GUANGZHOU, China: GUANGZHOU, China - Just days after China announced sweeping reforms to revitalize its economy, several hundred striking workers rallied outside a Nokia factory in its wealthiest and most industrialized region shouting: "Protect our rights!", according to Reuters. "We have hopes for a better China," said one worker surnamed Huang who said he was forced to accept new contracts with worse terms of employment after Nokia sold its mobile phones business to U.S. software giant Microsoft and By James Pomfret This flareup over labor benefits in the vast factory belt of Guangdong province underlines the main difficulty in pushing through the reforms - the need to maintain stability while bringing changes in laws, businesses and society. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Todd Spaits: And Spaits, who has already applied for a licence to open a retail store in the Seattle area once the state implements its legalization scheme, hopes Canadians will be among his customers. , according to Times Colonist. "There's going to be a significant chunk of business in that." VANCOUVER Todd Spaits believes his home state of Washington could one day be the Amsterdam of the United States, with everyone from die-hard pot heads to the curious but uninitiated visiting for the novelty of legally buying and smoking marijuana. "It's going to be similar to an Amsterdam trip: you're just going to go into a shop and look around, and if you do enjoy smoking, you're going to buy something, just to be part of that movement," says Spaits, 39, a self-described "serial entrepreneur" who doesn't smoke pot himself. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Christian Paradis: Christian Paradis has arrived in the Philippines and will travel to some of the hardest-hit areas of the country, including Tacloban, Ormoc and Roxas City, where Canadian relief efforts have been concentrated, according to Huffington Post. Senior Canadian officials, at a briefing in Ottawa, said the military's disaster assistance response team had expanded its operations to the outlying areas of Panay Island, where Roxas City is located and OTTAWA - Canada's minister for international development is getting a first-hand look at the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. More than 5,000 people were killed and four million made homeless by the super-storm, which rolled over the island nation on Nov. 8. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Minister of Justice Peter MacKay: OTTAWA - The federal Conservatives will try to turn the country's attention to the Tory bedrock issues of crime and the economy today, and away from the Senate spending scandal. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. And Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will appear before the Senate finance committee studying the government's second omnibus budget implementation bill. Minister of Justice Peter MacKay responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, October 28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Justice Minister Peter MacKay and Industry Minister James Moore will reintroduce legislation designed to better protect the public when someone is found unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible for their actions because of mental disorder. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

MANILA, Philippines: MANILA, Philippines - Romnick Abadines' heart pounded as a Philippine air force C-130 carried him above typhoon-wrecked Tacloban city. He had never been on a plane before, never watched silvery-white clouds pass from a small round window. It was not the first time, or the last, that he felt helpless and out of his element. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. More than 12,000 people displaced by the massive Nov. 8 have made it to the capital. Most are with relatives; those with no family here are in shelters. Many have no idea how or where to rebuild their lives. In this Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 photo, doctors check typhoon survivors from Leyte province as they arrive at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay, south of Manila, Philippines. Thousands of people from areas wrecked by Haiyan clambered aboard free C-130 mercy flights to Manila without any plan, in a desperate bid to escape the hunger, uncertainties and lingering stench of death back home. Others arrived here by bus, or fled to central Cebu province, which like the capital is regarded by rural poor Filipinos as a greener pasture in this impoverished Southeast Asian nation of more than 96 million people. AP Photo/Aaron Favila Related Items Articles International development minister tours typhoon ravage Philippines The frail, 31-year-old farmer lost his shanty to Typhoon Haiyan, which flattened much of Tacloban in Leyte province as it killed more than 5,200 people. Now he lays idle in a tent shelter in suburban Manila, where he has no known relatives and little chance of finding more than menial and temporary work. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

A.O. Smith: But after the A.O. Smith water heater plant average hourly union wage $22 closed last July, a handful of the 256 workers who lost their jobs walked to the other side of Hill Street to volunteer at a well-stocked thrift shop, according to The Star. Our sales have actually increased since A.O. Smith closed down. I ve seen a significant jump and FERGUS, ONT. Back in the boom times, when people said they were crossing the street for a job, it was usually to a rival for a bigger paycheque. You dont want to be doing nothing when you re laid off, you need something on your resume, says Nathanael Martin. Hes general manager of the Bibles for Missions Thrift Store in this pretty Grand River town of 10,000 a short drive north of Guelph. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Artscape: For close to 30 years, Artscape has been on a mission to carve out affordable space for creative types in a city, with its skyrocketing property market, that has been less than eager to accommodate. For the past 15, under Jones, it has taken leaps forward, culminating with this, the not-for-profit developers biggest project to date: 75,000 square feet, offering space to two-dozen tenants and owners, large and small, at below market rates, according to The Star. Even so, Jones is looking forward, not back. One of my great ambitions is, How do we really scale this up? he says. Thats whats exciting for me and Its the afternoon before the evening opening, at last, of Artscape Youngplace, the brand-new name for the battered old hulk of a school building on Shaw St. given up for dead, more than a dozen years ago. And if Artscape CEO Tim Jones who virtually willed it into existence over six trying years is allowing himself a moment of quiet satisfaction, well, fair enough. The building teems with energy, with art installations in the hallways and stairwells, a ground floor lounge and caf , and, on this day, the space buzzing with local schoolkids on tour and the busy work of tenants and owners moving into former classrooms. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Chrystia Freeland: McQuaig, Freeland pay a price for being female, Nov. 18, according to The Star. I had hoped that each would make a meaningful difference in the paths taken by their respective parties. Instead, both seem happy by their own admissions in debate this past Saturday to play, uncritically, follow the leader. Indeed, Chrystia Freeland particularly seems to demur in almost every issue to the head of her new family ... I mean party, Justin. This is profoundly disappointing and Re: McQuaig, Freeland pay a price for being female, Nov. 18 As a resident of Toronto-Centre I ve been looking forward passionately to the upcoming by-election in large part because of the evident analytical capabilities of these two women in the crucial areas of economics, inequality and the environment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

human trafficking: VANCOUVER A wealthy British Columbia businesswoman accused of luring a young Tanzanian woman to Canada and forcing her to work as a virtual domestic slave in her multimillion-dollar West Vancouver mansion has been found not guilty of human trafficking, according to The Chronicle Herald. I wish to emphasize that this is not a case in which I am left with only a reasonable doubt about whether the offences occurred, Fenlon said and B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon said in announcing her decision Friday that the testimony of Mumtaz Ladhas accuser was simply not credible. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Cynthia Zhu: Diana Tarango is worried. Her 4-year-old daughter is in all-day kindergarten, but because she cant find before- and after-school care, she cant go back to work, according to The Star. Cynthia Zhu and Kenny Ji couldnt be happier. They ve been in Canada for less than a year and they ve got both their kids in subsidized daycare spots near their home and Put five people around a table and ask them to talk about their problems with daycare in the city, and you ll get five different opinions. Perry Wong and Nalini Nankoo are frustrated. They have been looking for a daycare space for their 2-year-old son and have put down non-refundable deposits to get on the waiting list at a half-dozen daycares. They cant afford to keep wasting money, and their son still doesnt have a space. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.