The two sides have agreed in writing to be there. The witnesses are ready to testify. He never doubted this moment would come. His clients were less sure. For three years, the province used every tactic in the book withheld documents, missed meetings, deadline extensions to delay the case. Baerts greatest concern was that hundreds would die waiting. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

public service announcement: Instead of focusing on the arduous, emotional aspects of living with HIV/AIDS, the charitys new public service announcement takes a cheeky approach to fundraising, according to The Star. The video, which also airs on TV and movie screens, has racked up nearly 12,000 YouTube views, more than five times its predecessor. The work, which encompasses print ads and radio spots, was done pro bono by TBWAToronto and was inspired by brainstorming session by the agency and the Walk committee and Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life is getting a boost from a lighthearted campaign. The minute-long For AIDS depicts a cast of do-gooders undertaking various farfetched tasks tanning, wearing a monocle, growing a tail in contrast to the simplicity of walking on behalf of the disease. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Saskatchewan companies: Federal documents obtained by News through an Access to Information request show there are now more than 3,000 companies in Saskatchewan that have asked for and received permission to hire foreign workers, according to CBC. However, the list of companies looking for foreign help keeps growing: hotels, construction, mining, retail and farm companies are all telling Ottawa they need outside help and The list of Saskatchewan companies applying to bring in temporary foreign workers continues to grow. For example, temporary foreign workers have been hired at 430 Saskatchewan restaurants. The program was intended to help employers fill labour shortages in the short term, when there were no qualified Canadians. 'It isn't a proactive immigration policy. It's a cheap labour policy.' SFL president Larry Hubich (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lauralee Morris: Its been more than a decade since that life, when an urge to give back and explore global health issues prompted Morris to close her practice, according to The Star. Its very sunny, very bright . . . very dry, very little vegetation, she said over the phone Friday from Azraq, a refugee camp some 50 kilometres from the Syrian border and her home for at least the next two months. Its being constructed quickly to house some of the more than two million people fleeing the ongoing conflict in Syria and The Jordanian desert is hot, flat and dry, and the hospital will be a series of tents, a far cry from the family practice Dr. Lauralee Morris ran in Brampton. Stints in China, Kenya, Mongolia and South Sudan followed, and on Wednesday night her plane touched down in Jordan, bringing her face to face with the Syrian conflict. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

taxi driver: At around 3:15 a.m. Saturday, police say, an off-duty taxi driver was sprayed with gas from a fuel pump after he refused a man a ride. Though the 50-year-old cabbie was not injured in the attack, he was also subjected to an indignity he may not so easily be able to wash away, police say, according to CBC. Cox said he didn't know the driver's background, but said the cabbie is a "member of the racialized community." Related: Gas assault on Hamilton cabbie a hate crime, police say This past weekend's attack on a Hamilton cabbie was the third in less than two months, once again drawing attention to the dangers some face driving a taxi for a living. The assailant, said police spokesman Mark Cox, spouted insults about "the immigrant population of Canada" at the driver. For that reason, police are treating the assault as a possible hate/bias crime. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Career Trek Inc.: KAREN Velthuys has been appointed executive director of Career Trek Inc. Velthuys has been a leader in the education and non-profit sector for more than 20 years. Career Trek is a not-for-profit organization that helps young people by providing hands-on career-oriented programming at post-secondary institutions across Manitoba. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. John D. Stefaniuk and Jeffrey A. Kowall from TDS Law were included as Leading Lawyers in the 2013 Lexpert Leading Canadian Lawyers in Global Mining publication. Madhav Sinha Amanda Thorsteinsson has been appointed communications officer for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. She is a graduate from Red River College's Creative Communications program, majoring in journalism, and also has a degree in international development from Canadian Mennonite University. She spent a year serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Uganda, a year at Refuge Juan Moreno in Montreal assisting refugee claimants, and also did internships with the and Winnipeg's Citytv. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Obama: Obama told NBC News in an interview Monday that he remains skeptical that Syria will follow through and turn over its stockpile, so he's taking a statement from Damascus "with a grain of salt initially." But Obama said he would prefer to have a diplomatic solution to the crisis rather than launch a military attack, and called it "a potentially positive development.", according to CBC. He also acknowledged he may not be able to secure congressional support for a military strike on Syria and U.S. President Barack Obama says a proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control to avoid U.S. military strikes could be a potential breakthrough. Obama made the comments as he gave a series of six television network interviews on the crisis in Syria. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.