Ryder Hesjedal: I dont know whether Diane Ford ever called that out to young Robbie as he rolled out the door at the start of another day. If she did, hes obviously forgotten and today as Torontos mayor and theatre in the round he might be wishing he hadnt. , according to Times Colonist. Ryder Hesjedal gave the same accident-sounding account of his past doping: I chose the wrong path, he said. Well, professional racing cyclists do tend to look down at the road a lot and might miss a path that they re pedalling by, especially a straight and narrow one. I dont know how often I ve heard mothers call after their departing children in that apron-stringy sing-song reserved for maternal advice: Make good choices, hon. He has indicated pretty clearly that he made some bad lifestyle choices but he calls them mistakes, which is meant to persuade us that his heart really wasnt in them and that he was hammered at the time so it wasnt really his fault at all, eh? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Carlos Gutierrez: Now he faces long odds on getting approval to stay in the U.S., but Gutierrez has been staging an unusual demonstration to call attention to his plight and to the thousands of other Mexicans who seek asylum in the U.S. each year from drug cartel violence, according to CTV. "If someone from Cuba or from Venezuela can get asylum, why not someone from Mexico?" said Gutierrez, who spent nearly two weeks on his 1,300-kilometre bicycle trek and EL PASO, Texas -- Carlos Gutierrez passed out as the large blade cut through his legs -- punishment for his refusal to pay a Mexican gang extortion fees from his successful catering business. He spent two weeks in critical condition and sought asylum in the U.S. as soon as he was able. Gutierrez has been riding his bicycle through Texas using his prosthetic legs, talking to everyone he meets. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: Singh will be the second leader after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to boycott the Nov. 15-17 meeting. There are 54 members of the Commonwealth, a loose association of former British colonies, according to CTV. Singh sent a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing his inability to attend the summit, said Syed Akbaruddin, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman. He did not divulge the contents of the letter and NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided against attending a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka this week over the island nation's human rights record, an Indian official said Sunday. Their decision is expected to sharpen focus on the demand by Western nations and rights activists that Sri Lanka account for thousands of civilians who are suspected to have died in the final months of a quarter-century civil war that that ended in 2009 when government forces crushed separatist Tamil rebels. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Majuba Hill: The colonies of Canada, New Zealand and Australia answered the motherland call, and all three helped turn embarrassing defeats of the first conflict into great triumphs in the second. , according to Times Colonist. Public memory for Majubas warriors was brief. For a few years, Feb. 27 was celebrated as Majuba Day, but by 1917 the overwhelming lists of war dead and wounded had relegated Majuba to a minor scuffle on a remote hilltop in Africa and no longer worthy of memory. Nov. 11 became the new day to bow our heads in reverence and recognition for young lives too soon lost. On one brief day each year, we fall silent as a lone bugle sings its mournful requiem and the pipes play their sad laments and we mourn war dead from 1914 to the present. Earlier conflicts have been removed from memory. The First Boer War ended shortly after the Afrikaaners sent a British army fleeing in retreat from a place called Majuba Hill on Feb. 27, 1881. Nineteen years later, almost to the day, the Boers were themselves evicted from the same remote hilltop by the men of the Royal Canadian Regiment fighting in the Second Boer War. The Canadians were in South Africa in response to a plea from England for help in closing down two new republics Transvaal and the Orange Free State proclaimed by mainly Dutch settlers. Some historians claim Canadas victory at Majuba in 1900 was the first step toward its recognition as a nation of stature, a recognition strongly endorsed 17 years later on Vimy Ridge in the First World War. At Vimy, Canadian soldiers more than proved their mettle in the field; the men who fought there and the women who nursed there have been, and still are, well-remembered on anniversary dates. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Shyroz Walji: The family is now at the centre of a homicide-suicide police probe after Mohammed and Shyroz Walji and their daughter Qyzra were found dead at their London apartment on Oct. 31, according to CTV. Qyzra had cerebral palsy and A retired pediatric occupational therapist, who worked with the Walji family for a number of years, says the federal governments decision to send the family back to Tanzania was weighing upon them. There were promises by Immigration Canada . They would go through all the hoops and everything. They would do that and there would be no response or a no. And then they d meet all kinds of requirements and then it would be a no, says Anne Robertson, who began working with Qyzra in 2000. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Carlos Gutierrez: Now he faces long odds on getting approval to stay in the U.S., but Gutierrez has been staging an unusual demonstration to call attention to his plight and to the thousands of other Mexicans who seek asylum in the U.S. each year from drug cartel violence, according to Times Colonist. "If someone from Cuba or from Venezuela can get asylum, why not someone from Mexico?" said Gutierrez, who spent nearly two weeks on his 800-mile 1,300-kilometre bicycle trek and EL PASO, Texas - Carlos Gutierrez passed out as the large blade cut through his legs punishment for his refusal to pay a Mexican gang extortion fees from his successful catering business. He spent two weeks in critical condition and sought asylum in the U.S. as soon as he was able. Gutierrez has been riding his bicycle through Texas using his prosthetic legs, talking to everyone he meets. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Adolf Hitler: Leipciger was living with his family in the Polish industrial town of Chorzow when what would come to be known as Kristallnacht what one historian has called the Rubicon night erupted on Nov. 9, 1938, according to The Star. Seventy-five years ago, on Nov. 9 and 10, sanctioned by Adolf Hitler and observed by police instructed not to intervene, rampaging mobs attacked Jews in their homes and the street, burned synagogues and destroyed Jewish businesses throughout Germany and the seized territory of Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia and Nate Leipciger was 10 in November of 1938 when the first ghastly convulsion of the Holocaust raged across Germany in violence all the world would see. But what does a 10-year-old boy know of such things? He could not know that, across the border from his home, the Nazi pogrom had begun. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Cheryl Purves: I am a teacher of children in Grade 2, and despite our schools best efforts, their role model is everything we are earnestly working against. We are teaching character traits: be honest hes a liar ; take responsibility for your actions not only when you are absolutely cornered, and then have to make a mock apology ; and dont blame someone else for your actions his brother is now diverting the blame and the issue onto the chief of police, who is doing his job with dignity . By the way, is nepotism okay?, according to The Star. Cheryl Purves, Toronto Have I stepped through the looking glass? I am woman who was born in, and lives in Toronto. When I came home from work the other and turned on the news, I felt as if I was in an alternate universe, and I can assure you, its not from smoking crack cocaine. The Mayor Rob Ford issue is beyond anything I thought I d ever see. It is sad to see the day when the representative of our city is a liar, a lawbreaker, a bully, and a drug user and thats what we know to date . We say to our kids and students, dont use drugs . Well, what a great role model Fords been for our kids. He was, on a personal level to me, and embarrassment to our city long before these current issues even arose. What job can you keep, when you show up intoxicated, or break the law? I know I certainly couldnt do that on my job. Isnt being Mayor of the city one of the most important and influential jobs? I have no issue with his personal problems, but keep them personal. How can this person continue to operate in this public capacity? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

First Nations: The manner in which First Nations people pay tribute to their veterans might help us carry this appreciation in our hearts for more than just this one, most important day. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. "A warrior does not judge his or her greatness by the goals they have set for themselves but by the obstacles which they have overcome. Those obstacles provide an opportunity for a warrior to prove greatness and they are welcomed as a test to prove that one is worthy of being a warrior." WITH Remembrance Day nearly upon us, we will try to remember the great sacrifices made by the veterans of two world wars. Many of us have only known peace and now face our own mortal end free from the horrors of combat and sudden death. But on Nov. 11, we will try to remember, and be grateful for those who have fallen for us. First Nations people show respect, gratitude and tribute for their veterans at all of their gatherings year-round. Those who have gone before or who have made the greatest sacrifices always lead the grand entry at powwows and conferences where First Nations and M tis people gather to celebrate history and culture or to discuss matters of vital interest and make important decisions. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Premier Pauline Marois: The message? Whoever we may be Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews we wont be denied our constitutionally protected religious identities because Premier Pauline Marois and her Parti Qu b cois need a wedge issue to carry into the next election. The pushback to Bill 60, put before the National Assembly this week , has begun, according to The Star. As drafted, Bill 60 is even harsher than advertised. It prohibits judges, police, bureaucrats, teachers, doctors, nurses and others on the public payroll from wearing conspicuous religious gear such as Muslim head scarves, Sikh turbans, large crosses and Jewish kippas while on the job. But it also extends to private sector workers on contract to government. It takes aim at Muslim, Jewish and other dietary practices, even in daycare centres. And it offers fewer opt-out provisions than expected and Has it come to this? Municipal employees in upscale Hampstead, in Montreal, have never been known to wear their religious beliefs on their sleeves. But Mayor William Steinberg tells the Montreal Gazette that some want to start sporting banned religious symbols if Bill 60, Quebecs odious charter of state secularism, becomes law. Marois has split Quebecers with her cynically divisive gambit to enshrine secularism in government affairs, managing to alienate even fellow nationalists. Past PQ premiers Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, both iconic figures, have denounced it as a small-minded attack on minorities. And Fran oise David of the Qu bec Solidaire party is disgusted. As a sovereigntist I think this is a sad day, because people are being told, Our sovereignty project, well, its not an inclusive project , she says. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.