Canada Pension Plan: UPDATED 8:15 p.m, according to The Chronicle Herald. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who hosted the Council of the Federation meeting, said her top priority was reforming the Canada Pension Plan. She warned there will be a huge financial crisis if action isnt taken now and TORONTO Pensions and a contentious federal job grant program were under discussion as Canadas premiers met in Toronto on Friday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Shoppers Drug Mart: The landscape at our Three Corners may not be the rugged high desert, but it does have a bank, gas station, and Danforth Shoppers World, the latter deserving of a plaque of its own as it included one of Canadas earliest enclosed shopping malls when built in 1962. There was once an Eatons here and the plaza lent its name to the now ubiquitous Shoppers Drug Mart chain when founder Murray Koffler opened a pharmacy here that same year, according to The Star. Some people walk here. Some drive. Bicycles even roll by. Some residents own their homes, others rent. People go about their business, city life carries on, and unless you already know, its impossible to tell which corner here was located in Scarborough, East York, or Toronto and The intersection of Danforth and Victoria Park Aves. should have a historic plaque. This was once where three former municipalities met East York, Toronto, and Scarborough until those borders were dissolved by amalgamation in 1997. Its as close as we get to our own Four Corners, the site in the American southwest where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. This corner is what a lot of Toronto looks like. There are low-rise residential areas nearby, the large Crescent Town apartment neighbourhood is a block north of here, and independent retail shops along Danforth are plentiful. Victoria Park subway station is newly renovated and ravines are close by, too. Its Toronto. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kathleen Wynne: Its a huge concern of mine, Wynne, who is also agriculture and food minister, said of the closure announced Thursday, which will leave 740 workers without jobs next year and devastate the town southeast of Windsor on Lake Erie, according to The Star. Food processing is one of our strengths in Ontario, she added during a break in a premiers conference where the provincial leaders were discussing the future of the Canada Pension Plan and federal job grants and Ontario will work to get another food business into the soon-to-be-shuttered Heinz plant in Leamington, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Friday. Can there be an option and a future for that plant? My hope is yes. My hope is that we will be able to broker something. I dont know what the possibilities are there, but believe me we will be trying, she told reporters. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Thaksin Shinawatra: BANGKOK - The daughters of Thailand's self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra have criticized an online leak of flight details showing they flew first-class to London with eight suitcases. But they denied they were following their father's footsteps and fleeing the country. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. A photograph posted online of a computer check-in terminal shows the names, seats and ample baggage allowance of Thaksin's two daughters, Pintongta, 31, and Paetongtarn, 27. It was posted late Thursday, shortly after their flight left Bangkok. FILE - In this file photo taken July 31, 2008, ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is flanked by his daughters, Paetongtarn, left, and Pintongta, right, outside criminal court after the court ruled out that his wife Pojaman guilty on tax evasion in Bangkok. The daughters of Thailand's self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra have criticized an online leak of flight details showing they flew first-class to London with eight suitcases. But they denied they were following their father's footsteps and fleeing the country. AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong, File Thai Airways said it was investigating if one of its employees committed the ethical breach, which came during Thailand's latest round of mass street protests against Thaksin. The former prime minister was ousted in a 2006 military coup but remains at the centre of a long-running political crisis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration measures: The Canadian government on Wednesday announced special immigration measures to help people affected by typhoon Haiyan, the devastating storm that slammed into the Philippines last week. While details of these special measures have not yet been released, the government should be congratulated for stepping up to the plate in response to this unprecedented disaster. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. While the measures the government put into place after the Haiti earthquake were positive, those special immigration measures did not cover many extended family members. As a result, cousins, aunts, uncles, and adult brothers and sisters of Canadian permanent residents and citizens, were often not allowed to take advantage of these special measures. Survivors of typhoon Haiyan walk amid ruins in Maraboth, Philippines. CP Related Items Articles Slideshow: Typhoon Haiyan In typhoon's wake, Manitoba to speed application process for Filipino immigrants Columns Philippines' early warning Canada has a strong track record of responding to international disasters in a comprehensive way. When the Haiti earthquake struck in 2010, Canada fast-tracked immigration applications for Haitians with family in Canada. This allowed thousands of parents, grandparents, spouses and young children to be reunited with their Canadian relatives. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

institutional independence: It listened to a forceful argument from Liberal Senator Serge Joyal, who vouched for senators personal and institutional independence, according to The Star. Judges probing just how far Canadas constitutional amending rules could go highlighted an unsettling answer: pretty far. Right up to the point of dissolving the federation completely without unanimous consent and OTTAWA The countrys top court heard eloquent pleas Wednesday by small provinces, territories and language minorities who say the Senate should not be abolished without unanimous provincial consent. But on the second day of the Senate reference , things veered into uncharted territory and hinted at a bench divided over what constitutional compass to follow. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

AgriCorps: Thwarting small farms, according to The Chronicle Herald. The present agricultural quota system, along with rules preventing marketing of meat and produce at small outlets and markets, only helps the large AgriCorps and big producers and effectively destroys the small family farm. The continuation of past discriminatory practices does nothing for rural Nova Scotia and I am disappointed that the new government has dismissed a review of quotas for egg production Nov. 14 story . Obviously, in just a few weeks, the bureaucrats have managed to convince the new agriculture minister to maintain a system that excludes the small farmer from even making a subsistence living. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Jesse Pelletier: Studies show post-secondary education is still the best route to higher-paying jobs, as long as you are strategic in your studies, according to CTV. Now, $20,000 in debt, the 25-year-old has moved back home and enrolled in college, Universities and colleges churn out thousands of students every year, but once they find themselves in the work force, do their degrees really pay off? Jesse Pelletier enrolled in university five years ago with no real plan in mind. He studied sociology and criminal justice because he enjoyed the material, but says towards graduation, the degree didnt translate into a job. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Karlheinz Schreiber: The dpa news agency reported Thursday that Karlheinz Schreiber was found guilty in Augsburg state court, according to Huffington Post. Prosecutors say he didn't declare money he received as kickbacks for the sale of helicopters to Canada's coast guard, tanks to Saudi Arabia and other arms deals and BERLIN - A former arms-industry lobbyist involved in a corruption scandal linked to former Germany chancellor Helmut Kohl has been convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison. Schreiber, a Canadian-German dual national, was arrested in Canada in 1999 and extradited to Germany where he was convicted in 2010 but won a retrial on appeal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kijiji: But Calgary online citizens fired back instead with a little education and a lot of humour, according to Huffington Post and A racist add in Kijiji could very easily have enflamed the interwebs with anger and vitriol. The ad, posted on the popular classifieds site, advertises a master bedroom for rent for $500 per month, with the clause, "white people unacceptable sorry." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.