: This means the industry is facing a looming labour shortage that could reach 48,000 drivers by the year 2024, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, according to Huffington Post Canada. Trucks on the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich., 2014. And after driving five million kilometres, the 57 year-old still enjoys the freedom of the road. "For the most part, there nobody looking over my shoulder telling me what to do," says Fielding, who hails from McKellar, Ont. "I have an assignment and I'm left to do it at my own pace and how I think it should be done." But as Fielding and thousands like him near retirement age, the industry is struggling to recruit young people who share his enthusiam for the job. The average age of a truck driver is over 47 — up from 45 in 2013 — and almost 30 per cent of the driving force is 55 or over, which makes it one of the oldest workforces in Canada, according to the organization president. "Tens of thousands of them are nearing retirement and we're not getting anywhere near our commensurate share of new drivers into the business," says David Bradley. Fielding, for example, usually works 10-14 days straight, with three days off between trips. There are multiple reasons for the looming shortage, but many believe the lifestyle simply isn't attractive to a younger generation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

topsy-turvy world: Until Oct. 16 at the Festival Theatre, 10 Queen Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake. shawfest.com or 1-800-511-7429The story of the little girl who tumbles down the rabbit hole into a topsy-turvy world will never, it seems, go out of style — Lewis Carroll original tale is the second most published book in history after the Bible — but Alice is also having a theatrical moment, according to Toronto Star. In the past four years the national theatres of both Ireland and the U.K. have produced major adaptations: Alice in Funderland at Dublin Abbey was a clubland musical satirizing the corruption that ran the Irish state into bankruptcy; while wonder.land at London National Theatre interpreted Wonderland as online culture, the space we enter when we fall into our mobile phones and computer screens and can't seem to find our way out . Article Continued Below Now the Shaw Festival — one of Canada de facto national stages, thanks to its large budgets, expansive repertoire and capacity to employ artists on season-long contracts — has taken on this iconic story in one of this season blockbuster shows. By Karen Fricker Theatre Critic Mon., May 16, 2016 Alice in Wonderland Adapted by Peter Hinton from the book by Lewis Carroll and directed by Hinton, with music by Allen Cole. This Alice, three years in development, is the brainchild of director/adapter Peter Hinton, an enticing prospect given Hinton extraordinary capacity to create complex, multi-layered stagings that excavate the meanings of his chosen scripts, as with his recent Shaw productions of Pygmalion, Cabaret and Lady Windermere Fan, and his queer take on Anosh Irani Bombay Black at Factory this season. Certainly, the visual world that he and his many collaborators have created on the Festival stage is sumptuous: the great pleasure of this production is watching image after amazing stage image unfold. Hinton has said in interview that he interested in challenging perceptions of the Victorian era — when Carroll, and indeed Shaw, wrote — as restrained and wants to rather celebrate it as a time of vivid imagination. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Brian Bowman: Interim-NDP Leader Flor Marcelino said the party was happy the speech was short, but she was concerned that it lacked details. "We're heartbroken that there are several sectors that are not mentioned, and we want them mentioned because they're very important, according to CBC. They're Manitobans – part of our society," said Marcelino, specifically pointing to the province Indigenous community and immigrants. "So many people were not mentioned. Tory Myrna Driedger elected Speaker of Manitoba legislature Throne speech kicks off Manitoba legislative session Monday The NDP called the speech "heartbreaking," while Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said it was "very encouraging." The speech stuck closely to Tory campaign promises made throughout the election and had few surprises. We want to see what they will do with education, with teachers. How about the Indigenous population How about the North How about newcomers " Marcelino said talk of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls was absent from the speech, as was any mention of reconciliation. "We'd like fulsome discussion on those," she said. We want to see how they will treat people with disabilities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

official announcement: I'm running to attract new people to the party, and I'm very excited, according to Huffington Post Canada. Chong, 44, made the official announcement in Ottawa Monday morning, with his wife, Carrie, and his three young boys, William, Alistair, and Cameron, at his side. I'm running to win, Chong told The Huffington Post Canada. Michael Chong walks with his wife Carrie and sons Cameron , Alistair and William to a news conference Monday. I bring a very different life experience to this leadership race. In an interview before the announcement, Chong said he views himself as someone who can expand and modernize the party, while doing a better job of telling Canadians how the Conservative party is the best vehicle for their hopes and aspirations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Maxime Bernier: Chong is the third candidate to declare his ambition to lead the federal Conservatives, joining former labour minister Kellie Leitch and former minister of state for small business Maxime Bernier in the race that won't be decided for another year, according to CTV. The higher-profile candidates are biding their time; they already have the name recognition and fundraising ability the first three will need to build. Not in so many words - Chong praised Harper fiscal conservatism when asked about the former prime minister - but through a number of the policies he touched on. The Conservatives under Michael Chong would aim to lower taxes and simplify the tax code, he said. Chong is in favour of gay marriage, but for a rather socially conservative reason. "I believe that families are the core building block of our society and if two people want to make a life-long commitment and formalize that, I think we should respect that and we should welcome that," he said Monday in Ottawa. They would acknowledge the need to preserve the environment, and that carbon pricing already exists in Canada, and use that revenue to lower income taxes. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

southern Ontario riding: Chong was first elected in 2004 in a southern Ontario riding and went on to serve in former prime minister Stephen Harper cabinet as intergovernmental affairs minister, according to Toronto Star. But he resigned from that position in 2006 because he didn't support a motion recognizing Quebecers as a nation, calling it ethnic nationalism. Michael Chong becomes the third person to officially join the race which will culminate in a vote in just over a year time. He took a seat in the backbenches; and from there, spearheaded legislation to give individual MPs more power. Conservative MP Michael Chong about to speak to the Senate rules and procedures committee last year. Article Continued Below A bill to that effect became law last fall. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

: For the most part, there nobody looking over my shoulder telling me what to do, says Mr, according to Globe and Mail. Fielding, who hails from McKellar, Ont. And after driving five million kilometres, the 57 year-old still enjoys the freedom of the road. I have an assignment and I'm left to do it at my own pace and how I think it should be done. Fielding and thousands like him near retirement age, the industry is struggling to recruit young people who share his enthusiasm for the job. This is a catch-all ASF view; only displays when an unsupported article type is put in an ASF drop zone But as Mr. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Central African Republic: Every day, 42,000 more are forcibly uprooted by armed conflicts, natural disasters, persecution and inequality, according to Huffington Post Canada. Most aren't trying to reach Europe or faraway Canada. There are 60 million displaced people in the world. Their destinations are often those nearest to the emergency -- inside or around Syria, Sudan, Colombia, the Central African Republic, Yemen or Burundi -- places nowhere near G8 members and whose resources are already strained. After fleeing the horror and devastation that hit their homes, many face closed borders and discriminatory policies. Media reports speak of waves and mass influxes, but the reality is a patchwork of deeply individual stories: women, men, children and elderly people leaving everything behind to rebuild elsewhere. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadians: Last week, former Prime Minister Paul Martin, told the media that the failure to address the many overlapping crises faced by Indigenous peoples is not a problem with Canadians -- Canadians are not racist, according to Rabble. The problem is with Indigenous peoples -- we are invisible. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. Martin further alleges that Canadians are "a generous people" that will "rise to the occasion" to support others in need -- if they are aware of the issue. However, Mr. Had these statements been made by anyone else, I might have let this insanity slip by as a severe case of willful blindness. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

environmental policy Chong: It part of a broad rethink of environmental policy Chong, 45, said he will bring to the race — one he considers necessary if the Conservatives are to attract new voters and win back the trust of those who deserted them last fall. "We have to attract younger people to our party and that begins by shifting our positions on issues like the environment," Chong told a news conference, according to Metro News. The Tories were thrust into a leadership contest after former prime minister Stephen Harper stepped down as party chief on election night. Chong, a southern Ontario member of Parliament, said with carbon pricing already in effect at the provincial level, the federal Tories must refocus their energies on ensuring the revenues go towards reducing taxes. His resignation followed a campaign that critics, and later Conservatives themselves, said was marked too much by divisive policies such as the call for a "barbaric practices" tip line and the relentless push for a ban on wearing face veils during citizenship ceremonies. But while he disagreed with the tip line, he said he does support the face covering ban, though wouldn't necessarily push to have it enshrined in legislation."I agree with the government decision on the niqab in respect of citizenship ceremonies," Chong said. "We live in a free society and people can wear what they want. Chong said he didn't see those two issues as the sole reasons his party was reduced to Opposition status. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

House of Commons: A ruling from the tribunal would have a precedent-setting effect for the federal government, even as it takes steps to extend human rights protections to transgender Canadians in the form of legislation to be tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons, according to The Waterloo Record. The bill would be the latest attempt to make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their gender identity and extend hate speech laws to include transgender persons. The outcome is one possibility in an ongoing dispute in front of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal over a piece of information that internal documents show isn't central to identifying the owner of a social insurance number, or critical for preventing fraud. But even on the eve of its introduction, the government appears no closer to making it easier to change the gender attached to a social insurance number without requiring the holder to go through a bureaucratic paperwork process. The changes were simple: her address, legal name and an update to the gender field to female. Christin Milloy, the Toronto-based trans rights activist at the centre of the tribunal case, said there is no need for the federal government to collect and store information on sex and gender. "It not necessary to identify an individual," Milloy said of the gender field. "Name and birthdate and mother maiden name — these things are enough and storing creates opportunities for discrimination and oppression of all transgender people and women." It has been almost five years since Milloy first downloaded a government form needed to make changes to a social insurance number record. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

North America: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson MONTREAL - After 40 years as a truck driver, Jack Fielding says it easier to name the places in North America where he hasn't been than the ones he has, according to Brandon Sun. And after driving five million kilometres, the 57 year-old still enjoys the freedom of the road. "For the most part, there nobody looking over my shoulder telling me what to do," says Fielding, who hails from McKellar, Ont. "I have an assignment and I'm left to do it at my own pace and how I think it should be done." But as Fielding and thousands like him near retirement age, the industry is struggling to recruit young people who share his enthusiasm for the job. Gauthier, a former truck driver, is working on behalf of Quebec trucking association to encourage more women and girls to consider careers as truck drivers. This means the industry is facing a looming labour shortage that could reach 48,000 drivers by 2024, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance. There are multiple reasons for the looming shortage, but many believe the lifestyle simply isn't attractive to a younger generation. The average age of a truck driver is over 47 — up from 45 in 2013 — and almost 30 per cent of the driving force is 55 or over, which makes it one of the oldest workforces in Canada, according to the organization president. "Tens of thousands of them are nearing retirement and we're not getting anywhere near our commensurate share of new drivers into the business," says David Bradley. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Trudeau government: The controversy centres on the Trudeau government clear decision to stall the immigration of Syrian refugee families to be sponsored by up to 9,000 private citizen groups, whose membership could total some 300,000 people, according to The Waterloo Record. These groups include churches, neighbourhood associations, service clubs and loose gatherings of individuals who wanted to make a difference. Indeed, through questionable delays and bureaucratic bungling, the Trudeau government has turned a national feel-good story on its head. When Trudeau promised during last fall election campaign to bring 25,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees to Canada, he also said the Liberals would assist in bringing additional Syrian refugees to Canada who were supported by private groups that had raised money to finance their settlement here. Ottawa has fulfilled its initial pledge to bring 25,000 government-sponsored refugees here and has expanded that plan to bring in another 25,000 by the end of 2016. What happened since then, though, is an utter mess. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Syrian refugee families: Indeed, through questionable delays and bureaucratic bungling, the Trudeau government has turned a national feel-good story on its head, according to Toronto Star. The controversy centres on the Trudeau government clear decision to stall the immigration of Syrian refugee families to be sponsored by up to 9,000 private citizen groups, whose membership could total some 300,000 people. By Bob Hepburn Politics Sun., May 15, 2016 If Justin Trudeau is so politically smart, how is it that he and his Liberal government have been so politically inept in handling the Syrian refugee private sponsorship program That what thousands of Canadians are asking as one of the testiest political issues over the past six months drags on with no end in sight. These groups include churches, neighbourhood associations, service clubs and loose gatherings of individuals who wanted to make a difference. Article Continued Below What happened since then, though, is an utter mess. When Trudeau promised during last fall election campaign to bring 25,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees to Canada, he also said the Liberals would assist in bringing additional Syrian refugees to Canada who were supported by private groups that had raised money to finance their settlement here. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Hornstein: He saw this process unfold, knowing that it would come to fruition and that helped him to pass peacefully, Sari said, according to Globe and Mail. He'll be there in spirit. Hornstein would not live to see the opening of the new pavilion. Michal Hornstein died at home nine days after that drive, on April 25 at the age of 95, leaving his wife, Renata, to inaugurate the building this fall without her beloved partner of more than 70 years. Hornstein was a brilliant businessman who grabbed life with both hands and lived it to the max – and it was a life filled with horseshoes and brass balls, his son Norbert Hornstein said. Mr. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee camp: He and his family had to run for their lives when their house was hit by a bomb in their home city of Daraa, Syria, in 2013, according to CBC. Lived in refugee camp Morhaf Aldiri fled his home city of Daraa, Syria in 2013. Morhaf Aldiri, who arrived in Edmonton in February, said Albertans have been so kind to him that he simply had to do something to give back. "When I came it was very difficult," said Aldiri. "Another country, I don't know anything, any people, but lots of people help and help me, so it very nice." Alidiri, 25, knows what it like to lose everything. He then spent time living in a refugee camp in Jordan, alongside thousands of others, before coming to Canada. "I know the pain that the Fort McMurray people feel," he said through a translator. "I lost my home as well in Syria, and it really touched me." He added many Syrian families feel the same way. When he talked to them about how they could support people affected by the fires, they came up with the idea of raising money to pay for a special meal for evacuees. There are about 20 other refugee families in Aldiri new neighbourhood in northwest Edmonton. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Josh Lederman: In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue, Obama said in his commencement speech, according to Toronto Star. By Josh Lederman The Associated Press7:10 PM, Sun., May 15, 2016 PISCATAWAY, N.J.—President Barack Obama on Sunday urged college graduates to shun those who want to confront a rapidly changing world by building walls around the United States or by embracing ignorance, as he delivered a sharp and barely concealed critique of Donald Trump. President Barack Obama was the first sitting president to speak at the school commencement. Obama used his commencement speech at Rutgers University to illustrate a world view antithetical to the ideas espoused by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. A wall won't stop that, Obama said, bringing to mind Trump call for building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Looking out at a sea of red and black gowns, Obama told the roughly 12,000 graduating students that the pace of change on the planet is accelerating, not subsiding, and that recent history had proved that the toughest challenges cannot be solved in isolation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

NATO: The land exercise alone, dubbed Anaconda 2016, will be 2 ½ times larger than any previous training in Poland in recent decades and will almost certainly provoke an angry reaction from Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to CBC. Message to Putin as U.S. ups NATO ante in Eastern Europe Should Canada stand on guard in 'tripwire' Eastern Europe Then just weeks later, on July 8, the leaders of NATO will meet in Warsaw for a two-day summit where they'll hear the escalating demands of Poland and other members near the Russian border who want their Western allies to do far more to back them up. Poland will look like a war zone June 7-17 as 31,000 ground troops and sailors from 24 NATO and partner countries stage enormous land, sea and air exercises to block a hypothetical Russian incursion from the east. They mean to insist on a steady rotation of up to 5,000 rapid-reaction troops from the West, including the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany, into Poland and NATO small Baltic trio of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Some expect a military provocation from Russia before the summit. Canada too was pressed last week by visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda to join this tripwire force to help deter Russian "adventurism." The momentum of military buildup has Western diplomats bracing for a stormy June as Russia reacts by launching new exercises of its own along its western border. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Australia Dami Im: Australia Dami Im was second with 511 points, followed by Russia Sergey Lazarev in third with 491, according to Metro News. The show was broadcast live in Europe, China, Kazakhstan, Australia, New Zealand and, for the first time, the United States. Susana Jamaladinova, a 32-year-old trained opera singer who uses the stage name Jamala, received the highest score of 534 points for her song "1944," after votes from juries and TV viewers across Europe were tallied following performances Saturday night by the 26 finalists at Stockholm Globe Arena. Last year contest reached nearly 200 million viewers globally. With sombre lyrics it recalls how Crimean Tatars, including her great-grandmother, were deported in 1944 by Soviet authorities during World War II. Many died during the deportations or starved to death on the barren steppes of central Asia. Amid entries about love and desire, Jamala song stood out. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Halifax: Vandals then reacted by splashing red paint on the monument in a small park in south-end Halifax, according to The Chronicle Herald. We should anticipate no such reaction — now or in the future — to the tributes announced last week by developer Wadih Fares. Halifax council decided in a narrow vote last week to let the Cornwallis statue in Halifax stand instead of tearing it down. The president of WM Fares Group will name five streets in his Rockingham South development in honour of accomplished Nova Scotia women: Marie Marguerite Rose, Carrie Best, Eliza Ritchie, Therese McNeil, and Ruth Goldbloom. Instead, Rose was a slave, one of hundreds of West Africans who lived in servitude at the French fort of Louisbourg in the 18th century. Each woman was a pioneer; none was a colonizer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Sara Novi: In Sara Nović Girl at War, Anna Jurić is a university student in Manhattan who escaped the civil war in Yugoslavia, according to CBC. But her survival came at a cost and to find any sense of peace, she must reconcile herself to the horrors she not only endured but also took part in. Girl at War by Sara Nović is the story of a university student in Manhattan who escaped the civil war in Yugoslavia, where she learned to kill when she was just 10. She starts lying about her background because she does not want to deal with the questions between "nosiness and concern" and the extreme discomfort her answers cause: "Their musings about how and why people stayed in a country under such terrible conditions were what I hated most. They asked because they hadn't smelled the air raid smoke or the scent of singed flesh on their own balconies; they couldn't fathom that such a dangerous place could still harbour all the feelings of home." The book starts when Anna is 10, and the war just means days off school, free rein to bike and explore with her best friend Luka and water fights around the relief pump the rare time water is flowing. I knew it was ignorance, not insight that prompted these questions. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

legislative body: The U.S. Constitution, in its attempt to prevent one group controlling the three branches of government invoked separation of powers as its guiding principle, according to The Chronicle Herald. Such an arrangement has worked as long as men and women in the legislative body, Congress, are willing to compromise with the executive, the president, to produce legislation in the interests of the public. Aside from the side effects of the 2008 recession, however, lies a deeper challenge to the nature of the structure of that country federal system of government. This has not been happening since Obama election in 2008. Congress was closed down in the fall of 2013 by the Tea Party adherents; right now it refuses to consider Obama nomination of a Supreme Court justice. Republicans have been determined to thwart all efforts by Obama to make the system work. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

: As for her not having any official duties, yes, that technically true; there is actually only one government spouse in Ottawa with official duties, and that the Governor General wife, who gets to call herself Her Excellency, and act as consort to the representative of Canada head of state, cutting ribbons and greeting important guests and so forth, according to CBC. Now, quick: Name the Governor General wife. Well, first of all, she hasn't asked for any more help to take care of her kids. The reason you probably can't is that Sharon Johnston, while no doubt a lovely, public-spirited woman, is not a tall poppy. And a lot of Canadians just can't stand a tall poppy. Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

: It a version of lynch-mob logic that happens to appeal to the liberal and tolerant as much as the hateful and intolerant, according to Globe and Mail. And it falls apart as soon as you speak to anyone knowledgeable in Sweden. This is a catch-all ASF view; only displays when an unsupported article type is put in an ASF drop zone Behind it you'll find the resurrection of an old, deadly appeal to fear – that people of certain skin colours are natural-born predators who threaten white women. What we're hearing is a very, very extreme exaggeration based on a few isolated events, and the claim that it related to immigration is more or less not true at all, says Jerzy Sarnecki, a criminologist at Stockholm University who has devoted his career to the study of criminality, ethnicity and age. But it not because Swedes – of any colour – are very criminal. Sweden does indeed have far more reported cases of sexual assault than any other country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Eurovision Song Contest: By Karen Fricker Theatre Critic Sat., May 14, 2016 STOCKHOLM—It one of the most successful live TV entertainment programs in the world, which this year will reach an estimated 200 million viewers, according to Toronto Star. Europeans have been love-hating it for six decades, Australia got skin in the game and for the first time this year it being screened live in the U.S.A., featuring a live performance by Justin Timberlake. But there no live broadcast for Canaidans to enjoy the fun. It time for Canada to get on board with the Eurovision Song Contest. What makes it unique is that it a contest of nations, with broadcasters from participating countries sending along three-minute original pop songs. Founded in 1956, Eurovision is an annual competition to choose the best pop song in Europe and the granddaddy of all TV song contest formats. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

resolutions: Almost 20 per cent of some 80 resolutions involve aboriginal issues, reflecting an apparent effort by grassroots Liberals to put meat on the bones of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vow to create a new relationship with indigenous peoples, according to CTV. Among them, are resolutions to: -- Rotate the appointment of the governor general between anglophones, francophones and aboriginals. -- Grant official language status to aboriginal languages and provide necessary funding for language preservation. -- Pay for First Nations and Inuit peoples' dental, optical, prescription drug and other health-care costs not covered under universal medicare. -- Require all Liberal MPs, candidates and nomination contestants to receive training regarding indigenous policy, history and culture before receiving a green light to run by the party. Those two measures are among a raft of policy resolutions to be debated at the ruling party first policy convention since winning power last October. Resolutions approved at conventions are not binding on the party or the leader. There are no similarly bold resolutions on offer at the convention to be held later this month in Winnipeg, no doubt a reflection of the fact that the ruling party has only just begun to deliver on more than 150 ambitious promises made during last fall campaign. But in the past they have presaged some major official policy shifts for the Liberals, including legalization of same sex marriage and marijuana. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.