median family income: The rest of us are up to our eyeballs in mortgage debt, according to CTV. It shows that the median family income in Canada is $76,000 -- generally higher in the West than the East -- while the median individual income is just $27,600. That means just as many individuals earn less than $27,600 as earn more and OTTAWA -- For all the growing diversity the 2011 census and related surveys have portrayed in Canada, Wednesday's final release reveals a contrasting constant: the richest of the rich in Canada are married, middle-aged white men. Statistics Canada has published the final batch of data from its new and controversial National Household Survey -- the survey meant to stand in for the long-form census scrapped by the Conservatives in 2010. The release was delayed for a month due to a glitch in the agency's formulae. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Anthony De Sa: TORONTO - Anthony De Sa is a man with a mighty memory. He vividly remembers, for example, the reception from his students when he returned to Toronto's Michael Power/St. Joseph High School, where he taught English, after attending the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala as a finalist. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Being nominated for one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards for his debut will do that. Now, five years after "Barnacle Love," an interconnected collection of short stories about a Portuguese-Canadian family, he's exploring his community even more deeply with "Kicking the Sky," a novel inspired by a murder that De Sa says marked an indelible end to the era of "Toronto the Good." Anthony De Sa's "Kicking the Sky" is shown in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho "They all stood up and they clapped," he said in an interview, sitting in an office that looms above the city he's lived in all his life. "And then after that boy, did they listen." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Statistics Canada: OTTAWA For all the growing diversity the 2011 census and related surveys have portrayed in Canada, Wednesdays final release revealed a contrasting constant: the richest of the rich in Canada are married, middle-aged white men, according to The Chronicle Herald. Statistics Canada has published the final batch of data from its new and controversial National Household Survey the survey meant to stand in for the long-form census scrapped by the Conservatives in 2010. The release was delayed for a month due to a glitch in the agencys formulae and The rest of us are up to our eyeballs in mortgage debt. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Baby boomers: TORONTO - Baby boomers may be looking to trade their traditional single-family homes for the convenience and comfort of the condo craze, but a mass exodus is likely still a long ways off, real-estate experts and recent retirees say. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. But not all baby boomers will be willing to forgo the lifestyle of a single-family dwelling, said Miranda McKenna, a realtor with Real Estate Homeward brokerage in Toronto. A condominium under construction is shown in Toronto on Saturday, February 4, 2012. Baby boomers may be looking to trade their traditional single-family homes for the convenience and comfort of the condo craze, but a mass exodus is likely still a long ways off, real-estate experts and recent retirees say. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Pawel Dwulit Related Items Articles MAP: Income in Canada's urban centres NHS: Immigrants, minorities struggle to earn living, build life in Canada What the 2011 census, and its controversial sidekick, have shown us so far The convergence of boomers reaching retirement age at the end of an era of historically low interest rates has conjured fear about the impact on the housing market of a growing number of homeowners choosing to downsize to condominiums. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ron Poirier: Poirier was born in New Brunswick but lived in the U.S. for more than 40 years. He says a minor indiscretion and the continued post-9/11 security crackdown forced him to return to Canada, according to CTV. Poirier moved to Boston with his family at the age of 10. He got married in Boston and raised a family there, but in 2010, he was caught driving without a licence and Ron Poirier says he is still dealing with the effects of 9/11, 12 years after the devastating terrorist attack in New York City. I love America. I was even willing to die for that country, he says. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Bernard Drainville: On balance, it was a much better day for Canada, according to The Star. They took a stand and OTTAWA As he unveiled his governments odious charter of Quebec values, the provincial minister for democratic institutions, Bernard Drainville, declared Tuesday a beautiful day for Quebec. In fact, it was that rarest of days in this country a day in which all three federal parties ignored data on what the Quebec initiative might or might not do to their own aspirations, turned a blind eye to polling numbers in the province, and refused to tip toe around the separatist Parti Quebecois government. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Jason Kenney: "If it's determined that a prospective law violates the constitutional protections to freedom of religion to which all Canadians are entitled, we will defend those rights vigorously," Kenney told reporters Tuesday in the foyer of the House of Commons, according to CBC. In the proposed "values" charter, Quebec public servants would be prohibited from wearing "overt and conspicuous" religious symbols at work, and anyone receiving a government service would be required to uncover his or her face. Wearing large crucifixes, turbans, hijabs, burkas, and kippas would be prohibited. However, an exception would be made for small religious symbols, such as crucifixes or Stars of David on necklaces and The federal government will review any law Quebec passes that bans public servants from wearing religious symbols while on the job, Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney says. Kenney was responding to statements from Quebec Democratic Institutions Minister Bernard Drainville who said Tuesday that Quebec intends to introduce legislation in the fall establishing a Quebec charter of values. Charter of Quebec values would ban religious symbols for civil servants 5 things Quebec's values charter would do, and 5 it wouldn't (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar: The Afghan government has long demanded that Pakistan release Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Talibans former deputy leader. He was arrested in a joint raid with the CIA in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010, according to 660 News. He could be released this month or very soon, said Aziz. It is part of confidence building measures, and we are hopeful he can play a role and ISLAMABAD Pakistan has decided to release the most senior Afghan Taliban prisoner it is holding and could do so as soon as this month to jumpstart the struggling peace process, a senior Pakistani official said. Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the Pakistani prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, said Tuesday that the government has agreed to release Baradar to help the peace process but has not yet set a date. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lucie Martineau: The SFPQ union, which has 42,000 members, applauds the government for "finally" tabling a policy that would ensure the religious neutrality of government offices, according to Huffington Post. "We're obliged to keep our political opinions to ourselves," union president Lucie Martineau said Wednesday and QUEBEC - The Parti Quebecois' controversial charter of values has received the staunch support of an influential backer: a union representing the province's civil servants. The PQ plan would forbid Quebec's public employees from wearing more visible religious symbols including hijabs, turbans, yarmulkes and larger-than-average crucifixes. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Quebec charter: It comes down to a question of competing values: freedom of religion on the one hand, a neutral state and freedom from religion on the other, according to CBC. Should the Quebec proposal eventually become law and then get to court, constitutional law professor Daniel Turp says the main legal issue will be whether the limitation is reasonable according to both the Quebec charter, which came into effect in 1976, and the Canadian charter, which came into effect in 1982. Competing values The Quebec government's controversial plan for a new charter of values that separates church and state threatens to suck the province into a legal maelstrom. The Parti Qu b cois government is proposing "to entrench the religious neutrality of the state and the secular nature of public institutions" in Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. That neutrality principle is not part of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read about 5 things Quebec's values charter would do, and 5 it wouldn't Read a Q A with philosopher Jocelyn Maclure about Quebec's religious symbols debate (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.