Canadian Heritage Minister Shelly Glover: Glover said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has until April 30 to deliver its report, which is to include steps the agency plans to take toward unbundling TV services, according to CTV. The move is part of a consumer-first strategy outlined in the federal government's recent throne speech. Industry Minister James Moore had already said the government would force TV service providers to stop all-or-nothing packaging by cable and satellite companies and VANCOUVER -- Canadian Heritage Minister Shelly Glover says she has asked the federal broadcast regulator to prepare a report on so-called pick-and-pay television services as a preliminary step toward putting an end to bundling channels into all-or-nothing packages. "We are convinced that this is something that Canadian consumers want," Glover said Thursday in Vancouver. "We want to give them choice and we have indicated very clearly that we will require television channels to be unbundled." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada: Canada's ambassador, Otto Jelinek, said Thursday the decision follows changes to immigration rules, according to CTV. The Czechs had threatened to block the free-trade deal Canada signed with the EU last month over the restriction and PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Canada says it is lifting visa requirements for Czech nationals, a thorny issue that had threatened to derail a new free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. Canada abolished visas for Czech citizens in 2007 but re-imposed them two years later because of concerns over an excessive number of asylum-seekers, most of them Roma, or Gypsies, saying they were discriminated at home. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta have been quietly urging the government to ease up on the restrictions, with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall even making a recent face-to-face appeal to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the issue, according to Huffington Post. That's why the provinces and territories should embrace the Canada Job Grant, Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney's office said in a statement Wednesday and OTTAWA - The temporary foreign workers controversy could be on the agenda Friday as provincial and territorial leaders gather in Toronto, months after Ottawa tightened the rules to quell fears of foreigners swiping jobs from Canadians. Boom provinces say their economies are hungry for the type of skilled workers that aren't readily available in Canada at the moment due to a skills shortage that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce calls one of the top barriers to Canadian competitiveness. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada: Effective immediately, the former Communist country joins 50 other states whose nationals can travel to Canada freely. It had been under visa restrictions by Canada since 2009 due to the influx of Czech Roma refugees, according to The Star. Last month, Canada reached a free-trade agreement in principle with the European Union, which still needs to be ratified by member countries including the Czech Republic. The visa requirement had been a sticking point of the negotiations and After weeks of speculation, Ottawa announced Thursday it was lifting visa requirements on visitors from the Czech Republic. We are very happy. We expect to see more businessmen and tourists from the Czech Republic to Canada, said Robert Tripes, charg d affaires ad interim of the Czech Embassy in Ottawa. The visa requirement made it too difficult for many, and they travelled to other countries. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Janet Yellen: The one thing investors will most want to know is the one thing Yellen isnt likely to say: When she expects the Fed to scale back its stimulus for the economy, according to 660 News. For these reasons, the Federal Reserve is using its monetary policy tools to promote a more robust recovery, Yellen says in her testimony. I believe that supporting the recovery today is the surest path to returning to a more normal approach to monetary policy and WASHINGTON Janet Yellen faces a Senate hearing Thursday on her nomination to lead the Federal Reserve and she is sure to face skepticism from Republicans who say the Feds policies may be swelling asset bubbles or raising the risk of high inflation. In testimony prepared for the hearing, Yellen says the economy has regained ground lost to the recession. But she says unemployment remains too high and notes that the Fed is still trying to accelerate the recovery. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Jason Kenney: Read the whole story at www.ottawacitizen.com, according to Huffington Post and OTTAWA -- Toronto-area donors who last year made $1,000 contributions to Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney's Calgary riding association had also given the same amounts to another Conservative MP's riding, in apparent breach of the legal limits on political contributions. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Dubai Airshow: DUBAI/PARIS - Boeing BA.N: Quote looks set to dominate next week's Dubai Airshow with more than $100 billion of deals as it aims to launch its latest long-haul jet with up to 250 potential orders from as many as five airlines, industry sources said. , according to Reuters. Bulging civil and military bank balances in the Gulf remain a magnet for Western aerospace executives as they seek to tap thriving demand for jetliners and combat aircraft that offer some respite from defence cuts at home.defense By Praveen Menon and Tim Hepher The U.S. planemaker is pressing ahead with the launch of its 777X mini-jumbo despite uncertainty over where it will be made, with workers at the existing 777 plant outside Seattle holding a ballot over a new employment contract on Wednesday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney: Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney told reporters Tuesday the amount is 90 per cent of the $3.1 billion in claims that Alberta submitted following devastating floods that hit southern Alberta in June, according to CTV. "Big picture? This is going to be a huge, huge federal fiscal commitment to post-flood reconstruction efforts in Alberta and the $2.8 billion I do not anticipate that will be the end of it," Kenney said and CALGARY -- Ottawa has earmarked $2.8 billion to pay for Alberta's flood recovery costs. The federal government reimburses provinces for up to 90 per cent of approved claims under the disaster assistance agreement between Ottawa and the provinces. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kevin Lynch: So, in responding to various queries on Ottawas immigration dance spouting a pro-immigration position on one hand, while creating frustrating roadblocks on the other Kevin Lynch deftly says the Atlantic Region has to find better ways of selling itself and You dont become the top civil servant in the country by taking shots at the federal government. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

omnibus bill: The sentencing laws, enacted as part of the Harper government's 2008 omnibus bill, could see people sent to prison for three years for what would amount to a licence violation, the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled, according to Huffington Post. The law as written could capture anyone from a person keeping an unloaded restricted gun, with ammunition accessible, in their cottage when their licence requires it to be in their home, to a person standing on a street corner with a loaded gun in his back pocket "which he intends to use as he sees fit," the court said and TORONTO - Mandatory minimum sentences for gun possession enacted by the federal Conservatives' as part of their law-and-order agenda are "cruel and unusual punishment," Ontario's top court ruled Tuesday in striking the laws down as unconstitutional. In that scenario, there is a "cavernous disconnect" between the severity of such an offence and the severity of the sentence, the court ruled. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.