Nelson Mandela: Under current Canadian law, this iconic hero of South Africas liberation would be considered a terrorist, according to The Star. The extravagant eulogies that followed his death are well-deserved and Lost in the eulogies for Nelson Mandela is one inconvenient fact. To remember this is not to diminish Mandela. He peacefully transformed a desperately divided apartheid state into a more-or-less united country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

New York Mercantile Exchange: Those gains are showing up at the gas pump. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. rose 1 cent to $3.26, the first increase in 10 days, according to Times Colonist. U.S. data showed the outlook for hiring is improving and The price of oil rose again Friday on signs of a stronger job market in the U.S. and finished the week with a gain of more than 5 per cent. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery rose 27 cents at $97.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The increase for the week was $4.93 a barrel. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Federal finance Minister Jim Flaherty: "We do not take EI funds and use them to balance the budget. That's what the Liberals did," Flaherty said Friday during a media conference in Markham, outside of Toronto, where he was holding pre-budget consultations with local academics, business and community leaders, according to CTV. A Parliamentary Budget Office report released Thursday said the Conservative government may need to depend on artificially high EI premiums, asset sales and spending restraint to balance the budget by the 2015 election and MARKHAM, Ont. -- Federal finance Minister Jim Flaherty is denying a federal watchdog analysis that says he's using high EI premiums to beef up his expected budget surplus in 2015. "We have stabilized and frozen the EI rates." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

John Stephenson: The S P/TSX composite index ran up 80.32 points to 13,280.72 after the U.S. Labor Department reported that 203,000 jobs were created during November, on top of a revised 200,000 in October, while the jobless rate fell 0.3 of a point to seven per cent. Economists had expected a gain of around 180,000, according to 660 News. The yin and the yang of it is, on the one hand, great numbers, great reports, but on the other hand, is this bringing on the day of tapering sooner rather than later? said John Stephenson, a portfolio manager at First Asset Funds Inc and TORONTO North American stock markets closed sharply higher Friday as a stronger than expected U.S. employment report trumped worries that the Federal Reserve might start to cut back on stimulus sooner than expected. The Dow Jones industrials surged 198.69 points to 16,020.2, the Nasdaq rose 29.36 points to 4,062.52 while the S P 500 index climbed 20.06 points to 1,805.09. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Premier Pauline Marois: Marois says her team concentrated on employment and identity and she is pleased with the results, according to Times Colonist. "We committed to controlling government spending and we have done that in an exemplary manner," she said and QUEBEC - Premier Pauline Marois says her government was more focused in the current session of the legislature than when it was first elected last year. She indicated some disappointment at being unable to balance the budget as planned but said delaying it until 2015-16 will allow her government to avoid tax hikes and deep spending cuts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Mandela was remembered in all-party statements in the House of Commons on Thursday a short time after his death was announced, according to 660 News. Events of note in and around Parliament Hill today: OTTAWA Its a day of reflection in Ottawa as federal politicians look back on the life of Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95. Prime Minister Stephen Harper noted the world had lost one of its great moral leaders and statesmen, while NDP leader Tom Mulcair called him an intelligent man who cared for his people. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Richard Wang: He asks me to pick him up outside his apartment building in Torontos Little Mogadishu on Dixon Road I stand out, he says in an email at 7:05 a.m., just after the daycare opens where he leaves his 7-year-old son, Noah, according to The Star. He replies: Will you dress like that? Just curious and My encounter with Richard Wang rather requires a first-person narrative. I ve offered to drive him to his 50th, maybe his 70th who knows? job interview since his arrival in Canada from Guangzhou, China, a decade ago. I email him a photograph, in which I m wearing a suite and tie, saying: This is what I look like. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

TORONTO North American stock markets: TORONTO North American stock markets closed sharply higher Friday as a stronger than expected U.S. employment report trumped worries that the Federal Reserve might start to cut back on stimulus sooner than expected, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Dow Jones industrials surged 198.69 points to 16,020.2, the Nasdaq rose 29.36 points to 4,062.52 while the S P 500 index climbed 20.06 points to 1,805.09 and The S P/TSX composite index ran up 80.32 points to 13,280.72 after the U.S. Labor Department reported that 203,000 jobs were created during November, on top of a revised 200,000 in October, while the jobless rate fell 0.3 of a point to seven per cent. Economists had expected a gain of around 180,000. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Nektarios Stripping Construction Ltd: The Canada Border Services Agency alleges John and Constantina Psarrakis hired six people to work as labourers for Nektarios Stripping Construction Ltd, according to CTV. The CBSA said the couple was due to make a first court appearance Jan. 8 and NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. -- A Metro Vancouver construction company and its owners are accused of employing six foreign nationals without a permit. The agency said the workers were hired to strip construction forms from cement at various work sites around the Vancouver area. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Randy Fincham: Const. Randy Fincham said the photos were taken the afternoon of Dec. 2 by outraged visitors at the monument, which pays tribute to the 356 Indian immigrants who were infamously refused entry to Canada in 1914, according to CTV. Witnesses believe the yet-unidentified man, who appears disheveled in the photos, was drunk. Fincham said that wouldnt mitigate the seriousness of the offence and The Vancouver Police Hate Crimes Unit is investigating shocking images that appear to show a white man urinating on the Komagata Maru memorial in Coal Harbour. They unfortunately encountered this young man that was down at the memorial causing some mischief and causing some grief to people, Fincham said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.