immeasurable resources: As an anti-poverty activist, I find it difficult to understand how people are not more alarmed over the 2013 Hunger Count Report released this month, and how we are not all incensed that people are actually hungry in a wealthy country like Canada, with its immeasurable resources, according to The Chronicle Herald. The 2013 Hunger Count Report revealed that, on the national level, food bank use decreased slightly by 4.5 per cent from 2012 to 2013. Nevertheless, as the report emphasizes, it is 23 per cent higher than in 2008 before the last recession and After reading the report, and opinion pieces published earlier this year from Sen. Hugh Segal and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, I couldnt help but think how a basic livable income would decrease the need for food banks, and make a real difference in the lives of low-income people. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Bashar Assads: Previous attempts to bring the two sides together have failed, mainly because of disputes over who should represent the opposition and the government, Syrian President Bashar Assads future role in the country, and whether Iran, Saudi Arabia and other regional powers should be at the table. The conference will take place Jan. 22 in Geneva, according to The Star. Read more on thestar.com: GENEVA Syrias government and opposition will meet for the first time in an attempt to halt the nearly 3-year-old civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people , the United Nations said Monday. The announcement comes the day after Tehran and world powers agreed to a six-month nuclear deal in Geneva. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: We will be balanced again in approximately 14 months and we ll be in a position to run a surplus and make the policy decisions that are made then about what to do about the surplus, Flaherty said, according to 660 News. Flaherty has pledged to meet the target in the past, but the 14-month deadline was his most specific to date and OTTAWA The federal governments books will be back in balance in little more than a year and run a surplus from that point on, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday in generally upbeat testimony given separately to both the Senate and Commons finance committees. The Harper government is counting on balancing the budget in 2015 in order to fulfil campaign promises made four years earlier that it would introduce partial income splitting for families among other tax cuts once the deficit is eliminated. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

NDP and Liberals: Monday's byelections have taken on greater significance thanks to hotly contested races between the opposition NDP and Liberals in Ontario and Quebec and the controversy over the expenses scandal in the Senate. , according to Huffington Post. 1. Tory split raises Liberal hopes in Brandon-Souris Voters in three provinces are casting ballots in four federal byelections. Here's are four things to know about the races as voters go to the polls. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

National Capital Commission: A new analysis by the Movoto real estate blog puts the value of 24 Sussex Drive at $7,523,280 . For comparison, Movoto recently appraised the White House at $110 million USD, according to Huffington Post. Of course, it's very unlikely that the National Capital Commission, which manages the property, will be selling it any time soon. But that's not to say the NCC shouldn't consider it and Stephen Harper's residence is worth some serious coin. The Sussex Drive evaluation looked at eight similar homes in the area to arrive at a cost per square foot of $627. At 12,000 square feet, the 34-room home would demand some serious value were it placed on the market. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Wuyi University: Copyright 2013, according to Times Colonist and Residents of Guangzhou, China, are getting an insight into the lives of Chinese immigrants who came to Barkerville during the Cariboo gold rush of the 1860s. On Nov. 11, Prince George Mayor Shari Green and Barkerville CEO Judy Campbell were in China to launch the interactive multimedia exhibit Who Am I?: Bridging the Pacific from Guangdong to Barkerville and Back at Wuyi University's Museum of Overseas Chinese. Green was in China as part of a larger trip pursuing a twin city relationship with Jiangmen, China. "When we did that unveiling there were just a ton of people there; lots of Canadians who were studying or teaching in Jiangmen came," said Green. "They all had their Canada T-shirts on, so it was really great to see." The exhibit features 60 interactive iPad panels and more than 1,600 photographs, which visitors can scroll through. Many of the photos feature unidentified migrants, the majority of which came from Guangdong province. Wuyi University, particularly the Overseas Chinese Research Centre, is extremely excited about bringing these photos and stories home, Campbell said in a written statement. The emotion they felt about this was evident. The Barkerville delegation also took part in a museum conference at Wuyi University and signed an agreement with the Museum of Overseas Chinese for the management of the Who Am I? exhibit. Barkerville is also looking to develop academic partnerships to add to knowledge about the Chinese population in Barkerville and historic town's Chinese collections, according to a statement issued by Barkerville spokesperson Dirk Van Stralen. Plans have been launched to create a bilingual book covering the exhibition. Wuyi University hopes to send a delegation to Barkerville as early as next year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

oil refining: The onslaught, captured in photos and video footage from Detroit and Chicago this year, was caused by the same thing: brisk winds sweeping across huge black piles of petroleum coke, or "petcoke," a powdery byproduct of oil refining that's been accumulating along Midwest shipping channels and sparking a new wave of health and environmental concerns, according to Times Colonist. In Midwestern neighbourhoods near refineries, the growing black mountains have brought outcries from residents and new efforts by lawmakers to control or banish the blowing dust and CHICAGO - The images are startling. Billowing black clouds darken the daytime sky as wind-driven grit pelts homes and cars and forces bewildered residents to take cover. The piles are evidence of a sharp increase in North American oil production particularly crude extracted from oil sands in Canada that has been trapped in the Midwest because of limited pipeline capacity to carry it to the Gulf and West coasts, leading to unprecedented amounts of oil refining and petcoke production here. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Thelma Unruh: The old brown suitcase her mother kept Christmas ribbons and bows in didn't mean much to Thelma Unruh when she was a little girl. It had belonged to her father, who never spoke about his childhood. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Unruh didn't find out the secret until after her dad died and she was a grown woman with a family of her own. She was watching TV and ironing clothes when she saw a program about poor children from Britain who were shipped off to work in Canada. Each child was given a little brown suitcase -- identical to her dad's. Thelma Unruh displays a photo of her father with the little brown suitcase he arrived in Canada with in 1910 as an 11-year-old. PHIL HOSSACK / Photo Store She had no idea the brown suitcase held the secret to her dad's past. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Indonesia: JAKARTA - Indonesia's police confirmed they had suspended cooperation with their Australian counterparts after a diplomatic rift between the neighbors, raising the possibility of a surge in asylum seekers heading to Australia from Indonesian shores. , according to Reuters. Asylum seekers, many from South Asia and the Middle East, often try to reach Australia via Indonesia. By Kanupriya Kapoor The rift over reports last week that Canberra spied on top Indonesians is straining ties already soured by pressure from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government since it was elected in September to return asylum-seeker boats to Indonesia, which Jakarta has resisted. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: "We will be balanced again in approximately 14 months and we'll be in a position to run a surplus and make the policy decisions that are made then about what to do about the surplus," Flaherty said, according to CTV. Flaherty has pledged to meet the target in the past, but the 14-month deadline was his most specific to date and The federal government's books will be back in balance in little more than a year and run a surplus from that point on, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday in generally upbeat testimony given separately to both the Senate and Commons finance committees. The Harper government is counting on balancing the budget in 2015 in order to fulfil campaign promises made four years earlier that it would introduce partial income splitting for families among other tax cuts once the deficit is eliminated. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.