Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Harper, declined an invitation to address the UN General Assembly last week, sending Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to represent Canada there instead, according to CTV. "He had the opportunity to speak and address the world at the UN General Assembly and he refused to do it," Dewar said, adding that he has "no idea" why Harper declined again, given that he was in New York City at the time and Critics say Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to skip the opening of United Nations General Assembly for a second-straight year hurts Canada's international reputation, while his defenders say the absence is "absolutely normal." NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar told 's Question period that Harper is conducting "empty-chair diplomacy." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

streets of Montreal: The crowd may have been smaller than at an anti-charter rally that jammed the streets two weeks earlier, but it appeared to be more diverse, according to Times Colonist. The earlier protest didn't have the support of a major Jewish group because it took issue with the organizers and the march was held on a religious holiday and MONTREAL - Hundreds marched through the streets of Montreal on Sunday to call for an "open Quebec" and, once again, denounce the Parti Quebecois government's proposed charter of values. The rally was organized by a group of young, multicultural Montrealers and brought together Muslims, Sikhs and Jews to protest against the ban on religious headwear in public institutions. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Maja Graham: Canada and the Netherlands have been negotiating a bilateral agreement that would allow their citizens to apply to each other's programs for travellers considered to be a low security risk, records obtained under the Access to Information Act show, according to CTV. "Canada has had discussions with the Netherlands since 2010," Maja Graham, a border services agency spokeswoman, said in an emailed response to questions and OTTAWA -- Canadian and Dutch citizens would be able to visit each other's countries more easily under a plan to expand Canada's trusted traveller programs beyond North America. The initiative would be modelled on the current Nexus travellers program between Canada and the United States, the Canada Border Services Agency records say. Officials have been developing the regulatory, technological and fee-collection systems needed to implement an accord. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Darrell Dexter: NDP Premier Darrell Dexter focused on providing services to children with special needs at the Progress Centre for Early Intervention in Halifax's north end. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. "This funding means that... hopefully parents won't feel alone any more when their child first gets a diagnosis," said Dexter in a playground area as children swirled about. "There's going to be someone there who's going to be able to help them." HALIFAX - All three of Nova Scotia's major party leaders made announcements Sunday in the seat-rich Halifax area as the campaign for the Oct. 8 election approached its final stretch. Dexter promised a three-year, $6-million plan to cut waiting times for early intervention programs, as well as increasing salaries for those working in the programs to help with staff recruitment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

equal rights: Protest organizer Ken Taylor said the charter would impede on equal rights for Quebeckers, according to CTV. The controversial charter has seen both opponents and supporters rally in Montreal in recent weeks, as the proposal by the governing Parti Quebecois has divided the province and Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Montreal to oppose the controversial Charter of Quebec Values, which if approved would ban public employees from wearing prominent religious symbols, such as headscarves and turbans, in the workplace. "I really believe this is a fundamental feature of our society -- equal rights for everyone," Charles Taylor, a McGill University philosophy professor and Order of Canada recipient, told reporters Anti-charter protesters rally in Montreal, say PQ plan hinders equal rightsat the rally Sunday. "If we let that go, we have nothing to give our children and our grandchildren, and it's for them that we re all here." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

David Lightle: They do not think of David Lightle, according to The Star. I m a marketing consultant, he says, on the phone from Beijing and When North Americans hear the word Colombia, they might think of the former drug lord Pablo Escobar, or the Nobel-prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or possibly a character wearing a serape and leading a burro, a fictional coffee-grower who goes by the name Juan Valdez. Lightle, 55, isnt even Colombian. Hes an American from Tipp City, Ohio, who seems to spend most of his time these days in China or Taiwan. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Edward Snowden: Citing documents provided by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden, the Times reported that the NSA began allowing the analysis of phone call and email logs in November 2010 to examine some Americans' networks of associations for foreign intelligence purposes after NSA officials lifted restrictions on the practice. The newspaper posted the report on its website Saturday, according to Times Colonist. The documents Snowden provided indicated that the NSA can augment the communications data with material from public, commercial and other sources, including bank codes, insurance information, Facebook profiles, passenger manifests, voter registration rolls and GPS location information, as well as property records and unspecified tax data, the paper reported and WASHINGTON - For almost three years the National Security Agency has been tapping the data it collects to map out some Americans' social connections, allowing the government to identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their travelling companions and other personal information, The New York times reported. A January 2011 memorandum from the spy agency indicated that the policy shift was intended to help the agency "discover and track" connections between intelligence targets overseas and people in the United States, the Times reported. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Greenpeace International: MOSCOW - A court in the northern Russian city of Murmansk on Sunday sent six more Greenpeace activists to jail for two months and showed no sign that the remaining two activists would be treated any differently for a protest at a drilling platform in Arctic waters. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. No charges have been brought against any of the activists, who are citizens of 18 countries, including Russia. In this photo provided by Greenpeace International, a Russian Investigation Committee, inspects the Greenpeace International ship, Arctic Sunrise, in a closed part of Murmansk port, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. Greenpeace said on Friday it will appeal the Russian court rulings that sent its activists to jail for a protest at an offshore drilling platform in the Arctic. AP Photo/Greenpeace International, Dmitri Sharomov Twenty other activists, including two Canadians, and two journalists were ordered jailed for two months during a marathon court session on Thursday that stretched late into night, but the court ruled to hold the remaining eight only until new hearings could be held on Sunday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

construction employment: StatsCans survey of payroll, employment and hours, released Friday, found that Canada added 60,300 jobs in July , a very strong increase in job numbers that was led once again by an apparent spike in construction employment. That in itself might be bad news , according to Huffington Post. So whats going on? One thing to keep in mind is that both surveys are just that surveys and If, like many observers, you re confused about the direction of Canadas job market, the latest numbers from StatsCan arent going to be particularly helpful. But the more closely-watched labour force survey for July, released some six weeks ago, reported a loss of 39,400 jobs for the month . (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Charles Dickens: Veteran journalist Vic Parsons of Victoria, B.C., recently self-published "Lesser Expectations: Charles Dickens' Son in North America", which explores the father-son dynamic between the respected writer and his third son and fifth child, Francis, according to Huffington Post. Parsons said he believes because of that poor relationship, Francis grew into a man who was reticent to take charge, especially as a commissioned officer in the North West Mounted Police and VANCOUVER - Charles Dickens was one of England's most-respected writers during the 19th century, but he wasn't much of a father, and that may have had an impact even a small one on Canadian history, says the author of a new historical novel that focuses on the younger Dickens's life as a Mountie. Based on years of research, including time in the national archives in Ottawa, Parsons said he has concluded Dickens wasn't a great dad and only two of his sons, excluding Francis, likely ever met his great expectations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.