Abigail Fulton: The job fairs were organized by the B.C. Construction Association and drew about 800 people in Belfast Oct. 31 and about 2,000 others in Dublin Nov. 2, said Abigail Fulton, vice-president of the B.C. Construction Association, according to Huffington Post. "These are highly skilled positions, in specific trades where there are critical shortages, and these people, for the most part, particularly in B.C., are coming in as permanent residents," said Fulton and VANCOUVER - Western Canadian construction companies that are struggling to hire highly skilled workers will be offering jobs to almost 500 skilled Irish trades people, following a recruitment drive in Dublin and Belfast. Looking to hire were 28 companies mostly from B.C. and Saskatchewan, although two came from Alberta, added Fulton. A college and two construction associations also set up booths at the event. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Oak Bay Marine Group: Oak Bay Marine Group has donated the entire gift-shop inventory about $30,000 worth of toys, clothing and souvenirs from the downtown attraction it had run for 50 years to the 2013 C-FAX Santas Anonymous campaign. , according to Times Colonist. Every year, the charity delivers gifts and food hampers at Christmas. In 2012, more than 275 volunteers wrapped about 7,000 toys to distribute over the holidays. Even though it closed Oct. 16, Undersea Gardens will make Christmas brighter for children in the capital region. It was so unexpected and a great way to kick-off the campaign, said Christine Hewitt, executive director of the C-FAX Santas Anonymous Society. It is a great help to our efforts to enhance the lives of local children in our community. Not only will it make for a happier Christmas, the scope of the donation means enough toys will be left over to touch lives for the remainder of the year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

representative democracy: Local parties wont avert a bloodbath, Letter Nov. 10, according to The Star. The most serious error is in presuming that elections are to determine who gets represented. In our representative democracy, everyone should be represented, not just the largest groups in a geographic area. No matter how you fiddle with the election system, when you talk about electing just a single representative, you re denying people representation and Re: Local parties wont avert a bloodbath, Letter Nov. 10 Letter writer J.A. McFarlane makes common but serious mistakes in calling for two-roound elections to ensure that each elected representative gets majority support. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Senate: Moreover, public disgust with the scandal-plagued Red Chamber and its cosseted political appointees is at Ford-like levels thanks to the antics of a few mavericks. Roughly half of Canadians would be happy to see the place abolished, according to the latest poll. The rest pin frail hopes on reform. Many would like to see Senators elected, somehow, and for limited terms rather than to age 75, according to The Star. To all this, some will be tempted to shrug. But that would be a mistake. For all its 19th-century flaws, the Senate is part of Confederations covenant. It makes and reviews laws that directly affect all of us, and speaks for the regions and minorities. The framers of Canadas Constitution in 1867 and 1982 did not envisage Parliament, meaning the House of Commons and the Senate, being changed at the whim of any given federal government. They set a high bar to change, as the Quebec Court of Appeal recently reminded us and In a week when Toronto Mayor Rob Fords coarse buffoonery made this city an international punch line, the water coolers werent exactly abuzz over the Supreme Courts arid three-day hearings on Senate reform. Drunken crack smoking in high places will trump constitutional nitpicking any day. These are the issues the Supreme Court will decide in a reference case on just how far Prime Minister Stephen Harpers impatient Conservative government can legally go, tinkering with the way Senators are chosen, the property qualifications they need and how long they can serve. As well, the high court has been asked to rule on just how much provincial approval there needs to be, for abolition. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander: In an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CBC Radio's The House, Alexander said it's up to "the responsible authorities" to sanction Ford's behaviour or curtail his responsibilities. , according to Huffington Post. The federal Conservatives have repeatedly attacked Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau for his support for legalizing and regulating marijuana, as well as for admitting he has smoked pot once since he was first elected. But party officials haven't taken a strong stance on Ford's admitted drug use and excessive drinking. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the federal government has to continue working with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, but that the Conservatives are "not fans" of anyone who uses hard drugs. "The bottom line for the federal government is we have to work with a mayor of Toronto. We have to keep working with Toronto city council. We have work to get done on building subways, on building infrastructure projects, on responding to the needs of the people of this great city, and we don't want this incident, this distraction, to detract from that work any more than it already has," said Alexander, speaking from Toronto. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Sylvie Therrien: Sylvie Therrien Related Items Articles One whistleblower's story: no job, no rent, no recognition, no redress , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Therrien was fired, and is today unemployed. She has little chance of another job in the public service because her security clearance has been revoked. She also has no access to employment insurance. A campaign launched by the National Council of the Unemployed had collected close to $20,000 in donations by last Friday to help her financially. OTTAWA - Thumbnail sketches of four federal whistleblowers: In charge of investigating employment insurance fraud, Therrien told a journalist that investigators have quotas. They each must recover $35,000 to $40,000 a month in EI benefits. The federal government initially denied any quota system when the story made headlines in the spring. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

visa applications: The Canadian government announced last week that consular officials are working around the clock to process visa applications submitted by Filipinos, as well as to assist Canadians in the country who may have lost travel documents or have other needs, according to CTV. "We are zeroing in on the applications that involve people or families from the big island hit by the typhoon or smaller islands who have experienced this devastation," Alexander said in an interview that aired Sunday and The federal government expects to fast-track hundreds of visa applications, and perhaps many more, from Filipinos affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander told 's Question Period that his department has already identified hundreds of visa applications that will receive swift attention, but that number could rise as more people affected by the storm are identified. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Leon Mugesera: KIGALI, Rwanda - The trial of a former Quebec resident deported to Rwanda to face charges related to the 1994 genocide that killed nearly one million people has captivated this impoverished African nation still struggling with ethnic tensions. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. The speech is seen as one of the triggers that led to a 100-day massacre of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Leon Mugesera RYAN REMIORZ / THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES Leon Mugesera, a former Universite Laval lecturer, is accused of inciting genocide in a fiery anti-Tutsi speech in 1992, in which he referred to them as cockroaches and suggested they should be exterminated. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rugged mountain region: BEIRUT Thousands of Syrians poured into Lebanon over the past two days, taking shelter in wedding halls and makeshift shacks after fleeing heavy fighting in a rugged mountain region across the border in western Syria, UN and local officials said Sunday, according to The Chronicle Herald. Over the past month, Assads forces have made headway against the rebels on two key fronts, capturing a string of opposition-held suburbs south of Damascus and taking two towns and a military base outside the northern city of Aleppo. A government victory in the battle for Qalamoun would deal a severe blow to the already beleaguered rebels on Damascus doorstep and The clashes in Qalamoun, an area that stretches from north of the Syrian capital along the Lebanese frontier, appeared to be part of a long-anticipated government offensive aimed at cutting a key rebel supply route and cementing President Bashar Assads hold on the strategic corridor from the capital to the coast. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Georges Vervust: Georges Vervust is the top official with the Belgian Oblates, an order of Catholic priests that sent Eric Dejaeger to several communities in what is now Nunavut, according to Times Colonist. "What I have heard is that he got advice from people from the Justice Department, off the record, that he should leave," Vervust said in a Belgian documentary. He confirmed his comments to The Canadian Press and IQALUIT, Nunavut - A former priest who this week is to face 76 sex charges involving Inuit children may have been tried years ago but for a quiet nod from Canada that allowed him to leave the country, says a church leader. Vervust sheds light on questions that have troubled Dejaeger's alleged victims for nearly a decade: How was a man facing child abuse charges allowed to leave the country days before his trial? And why did it take so long for him to be returned? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.