canada: After Brexit, the attempted military coup in Turkey, the murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, Donald Trump grip on the Republican nomination, the collapse of the Democratic National Convention, and the numerous terrorist attacks around the world, many Canadians are relieved to call Canada home, according to Rabble. Some even took to Twitter to revel in Canadian tolerance, using #Meanwhilein Canada to celebrate Justin Trudeau participation in Toronto Pride parade, Peel-region police enjoying a mindfulness meditation session, Ontario provincial police officers rescuing ducklings, police officers dancing alongside Black folks, and excitement over the 2016 census. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. But wrapping yourself in Canada national myths and taking comfort in our self-identifying feminist prime minister amounts to an act of violence: the myths erase histories of oppression and lived experience of discrimination in Canada. We have preserved the original format and content of each statement and assembled them in no particular order. rabble also recognizes that the list of myths and responses is not exhaustive. Canada has a lot of work to do. rabble spoke to multiple individuals and organizations involved on the frontlines about the impacts of these pervasive myths. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cara anna: The results remained too close to call in the country largest city, Johannesburg, and the Tshwane metropolitan area around the capital, Pretoria, according to Toronto Star. The opposition Democratic Alliance was challenging the African National Congress in both municipalities. By Cara Anna The Associated Press Fri., Aug. 5, 2016 JOHANNESBURG—With 95 per cent of votes counted Friday in municipal elections, South Africa ruling party appears to be headed for its biggest electoral blow since it won power at the end of apartheid 22 years ago. Neither party appeared to be winning a majority in those two cities that would allow it to govern alone, raising the possibility of coalition governments. The ANC lost a key municipality named after its star, Nelson Mandela Bay, to the Democratic Alliance. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters it was too early to analyze the election results, saying it would be like reading somebody tombstone before they die. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

centre island: Order this photo By Brennan Doherty Staff Reporter Fri., Aug. 5, 2016 Revelers packed Centre Island, 50,000 strong, for Toronto first-ever Caribana, starting August 5, 1967, according to Toronto Star. Organizers were unfazed. The festival drew 50,000 Torontonians to the Islands over a week, and cemented a legacy as one of the city biggest summer events. In the Caribbean, 200,000 people dance through the streets . . . and we do it every year, one told the Star on one of the festival quieter nights. Caribana '67 — held as part of Canada centennial — was the city first celebration of the Caribbean festival of Carnival. The Caribbean community in Toronto at the time only comprised about 12,000 people. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ndp: With the event less than a week away, and visa concerns mounting, the NDP is demanding Immigration Minister John McCallum hold an emergency meeting with organizers. "We learned that there are a great number of people who cannot get temporary visas to come to Canada to participate in the World Social Forum," said the NDP immigration critic, Jenny Kwan. "This is extremely troubling." World Social Forum to focus on nuclear disarmament Next week meeting in Montreal marks the first time the event — which brings together activists and leftist intellectuals from around the world — has been held in a North American city, according to CBC. NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan called the visas issues "extremely troubling." Organizers said they issued around 2,000 invitation letters to assist delegates in acquiring Canadian visas. More than 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the event, which bills itself as a progressive alternative to the World Economic Forum held each year in Davos, Switzerland. In what they described as a preliminary estimate, they said as many as 70 per cent of these delegates had their applications denied. Haiti athletes invited to Canada face visa obstacles Calling on Ottawa to fix the problem ​"If the massive number of refusals raises indignation, the reasons invoked by Canadian officials arouses anger," the organizers said in a news release circulated Friday. Most of the denied delegates came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Iran, Nigeria, Haiti and Nepal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

nation i: Francis High School, grew from humble beginnings during the mass exodus of refugees from the war-torn nation, according to CTV. I just got a group of high school kids together and we just kind of started meeting at my house just to do what we can to help out, recalled Janbey, a Syrian-Canadian. Canadian Youth for Syria, the brainchild of Grade 12 student Selma Janbey of St. I'm actually Syrian-Canadian and I felt a little bit of responsibility, an obligation, to help Syrians in need. The organization raised a total of more than $4,000 through fundraising initiatives at their high school and a successful entry in the Rotary Club of Calgary Centennial - Westmount Charter School Interact Fast Pitch competition for young people with business ideas. The group decided to assist young newcomers to Calgary by hosting a week-long camp. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

olympics games: Unfortunately, Greece lost, according to Huffington Post Canada. No, not the Olympics themselves -- they ranked 15th overall, including a half-dozen gold medals -- but Greece lost the gamble that hosting the Olympics Games would benefit the nation and its citizens. Twelve summers ago, the Olympic torch was lit in Athens, marking the glorious return of the international games to their original birthplace. And they lost big. The country became a veritable war zone in reaction to severe austerity measures announced by the government to reign in the country debt crisis. By 2010, somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 Greeks were rioting in the streets -- and three people lost their lives after protestors threw petrol bombs at a bank, burning it to the ground. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

population demographics: Also, charging doctors 30 per cent toward collaborative practice costs seems excessive when what can be charged per patient visit is restrictive, according to The Chronicle Herald. Seriously, isn't it true that multiple symptoms can be indicative of one ailment and that it takes an assessment of the whole person to lead to a proper diagnosis Let start listening more sensitively to our doctors and paying attention to our population demographics, while making these important policy decisions for our healthcare choices. Possibly a treatment for many of our high health-care costs could lie in eliminating so many of the executive and administrative roles in these government departments, particularly those that are duplications in both areas. It is disheartening to keep listening to the rhetoric of politicians and executives in relation to these issues. I regularly visit HMCS Sackville and can't but notice the contrast between it — a ship being carefully cared for and maintained — and the scruffy, unmaintained Acadia, with its dirty paint, rusty hull and rotten decks. Sandra Bauld, HRM A CRIME OF NEGLECT I want to thank Rod Desborough for his Reader Corner item, Acadia neglected . I had started to write a similar letter to this paper, with a title that reflected the provincial government criminal neglect of what should be a showcase tourist attraction on our waterfront. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

province: I'm preparing to move to Victoria, B.C., where there appears to be a lot more job offerings than here in New Brunswick, says Nackawic resident Daniel Andrews, according to CTV. Born and raised in the province, Andrews says he hasn't been able to find a good job that he qualified for at home. Even with the plan in mind, many have already decided it too late. After the province cancelled the tuition rebate program, the enticement to stay has disappeared for him too. It really seems that, at the end of the day, the students and recent graduates of New Brunswick are shouldering the burden of the poor economic situation in the province, says Andrews. He decided to move his two degrees and his skills out west in just a couple of weeks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

road closures: Friday from Broadview to Jones Avenues until 1 a.m, according to CBC. Monday. Danforth Avenue, in both directions, will be closed starting at 11 a.m. The closure includes all intersections along this stretch of the Danforth. More than 1.6 million people are expected this weekend to attend the Friday to Sunday event, which is an annual celebration of Greek food and culture in Toronto east end. Police urge motorists to consider the road closures when planning their travels. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

roma heritage: On Thursday, the order was rescinded, according to CTV. Gilda Lakatos, 17, arrived in Canada in June 2011 along with her mother Katalin Lakatos and her brother and father. The Canada Border Services Agency told the Lakatos family on July 28 that they had to leave the country by Aug. 11. The family claimed asylum on the grounds that they had faced racist police and healthcare providers in Hungary due to their Roma heritage. They refused to leave, but last March the father and brother were sent back to Hungary. The family was denied asylum and ordered deported last October. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

times: Dialing up a classic TV rerun from a simpler era, according to Hamilton Spectator. Escaping the ambiguity and frenetic nature of our times, fraught as they are with insecurity, uncertainty and vulnerability. Going back to the good old days. But at some point, wallowing in simpler times becomes not only counterproductive but harmful. "Bonanza," "The Waltons," "Happy Days" … they were idealized representations of life back in their day. But going backwards to simpler times is exactly what many people want. Today they're quaint and comforting and even more fake than they were then. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trump people: During a recent extended stay in California, I arranged for Trump people to send me two samples, according to Globe and Mail. The wines have been exported to Canada but were not recently available on store shelves in Ontario, so it was bureaucratically less onerous for the company to ship across state lines rather than dealing with Canadian customs. There are now more than 250 wineries in the state giving life to Jefferson dream. For the record, my favourite of the two bottles was a $26 2009 Blanc de Blanc brut sparkling wine crafted in the méthode champenoise style, with its creamy texture, orchard-fruit richness and doughy-brioche depth, the latter owing to 36 months of maturation on spent yeast cells, or lees. Also good, though, was the 2014 Meritage, a $20 Bordeaux-style red blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, malbec and petit verdot, that tasted of cassis, dark chocolate and tobacco, with disciplined oak and ripe tannins. It took home a coveted double-gold medal at the 2015 San Francisco International Wine Competition and would not be out of place at a White House state dinner, I think. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

families cbc: Grand Beach drowning victims David Medina and Jhonalyn Javier mourned Both children had immigrated to Canada from the Philippines with their families, according to CBC. CBC has not be able to confirm yet whether the children knew how to swim or whether they took swimming lessons. The drowning of two children, David Medina, 12, and Jhonalyn Javier, 11, at Grand Beach on Monday highlights how quickly peril can strike in the water. David Medina, left, and Jhonalyn Javier, right, are shown in this photo taken at Grand Beach on Monday, before they went missing. New Canadian tweens more likely than their peers to be unable to swim: study Chris Love, Lifesaving Society Manitoba water smart co-ordinator, said swim classes for immigrants are something that could help save lives. "We don't have that funding yet in Manitoba, and it is something that we continue to work towards," Love said. A 2016 report by the Lifesaving Society of Canada says new Canadians age 11 to 14 are five times more likely to not know how to swim compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mel hurtig: The author, entrepreneur and political activist, who died Tuesday at the age of 84, left his father Edmonton fur shop in the mid-1950s to found first a chain of bookstores, then a publishing house and eventually a series of public projects all dedicated to promoting the ideas he held dear: that Canadians should be allowed to shape their own future and that prosperity should be fairly shared, according to Toronto Star. Hurtig was a passionate, progressive voice that attracted followers and ruffled feathers in roughly equal measure. Thu., Aug. 4, 2016 It a good thing for Canadians the furrier life did not appeal to Mel Hurtig. But neither ally nor enemy could reasonably deny his contribution to the defining Canadian debates of our time. After selling his publishing company, he became a key figure in the debates over free trade that divided the country in the 1980s. Hurtig first came to prominence as a publisher, most notably of the massive Canadian Encyclopedia, an ambitious project that hinted at the nationalism that would define his political life. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

news conference: The Coalition started off with a list of recommendations they want implemented to address Abdirahman Abdi death, according to CTV. But the news conference quickly became about what went wrong and who is to blame. They said he sending a clear message that black lives don't matter. And top of their list was Ottawa mayor. Now they are coming together as a coalition demanding answers and action. They have marched, they have mourned. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

olympics roll: But for Arthur Biyarslanov, it worth dusting it off and puffing it up, according to Metro News. For Canada only male boxer at the Rio Games, this really has been a journey unlike any of his fellow countrymen and women. The word 'journey' gets worn thin every four years when the Olympics roll around. The 21-year-old fighting nickname - the Chechen Wolf - gives a hint of his long, remarkable, wild winding road to Brazil. It usually comes in at nighttime before I go to sleep. I think about it almost every day - where I am today, what I have done, what I have been through, Biyarslanov tells Metro. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

protection care: The UN has declared it genocide, and the Canadian government has followed suit, according to Toronto Star. Two years after the attack, however, Ottawa response to the Yazidis' plight remains sluggish, as the immigration department struggles to meet its pledge to bring in and resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees. Thu., Aug. 4, 2016 On Aug. 3, 2014, Iraq Yazidi minority was attacked by Daesh jihadists and subjected to some of the worst atrocities of the 21st century. Only a small trickle of Yazidis has been able to enter Canada. This is at a time when the UN commission investigating Daesh human rights abuses against the Yazidis has raised the alarm that the genocide is ongoing, and made an urgent plea for their rescue, protection and care. Although the department says it is putting plans in place to process government-assisted and privately sponsored refugee cases from northern Iraq -- where tens of thousands of vulnerable Yazidis are sheltering in precarious conditions -- its plans include only Syrian refugees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

province: I'm preparing to move to Victoria, B.C., where there appears to be a lot more job offerings than here in New Brunswick, says Nackawic resident Daniel Andrews, according to CTV. Born and raised in the province, Andrews says he hasn't been able to find a good job that he qualified for at home. Even with the plan in mind, many have already decided it too late. After the province cancelled the tuition rebate program, the enticement to stay has disappeared for him too. It really seems that, at the end of the day, the students and recent graduates of New Brunswick are shouldering the burden of the poor economic situation in the province, says Andrews. He decided to move his two degrees and his skills out west in just a couple of weeks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rachael bestard: Bestard, 24, is going to Europe in October, she hopes, which would be her first trip out of the country since she was a kid, according to Huffington Post Canada. That when she last had a passport. Hamilton native Rachael Bestard found that out the hard way when she applied for a passport this week. A passenger holds a Canadian passport before boarding a flight in Ottawa on Jan 23, 2007. The other required documentation is government-issue photo ID, which includes her name, date of birth and sex. She went through the usual motions — getting guarantor signatures, passport photos, and finding her birth certificate. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

safety officers: RCMP said the children went missing as the sun was setting, according to CBC. Their bodies were recovered a short time later by beach safety officers. Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox said the review will start as soon as possible. "We're going to review the entire program to see how effective it is in light of this enormous tragedy," Cox said Thursday. "We want to make sure something like this doesn't happen again on our beaches." Grand Beach drowning victims David Medina and Jhonalyn Javier mourned David Medina, 12, and Jhonalyn Javier, 11 — both newcomers who arrived with their families from the Philippines in recent years — drowned on Monday evening. Currently no lifeguards are on duty at Manitoba beaches. The safety officers are "highly trained individuals," said Cox. Instead beach safety officers, who have lifeguard certification, provide water safety tips to parents but do not supervise waters. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

wef reports: An immigrant investor program allows people to buy citizenship or residency for a "substantial investment," the WEF reports, according to Huffington Post Canada. The object of such a program is to drive business investment in a country. But how much does that privilege cost And how does it compare to other countries The International Monetary Fund outlined the cost of citizenship and residency in a chart published in December, that was recently reported on by the World Economic Forum . It shows that the cost of permanent residency in Canada ranks with either the most or least expensive countries, depending on whether you want to settle in Quebec or P.E.I., the two provinces that still take money in exchange for permanent residency. And there lots of money to be had. Foreign investor money made up as much as 25 per cent of the GDP in St. Every year, thousands of people spend as much as $2 billion every year obtaining a second or even third passport, BBC News reported in 2014. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian context: Over the past month, Malli has been getting some assistance bridging that divide from an Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia program that helps him translate his skills as a mechanic to the Canadian context, according to CBC. The Bridge to Work program connects newcomers who are trained in a trade with employers who need their skills, linking the two through on-site language classes and interpreters. But since he arrived in Nova Scotia in January, the language barrier was one problem that Malli, who is originally from Syria and most recently lived in Jordan, couldn't fix on his own. Adjusting to a new context For Malli, this has meant an assessment placement at Mac Phee Ford in Dartmouth, where he — along with three other mechanics, from Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria — will eventually undergo apprenticeships towards their red seal certifications. He was accustomed to working on Japanese cars in Syria, and had never worked on American vehicles before starting at Mac Phee. There are differences, Malli said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian: I miss my daughter, according to CTV. I love my daughter. Former mill worker Gurdev Dhillon told CTV News via Skype from a remote village in the Punjab region – where he makes $200 a month as a subsistence farmer – he wants to come home. I want to see her grow up and I miss that, Dhillon told CTV News. On Tuesday, Dhillon Canadian lawyers applied in B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction requiring the Canadian government to restore Dhillon permanent residency status and process his application for Canadian citizenship despite a 19-month delay. I want to come back to Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

company: The request for submissions, which closed last week, yielded 13 responses from various entities including several commercial and residential developers, a hotel company, a pharmaceutical company, an immigration law firm, and a company that develops manages casinos, according to The Chronicle Herald. Department spokesperson Brian Taylor said the staff will evaluate the submissions in the coming weeks , and from there, government will make a decision on next steps. The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal announced in mid-June that it was seeking submissions for innovative and creative ideas to develop the seven-storey Dennis Building site on Granville Street which includes the three-storey Hansard Building and the adjacent parking lot. Joe Ballard, President of the Historic Trust of Nova Scotia said the province should not have lumped the two buildings together in seeking proposals as it limits the number of developers that have the ability to seriously respond to projects of that scale. Ballard organization provided was one of the 13 that responded to the province, but he said the aim of the submission was to provide information to the province and outline their position. We know there are individuals that are interested in just one of the buildings, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

detention: Immigration detainees at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ontario began eating over the weekend, ending an 18-day hunger strike, according to Rabble. End Immigration Detention Network could not confirm if detainees at the Toronto East Detention Centre have continued the hunger strike. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. Yesterday, approximately 30 people rallied outside the Lindsay facility to show their support for the detainees, who began refusing food on July 11 to demand an end to indefinite immigration detention and request a meeting with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. Over the past two weeks, solidarity protests were held in Regina, Peterborough, Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg. The minister refused to meet with the detainees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

flavourful cooking: The next morning, she set up her shoot in her bedroom with a wooden cutting board, curry powder, black pepper, bay leaves, a zesty slice of lemon and a pair of elephant earrings from Uganda for her first-place shot, according to Toronto Star. As someone who has recently moved out on her own, this shot reminds me of my parents and where they came from. The night before the submission deadline loomed, a light bulb went off in her head. Now that I live downtown, I find myself trying to emulate their flavourful cooking, said the 25-year-old graphic designer, born in Toronto to Ugandan parents from Kampala. Though they are only a bus ride away from me, home for them is much farther. What I have learned to cook has come from watching, smelling and tasting the magic they have created in the kitchen for the last 24 years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.