Genk: GENK, Belgium Rumours of job cuts at the big Ford plant in this scruffy former coal mining town had been circulating for months. But on a clear morning a year ago, almost nobody in Genk expected what came next, according to The Chronicle Herald. The battle of Genk had begun. And the struggle would become a case study in just how difficult it can be for an automaker to cut its manufacturing capacity in Europe, even as the car market in this part of the world is the weakest in two decades and Worker representatives, summoned to a meeting room inside the factory, started tapping out text messages even before Ford executives had finished reading a terse statement. Ford had decided to shut down Genk for good. The factory, which employed 4,300 people, would produce its last car at the end of 2014. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

economic recession: OTTAWA The number of Canadians using food banks has fallen off slightly but still remains near record highs almost four years after the end of the economic recession, according to The Chronicle Herald. Underlying this small drop is a concern of enormous proportions: food bank use remains higher than it was before the recession began, the report states and The annual study by Food Banks Canada, scheduled for release Tuesday, shows that more than 833,000 people relied on food handouts during one snapshot month earlier this year, compared with 872,379 the previous March. More than a third of them were children. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

food banks: Despite an improved economic outlook, the report shows that the number of Canadians visiting food banks is 23 per cent higher than during the 2008 recession when it was at its lowest in a decade and food banks are stretched to their limit, according to The Star. MORE ON THESTAR.COM Being able to afford essential food has never been such a pervasive challenge for Canadians as it is now, according to a report released Tuesday by Food Banks Canada. More than 800,000 Canadians visit one monthly. Roughly 300,000 of them are children. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Human Rights Campaign: From one end of the country to the other, the overlapping developments on a single day underscored what a historic year 2013 has been for the U.S. gay-rights movement "the gayest year in gay history," according to Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, the movement's largest advocacy group. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Republicans, for example, are increasingly split on how to address gay-rights issues some want to expand their party's following, while others want to satisfy the religious conservatives who make up a key part of the party's base. More than 40 per cent of Americans remain opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage. And even some prominent gays remain uncertain whether they should make their sexual orientation known to the world at large. NEW YORK, N.Y. - In Maine, a congressman running for governor came out as gay. In Hawaii, lawmakers prepared for a vote to legalize same-sex marriage. And in the U.S. Senate, seven Republicans joined the Democrats in a landmark vote to ban workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Yet each of Monday's developments, while heralded by activists, revealed ways in which the gay-rights debate remains complex and challenging for many Americans. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

military families: A systemic review conducted by the office of ombudsman Pierre Daigle found that frequent moves across the country -- something nearly all military families experience -- disrupt family relationships, finances, continuity of health care, and childrens education, according to CTV. The ombudsmans office surveyed 370 families of current or recently-retired regular force members, and visited 10 Canadian Forces bases and Although Canadian military families now receive more support than ever, they continue to face serious challenges, including finding suitable housing and health care, and providing healthy environments for their children, according to a new report from the Canadian Forces ombudsman. All of that has been well documented before, but the ombudsmans latest report highlights specific findings, including: Deployments of military personnel leave their spouses running the household alone for long periods of time, during which relationships can deteriorate. For instance, children of soldiers were found to experience stress, sleeping problems, physical issues and troubles at school. Its very difficult for military spouses to find and keep reasonable, gainful employment due to frequent moves or lack of opportunities in smaller communities where CF members are posted. Finding and keeping a family doctor or a specialist is difficult for military families because of repeated relocations. The report notes that, unlike in the U.S., most CF families dont receive military medical care. Many surveyed families complained about the lack of suitable housing, whether on a military base or in the community where they ve been posted. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Senate debate: Republican opponents of the measure were largely silent, neither addressing the issue on the second day of Senate debate nor commenting unless asked. Written statements from some rendered their judgment that the bill would result in costly, frivolous lawsuits and mandate federal law based on sexuality, according to Times Colonist. The bill advanced to a floor debate after clearing its first procedural hurdle Monday night on a 61-30 vote and WASHINGTON - Proponents of a bill that would outlaw discrimination against gays in the workplace argued on Tuesday that the measure is rooted in fundamental fairness for all Americans. The Senate moved closer to completing its work on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said a final vote in the Senate is possible by week's end. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Alison MacLeod: This is especially true for historical romance, which has long been this countrys default mode for serious, prize-winning fiction. Alison MacLeod, who was raised in Montreal and Halifax and now lives in England, knows the genre well. Holding firm to the conventions while adding a few twists of its own, her new novel Unexploded which was longlisted for this years Man Booker Prize is a romantic period piece that tells a compelling and complex tale of forbidden love, according to The Star. But while Hitler stares across the Channel, all is not well on the home front. The magic has gone out of the Beaumont marriage. Evelyn is a passionate woman with a keen interest in modern art and modern fiction she particularly admires Virginia Woolf, and even attends one of Woolfs lectures on the new novel . Geoffrey is, well, a banker. He is also colour-blind and is no longer sexually attracted to his wife. But despite these incompatibilities they have settled into a matrimonial routine that they both seem to find some comfort and stability in and Even the highest of highbrow book snobs will confess in unguarded moments to enjoying some favourite flavour of popular fiction, and if you look closely you ll find its often the case that the most critically successful literary novels are crossbred with commercial genres. Formula helps gives these books an extra bit of narrative backbone, and makes them more accessible to a larger audience. The heroine, Evelyn Beaumont, is an upper class British woman married to a very proper bank manager named Geoffrey. The setting is Brighton in 1940-1941, and as the events take place the air is thick with anticipation of a German invasion. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

John Greyson: Tarek and I have huge questions about whats going on in our own backyards, Greyson said at a Toronto news conference Monday in front of the federal courthouse on Queen St. W. We re critical of our own experience in Egypt, but to see this in our own backyard is unacceptable. The indefinite detention of all 191 detainees in Lindsay, Ont. raises a lot of questions about what we re doing as a nation, according to The Star. Loubani, a London, Ont., emergency physician, and Greyson, a Toronto filmmaker and professor, want the Canadian government to abide by international law and limit immigration detention to 90 days. If immigration detainees arent deported by then, the two say, they should be released as is the case in the United States or the United Kingdom and A little more than three weeks since they returned to Canada, Tarek Loubani and John Greyson who spent seven weeks in an Egyptian prison without being charged are demanding an end to what they describe as unjust indefinite detention of immigration detainees in Canada. Close to 200 immigrant detainees, some of whom have been in detention for as long as seven years because Canada cannot remove them nor will they release them held a protest and hunger strike to draw attention to their indefinite detention at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay earlier this fall. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

unemployment rate: The others in the top category are Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, the U.S. and Norway, according to 660 News. Canadian scored at or near the top in terms of having a low long-term unemployment rate, health status, housing, education and skills, social connections, personal security low crime , and in life satisfaction and OTTAWA When it comes to measuring the good life, Canada is among the worlds top spots for individual well-being, according to report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Paris-based organization does not issue a specific ranking, but OECD officials said the countries in the highest tier scored in the top 20 per cent in all 11 major categories assessed, including income and wealth, employment, health status, housing, education expectancy and attainment, work-life balance and personal security. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

financial transparency: Delegates at the Conservative party convention in Calgary last weekend nearly unanimously supported policy proposals that would require enhanced financial transparency from unions and allow members to opt out of contributions to political and social causes, according to Huffington Post. The Conservatives, at both the federal and Ontario level, have taken a hard shift to the far right, adopting some of the most extreme U.S. Republican-style labour policies, said York University Labour Law professor David Doorey and Canadian labour leaders say they are disturbed but not shocked that the Tories have adopted a number of union-busting measures in their official party policy, including support for U.S.-style right-to-work legislation. But the most troubling resolutions for union brass were two successful resolutions that indicated Conservatives support controversial right-to-work legislation that might one day find its way into the governments platform. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.