Goldamier Alkasem: She left her husband and four children behind in Saudi Arabia and moved to Canada to build a better life for them and EDITOR S NOTE: The entirety of our 26-part series, Nova Scotia: A to Z, will be published in The Novascotian every Saturday until we reach the letter Z. Todays feature is on Goldamier Alkasem, who is originally from the Philippines, and the story of how her family has been reunited in Halifax. To see other stories in our series, click here . Goldamier Alkasem made a difficult decision almost five years ago. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Earltown General Store: We got them legally, Conoley, giggling, said of the pennies dropped off by friends, neighbours and customers to the Earltown General Store, according to The Chronicle Herald. And at that hour of the morning, you ll giggle at almost anything. Including 252 kilograms of whimsy and EARLTOWN On Thursday, at 6:30 a.m., Kayla Conoley stared at her 55,500 pennies and clutched her coffee. ALSO SEE: Province needs strategy to cope with shrinking, aging population (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Denise Chong: Why did Chinese migrants move to Ottawa, a city as far from their homeland as one can imagine?, according to The Star. The Chinese also found that the further east they went in Canada, the less they encountered discrimination. This was to their surprise. In Vancouver and San Francisco, where there was a concentration of Chinese on the West Coast, there was much more fear of Chinese immigrants. The Yellow Peril and the head tax. So you came to Toronto and you d be shocked at how little discrimination there was and you could even date a white girl. Once you came to the smaller centres, like Ottawa, there was no discrimination and that was the attraction and Denise Chong has made it her m tier to write about the Asian experience in Canada. Her first book, The Concubines Children, was about her own familys move to this country. Next she wrote The Girl in the Picture, about the Canadian-Vietnamese woman who, as a young girl, was documented in the famous war photograph running naked, her flesh burned by napalm. Chongs third book, Egg on Mao, was about human rights in China. Her latest effort, Lives of the Family , concentrates on the Chinese who immigrated to Ottawa, Chongs hometown. Our conversation with Chong has been edited for length. It comes right down to family connections. Invariably there would be someone with the same surname, an uncle or a brother, who could give you work and give you a bunk in the back of the laundry, who could give you a meal and help you learn English. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Aung San Suu Kyi: She will join an elite group of foreign honorees who include South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, according to Reuters. "She faced down evil and oppression and now speaks boldly for those who are silenced." OTTAWA - Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, will be granted honorary Canadian citizenship, the Canadian government announced on Wednesday. "Canada recognizes the courageous and inspiring example set by Malala Yousafzai in risking her life promoting education for young women," the government said in a speech setting out its priorities for the next two years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

The Federal Reserve: CHICAGO/BOSTON - The Federal Reserve should be "extraordinarily careful" about hiking interest rates to head off potential risks to financial stability, a top U.S. central banker said on Friday, warning about consequences to the economy. , according to Reuters. The debate over whether tighter policies should be used to battle asset-price bubbles has simmered under the surface as the Fed has taken unprecedented steps to boost economic growth, including trillions of dollars in bond-buying and promises to keep interest rates low for long periods. By Ann Saphir and Richard Valdmanis Another policymaker underscored the importance of the issue of asset bubbles as he laid out possible approaches to protecting the broader economy, but without endorsing any one. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Premier Greg Selinger: Premier Greg Selinger called it a "reset," but that hardly describes what he did Friday in a major shakeup to his cabinet. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Trying to stop his government's steady drop in popular support, the NDP leader called on his best performers to take the lead in defending the increase to the provincial sales tax when the legislature resumes sitting Nov. 12, then selling it to skeptical Manitobans. Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger and his new cabinet. It's more like a jolt to give the NDP a fighting chance in the next election two years away. Related Items Articles Provincial Tories have eyes on next election as they meet in Brandon Manitoba's cabinet Poll What do you think of Fridays provincial government cabinet shuffle? Things are looking up Its a backwards move Nothing will change I ignore politics View Results (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Gord Mackintosh: Steve Ashton -- infrastructure and transportation, EMO Related Items Articles Provincial Tories have eyes on next election as they meet in Brandon Premier 'resets' his team as NDP's popularity sags , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Gord Mackintosh -- conservation and water stewardship Greg Selinger -- premier, federal-provincial relations Dave Chomiak -- mineral resources; gaming (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Justin Trudeau: The poll, conducted by EKOS Research for iPolitics between October 10 and 14 , found Liberals to be well ahead with 36 per cent support, compared to just 26 per cent for Conservatives and 25 per cent for New Democrats. The Greens had just under seven per cent, while the Bloc Qu b cois had five per cent 22 per cent in Quebec , according to Huffington Post. EKOS did peg Tory support at around 26 per cent in April and May, but no other firm has had the Tories below 27 per cent since well before the 2011 federal election. And for the Liberals, the 10-point gap is the widest that has been seen since the heady days following Trudeau's leadership victory and A throne speech packed with consumer-friendly goodies and a trade deal with the European Union is a good fall start for the prime minister, particularly considering a new poll suggests his party trails Justin Trudeau 's Liberals by 10 points. It has to be admitted that these results raise a few eyebrows, as it is one of the worst results the Conservatives have registered since before Trudeau's arrival on the scene. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Edward Snowden: WASHINGTON - The U.S. National Security Agency failed to install the most up-to-date anti-leak software at a site in Hawaii before contractor Edward Snowden went to work there and downloaded tens of thousands of highly classified documents, current and former U.S. officials told . , according to Reuters. The purpose of the software, which in the NSA's case is made by a division of Raytheon Co, is to block so-called "insider threats" - a response to an order by President Barack Obama to tighten up access controls for classified information in the wake of the leak of hundreds of thousands of Pentagon and State Department documents by an Army private to WikiLeaks website in 2010. By Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel Well before Snowden joined Booz Allen Hamilton last spring and was assigned to the NSA site as a systems administrator, other U.S. government facilities had begun to install software designed to spot attempts by unauthorized people to access or download data. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Suvreet Johal: Karin Skarth, arts and outreach manager of the ICA, put out a call for people to be part of the Inside Community project, to tell the story of their community and to build capacity for visual storytelling within these communities. As part of the Embrace B.C. Arts Engagement project, funded by the multicultural unit of the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, five people took their cameras on a journey to explore their Filipino, Japanese, Sikh and African communities in Victoria. , according to Times Colonist. I spoke with Suvreet Johal whose succinct and revealing images of Victorias Sikh community are some of the most telling images on display. Johal is a third-generation Victorian the Johal family has been here since 1904. This project gave her a reason to look more deeply into her communitys traditions and to discover how the Sikh religion informs its activities in the wider world. While her only previous training was a photo session in her high school art course, Johal was able, using her Canon T4i Rebel camera, to capture images of incredible resolution. In the past year she has made more than 2,000 photos for the project. Everyone is a photographer. Thats one of the joys of the digital age. But what will your subject be? The Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria encouraged five amateur photographers to look into their ethnicity. The results from this project are now on show at Dales Gallery 537 Fisgard St. . Working with the guidance of Quinton Gordon, facilitator and educator and principal of Luz Studios , each participant created hundreds sometimes thousands of photographs. A selection of six images from each photographer has been printed in a large format by Gordon. Another part of the show is a 15-minute multimedia slide show, with each artist contributing from 50 to 200 images, accompanied by a voiceover sound track featuring interviews with the subjects of the photos. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.