developmentally disabled: TORONTO For decades, those who lived at an Ontario institution for the developmentally disabled waited for the province to acknowledge the abuse and neglect they said they endured at the government-run facility, according to The Chronicle Herald. The $35-million settlement, read out in a Toronto court Tuesday morning just as the trial was set to begin, falls short of the $2 billion the plaintiffs sought and Now the province has vowed to formally apologize to thousands of former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre, part of a last-minute settlement in a class-action lawsuit into the allegations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Almaz Nezirovic: A former Bosnian prison camp guard living in the U.S. has been certified for extradition to his native country to face war-crimes charges, pending approval by the State Department, according to The Chronicle Herald. In an opinion issued late Monday, a U.S. Magistrate judge said he found sufficient evidence supporting the allegations and Almaz Nezirovic is charged with torturing Serbians at the Rabic prison camp in 1992 during the civil war in the region of the former Yugoslavia now known as Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian officials charge that Nezirovic beat, humiliated and traumatized unarmed civilian prisoners. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

government offices: Most Quebecers would ban the Sikh turban or Islamic headscarf in government offices. By contrast, two-thirds of people in the rest of Canada oppose such a move, according to the latest Angus Reid poll, according to The Star. But Ontarians shouldnt feel smug about the whiff of intolerance emanating from the Quebec. We forget that our own politicians arent above pressing ethnic or religious buttons to win votes at home and Watching Quebecs debate over religious suppression of public servants, its hard not to marvel at the cleavage in public opinion across Canada. A majority of Quebecers want to ban the yarmulke Jewish skullcap among public servants. Three-quarters of English-speaking Canadians reject any such ban. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Holland America Line: It will take place at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, according to The Chronicle Herald and Holland America Line will mark 20 years of calls to the Port of Halifax at an event set for Sept. 27. The ceremony at 1055 Marginal Rd. begins at 11 a.m. and also marks the 140th anniversary of Holland America Line. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

poverty rate: Poverty stuck at 15 per cent record 46.5 million , according to Winnipeg Free Press. More than 1 in 7 Americans were living in poverty, not statistically different from the 46.2 million of 2011 and the sixth straight year the rate had failed to improve, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Median income for the nation's households was $51,017, also unchanged from the previous year after two consecutive annual declines, while the share of people without health insurance did improve but only a bit, from 15.7 per cent to 15.4 per cent. WASHINGTON AP The nation's poverty rate remained stuck at 15 per cent last year despite America's slowly reviving economy, a discouraging lack of improvement for the record 46.5 million poor and an unwelcome benchmark for President Barack Obama's recovery plans. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

religious minorities: The question came to mind this week as the Parti Qu b cois forced an unwanted conversation on the loaded topic of the public accommodation of religious minorities in Canada, according to The Chronicle Herald. On the plus side, if Quebec #39;s religious minorities ever doubted that they had allies within the francophone chattering class or in the province #39;s corridors of power, they now know they do. Those allies include Montreal #39;s municipal politicians who, in a remarkable show of unanimity, closed ranks against the PQ plan and the proposed imposition of a secular dress code on public-sector employees this week and Is a family that routinely engages in passionate and sometimes angry arguments at the dinner table more dysfunctional than one that strives to stick to small talk? It is an issue that tends to bring out the worst in some people. But on that score, anyone who spends time on the social media circuit can testify that there is no correlation between the sensitivity of a debate and the amount of nastiness that it brings to the surface these days. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Julie Wafaei: When she was still Julie Wafaei, she rowed across the Atlantic with future husband Colin Angus, just the two of them cooped up in an eight-metre boat for four months before touching land. , according to Times Colonist. In 2008, the newly married couple spent seven months cycling and rowing from Colins ancestral home to hers, from the northern tip of Scotland to her familys olive farm in Syria. As far as adventures go, this weeks move from Comox to Victoria isnt the most arduous Julie Angus has taken on. Then, after braving the sharks and hurricanes, they bicycled from Costa Rica to Vancouver. National Geographic named them the 2006 Adventurers of the Year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Huronia Regional Centre: Without explanation or warning to some of the plaintiffs, the $1 billion lawsuit over allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the facility for developmentally disabled children in Orillia, Ont., was adjourned until Tuesday, prompting concern among victims that their stories might never be heard, according to The Star. We were working their jobs and we were not getting paid. They were the ones getting the money. We had to do the slavery, Ford said and There were tears of disappointment outside a Toronto courtroom Monday as former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre learned that a historic class-action lawsuit against the Ontario government had been postponed. Former resident Carrie Ford, who lived at Huronia as a teenager in the late 60s, said it felt as though she was being mistreated once again. During her time at the facility, Ford said, she was forced to perform manual labour. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ontario: Curb the fight over garbage, Editorial Sept. 15, according to The Star. As a result, Ontario has an existing and very successful electronics recycling program. Ontario has responsibly diverted 75,702 tonnes of electronics from landfills this past year, which is 5.6 kg per capita making it one of the highest rates for electronics recycling in the world. In the process, saving municipal taxpayers millions of dollars, in landfill costs and Re: Curb the fight over garbage, Editorial Sept. 15 We would like to point out to readers that there are already two pieces of legislation on the books in Ontario dealing with waste diversion and recycling, the Environmental Protection Act EPA and the Waste Diversion Act WDA . (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

President Barack Obama: WASHINGTON - The nation's poverty rate remained stuck at 15 per cent last year despite America's slowly reviving economy, a discouraging lack of improvement for the record 46.5 million poor and an unwelcome benchmark for President Barack Obama's recovery plans. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. "We're in the doldrums, with high poverty and inequality as the new normal for the foreseeable future," said Timothy Smeeding, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in income inequality. "The fact we've seen no real recovery in employment and wages means we've just flatlined." FILE - In this April 4, 2013 file photo, a group of boys walk past a partially collapsed row house in Baltimore. The nation's poverty rate stood still at 15 percent in 2012, the sixth straight year that it has failed to improve. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, that 46.5 million Americans were living in poverty in 2012.. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File More than 1 in 7 Americans were living in poverty, not statistically different from the 46.2 million of 2011 and the sixth straight year the rate had failed to improve, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Median income for the nation's households was $51,017, also unchanged from the previous year after two consecutive annual declines, while the share of people without health insurance did improve but only a bit, from 15.7 per cent to 15.4 per cent. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.