daughter: Last March, Immigration Canada told her she didn't qualify for permanent residency status because her daughter has an intellectual disability and would be an excessive burden to the country health system, according to Metro News. I felt like I was dying. Now her hope of bringing them over to Canada is hanging in the air. I was so desperate I was crying, she said, remembering the time and effort she spent trying to make the family reunification possible. She was told her daughter health would cost government about $55,000 over five years. For me Canada is my promised land, she said, noting she didn't even know her 13-year-old daughter Precious Ann Margarett Danieles had that health condition. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

group oct: One Night Only: Live at the Registry is what McNaught calls "our most eclectic series," because of its variety of genres, according to Hamilton Spectator. It starts with guitarist Kevin Ramessar and his group Oct. 14 and 15. But I think we did top it." This year lineup includes several series: Classics at the Registry; One Night Only: Live at the Registry; Dance at the Registry; Folk Night; and Jazz at the Registry. Ramessar has been dividing his time, performing at both the Stratford Festival and on Broadway in "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical." McNaught said that despite the guitarist heavy schedule, he always makes time for a Registry concert. A highlight of the One Night Only series happens Nov. 25 when two jazz greats come together, Gene DiNovi formerly of the Benny Goodman Orchestra and Dave Young, Oscar Peterson long time bassist. He will be performing the music of Joni Mitchell. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

halifax neighbourhood: I spoke to her this week about her part in the Henri Beaudout adventure, according to The Chronicle Herald. Mahar, 81, feels like 60 , and still goes swimming on sunny days. Rose Marie Comeau Mahar, Halifax watercolour artist, is like that. In 1956, she was just a child, she said, when she crossed paths with four bearded young men who were building a raft. The Halifax neighbourhood where they were lashing the raft together, now an area of high-rise condos called King Wharf, was in those days a little cove, with just a little shipyard, recalled Mahar. Led by Beaudout, a French immigrant to Canada, the men intended to drift to Europe on the raft. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

josarie danieles: Six long years after arriving in Toronto, Danieles was shocked to learn she would be denied permanent residency because officials have deemed her older daughter to have intellectual retardation, according to Toronto Star. I felt like I dying when I was denied. Caregiver Josarie Danieles invested six years of her life in Canada and only recently learned from immigration that her daughter is medically inadmissible to Canada because of an "intellectual disability." By Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter Sun., Sept. 11, 2016 Josarie Danieles borrowed $6,000 to pay a recruitment agency to bring her to Canada under the live-in caregiver program, in hopes of clearing a path to immigration and a better future for the two daughters she left behind in the Philippines. I don't know where to go. We've made all these sacrifices with the assurance that there a pathway to permanent residency, Danieles told the Star, sobbing. I feel so hopeless. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

leadership candidates: We're not quite that bad in Canada, according to The Chronicle Herald. But there no election in sight and won't be for a while. That what happening in the U.S. presidential campaign, where a preening braggart has told so many lies that he now gets praise for telling lies that are somewhat less untruthful than the lies he told before. But there are leadership campaigns in the Conservative Party and NDP. And like any family fight, leadership contests can sometimes do damage that takes years to repair. The progressive conservatives, kept in the shade under Stephen Harper, will favour leadership candidates who might broaden the party base of support. In the Conservative Party, which will choose its new leader next May, tensions are emerging on the boundaries between progressive conservatives, social conservatives and the party endemic Trumpist fringe. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

municipality: Communities can expect an increase in arrivals to begin in mid-September, a federal government news release says, according to CTV. The refugees will be placed in communities throughout the country in the coming weeks as work to process them has continued over the summer. About 6,000 more government-supported refugees will be arriving by the end of December. In Chatham-Kent, the municipality was approved to become a "Welcoming Community" through a partnership settlement plan process. "Chatham-Kent will work with the local Resettlement Assistance Program service provider organizations in Windsor and London to help refugees resettling in their municipality. Privately sponsored refugees whose cases have been finalized will also be arriving. This provides access to community services and supports to help these newcomers adjust to life in Canada," the release says. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

referendums: Just as often, however, referendums seem to re-enforce deeply bitter divides, according to Toronto Star. When then-premier Jacques Parizeau famously conceded defeat in Quebec 1995 sovereignty referendum, he declared the Yes side had only lost due to money and the ethnic vote. By Jaime Watt Sun., Sept. 11, 2016 Referendums are often called to reach a consensus on a way forward. The referendum settled the question, but only in the near-term; sovereigntists continued to win a plurality of seats in Quebec for years afterward. The voters, they argued, didn't know what was best for them. When Britons voted by a narrow margin to leave the European Union, dozens of high-profile media and political figures lamented the ignorance of voters and argued that the referendum need not be binding after all. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

group oct: One Night Only: Live at the Registry is what McNaught calls "our most eclectic series," because of its variety of genres, according to The Waterloo Record. It starts with guitarist Kevin Ramessar and his group Oct. 14 and 15. But I think we did top it." This year lineup includes several series: Classics at the Registry; One Night Only: Live at the Registry; Dance at the Registry; Folk Night; and Jazz at the Registry. Ramessar has been dividing his time, performing at both the Stratford Festival and on Broadway in "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical." McNaught said that despite the guitarist heavy schedule, he always makes time for a Registry concert. A highlight of the One Night Only series happens Nov. 25 when two jazz greats come together, Gene DiNovi formerly of the Benny Goodman Orchestra and Dave Young, Oscar Peterson long time bassist. He will be performing the music of Joni Mitchell. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canada: The Conference Board of Canada study released this week found that, between 2010 and 2014, there was a small decline in the number of people coming into Canada under parts of the foreign worker program that require proving the employer couldn't find a Canadian, according to Huffington Post Canada. But from 2004 to 2014, there was a tripling in the number of workers who get permits that don't require seeking a Canadian for the job. The report also says the new free trade deals negotiated by Canada will further increase the number of foreign nationals hired without seeking a Canadian, if the agreements are ratified. More than 194,000 such permits were signed in 2014, roughly double the number of permits that require seeking a Canadian. Overall, 360,000 temporary work permits were signed in 2014, an increase of 64 per cent from a decade earlier, the Conference Board report said. Temporary foreign workers sort and grade cherries at the Jealous Fruits plant near Kelowna, B.C. in 2014. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

graham: OK, people, it official, according to Rabble. Environment Minister Shannon Phillips must've hit exactly the right note with her warm Alberta welcome to U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham back in late August 2015. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. Apparently Sen. The Wildrose spokesperson on the file, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Tany Yao, also seemed to think Phillips owed it to Graham to be along to hold his hand during the visitor tarsands tourism. Graham, once a candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency of the United States, not that anyone south of the Medicine Line ever took him very seriously, finds Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton so unappealing he'd like to move to Canada! Very alert readers will recall the huge brouhaha stirred up at the end of August 2015 by the Wildrose Opposition -- obligingly re-broadcast by all the little elves of the mainstream media -- about how Phillips had failed all Albertans by not being at the airport with a brass band, a bouquet of red roses, a bottle of Scotch and a red carpet to greet the South Carolina Senator when he got off his plane for a quickie tour of oilsands operations near Fort Mac. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

leitch: More importantly for Leitch, the poll shows that the idea is especially popular among Conservative supporters with 87 per cent backing the idea and just 8 per cent opposed compared to 57 per cent support among Liberals and 59 per cent for New Democrat voters, according to Metro News. That certain to be the reason that Leitch proposed the idea — and has stuck by it in the face of criticism, said Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research. Conservative MP Kellie Leitch, a candidate in her party leadership contest, has floated the idea of screening newcomers for their attitudes on intolerance toward other religions, cultures and sexual orientations and reluctance to embrace Canadian freedoms.A new Forum Research Inc. poll for Torstar News Service shows that Leitch may be tapping into an idea that Canadians favour with 67 per cent saying immigrants should indeed be screened for anti-Canadian values. If you're going after the base, this is like red meat for them. This is hitting the nail right on the head. They're going to love this, he said Friday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

values: I don't think she understands the nuance around these issues, according to Globe and Mail. You have to be very careful in the way you articulate questions about integration. She never said a word about this in Parliament, caucus or cabinet. Dr. She later said she is protecting Canadian values from people who believe that women are property and can be beaten or that gays and lesbians should be stoned. Leitch, a Conservative MP from Ontario, e-mailed a survey last week to supporters that included a question about whether the federal government should screen potential immigrants and refugees for anti-Canadian values. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

leitch: A new Forum Research Inc. poll for the Toronto Star shows that Leitch may be tapping into an idea that Canadians favour with 67 per cent saying immigrants should indeed be screened for "anti-Canadian values." More importantly for Leitch, the poll shows that the idea is especially popular among Conservative supporters with 87 per cent backing the idea and just eight per cent opposed compared to 57 per cent support among Liberals and 59 per cent for New Democrat voters, according to The Waterloo Record. That certain to be the reason that Leitch proposed the idea — and has stuck by it in the face of criticism, said Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research. "If you're going after the base, this is like red meat for them. Conservative MP Kellie Leitch, a candidate in her party leadership contest, has floated the idea of screening newcomers for their attitudes on intolerance toward other religions, cultures and sexual orientations and reluctance to embrace Canadian freedoms. They're going to love this," he said Friday. "This is hitting the nail right on the head." When asked to choose the values respondents believe are important, equality came out on top , followed by patriotism , fairness and tolerance . Conservative backers put patriotism at the top their list of important values. Just one-quarter of respondents disagreed with the idea of screening for values and nine per cent had no opinion. Liberals and New Democrats ranked equality as their first choice. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

dog-whistle politics: So does rival leadership candidate and Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai, according to The Waterloo Record. Critics accuse the Collingwood physician of trying to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment. Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose says it a bad idea. Ontario MP Michael Chong, who is also contesting the Conservative leadership, has called her proposal "the worst of dog-whistle politics." She has been reviled in the country editorial pages as an intolerant xenophobe. I suspect that because she figures a lot of Conservative Party members — and a fair number of Canadians generally — agree with her. But she is sticking to her guns, as she did Thursday on CBC Radio. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

knots: The NDP has had its own existential crisis this week, leaving a federal political landscape with its two main opposition blocs consumed by internal disagreements over what their parties stand for and how they should seize the future, according to Brandon Sun. As they soul-search, the Liberals are edging ahead with new policies and approaches that could change the way we relate to the broader world. Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch polling on whether newcomers to the country should be screened for their Canadian-ness has her Conservative competitors tying themselves in knots, and the chattering classes wondering if there is a growing market of voters who would be driven to cast ballots based on how they perceive immigrants. Here are three ways federal politics affected Canadians this week:OPPOSITION DISORDERLeitch persistence on identity politics forced several of her rivals into a corner this week, prompting them to engage on the touchy subject of how much newcomers should be pushed into being like the rest of us. It wasn't the only party wrestling with its internal dynamics. The debate has shaken up the Conservative leadership race, with its ever-lengthening list of candidates, and drawn condemnation from some lifelong Conservatives worried that the party will be scarred as intolerant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

party: None more so than Ontario PC MP Kellie Leitch, according to Brandon Sun. As of late, she appears bent on the style of "dog whistle" politics resonating south of the border. Although still in doubt as to whether some of the big players, such as former Tory defence minister Peter McKay, will step into the ring, much has been said by some of the smaller names to come forward. And although claiming to want to "create a discussion," her stance may threaten to derail her party search to find a credible leader. Little that is left, however, resembles the party of the late 1990s, and thus far even less represents the direction the Tories need to take if they hope to assume the top office in the country again any time soon. With former prime minister Stephen Harper steering his horse into the sunset, the dust seems to have settled now on the Conservatives. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

anti-canadian values: I don't think she understands the nuance around these issues, according to CTV. You have to be very careful in the way you articulate questions about integration." Leitch, a Conservative MP from Ontario, emailed a survey last week to supporters that included a question about whether the federal government should screen potential immigrants and refugees for "anti-Canadian values." She later said she is protecting Canadian values from people who believe that women are property and can be beaten or that gays and lesbians should be stoned. Following a speech in downtown Calgary on Friday, Kenney, who is seeking the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership, said he believes Leitch is pursuing an "improvised position" without understanding the negative impact of her words. "I don't take her position seriously, she never articulated it before," Kenney said. "She never said a word about this in Parliament, caucus or cabinet. Despite widespread criticism including unflattering comparisons to U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, Leitch has defended her position that screening is needed without saying how immigration officials would actually vet new Canadians. He boasted Friday that more immigrants became permanent residents of Canada -- 1.5 million -- when he was minister than under any other immigration minister. Kenney, a federal MP representing Calgary since 1997, was immigration minister from October 2008 to July 2013. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

art installation: There, they were feted and photographed, but here in Nova Scotia, little attention was paid, according to The Chronicle Herald. Now, Sean Day, a Nova Scotian urban planner, hopes to bring the captain of the four-man crew back to Halifax to mark the anniversary of the brave voyage with a ceremony beside the water, likely in October, and later, he hopes, an art installation. After a perilous 88-day journey during which they encountered sharks, storms and near-starvation, the men landed in England. Day said it would be fitting to take Henri Beaudout, now 89 and the sole surviving member of the crew, on a boat ride of the harbour so he could feel the swell of the Atlantic under him. Speaking by phone Friday with his close friend Louis Hardy acting as translator, Beaudout tells how, as a 16-year-old during the war in Europe, he ran messages for the French Resistance, until his contact, a postal clerk, was arrested. In 1952 Beaudout was a French immigrant to Canada, struggling with what modern scientists call post-traumatic stress disorder. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

brampton courtroom: The women will have a sentencing hearing together on Nov. 25, according to Hamilton Spectator. Muzikante declined to comment following Friday court appearance, as did her lawyer, Donald Bitter. Milana Muzikante pleaded guilty Friday to mischief in a Brampton courtroom, two months after co-accused Lilia Ratmanski did the same. No agreed statement of facts explaining what happened on the plane was provided to the court. Bitter told the court that Muzikante has already agreed to complete 100 hours of community service. The Crown is seeking a suspended sentence, while Bitter told the court he will be asking for an absolute or conditional discharge. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

britain: Our economy provides a reasonable degree of economic certainty in an uncertain and volatile world, according to Globe and Mail. And ours is a society with emerging entrepreneurial communities that have big aspirations – to build world-class innovation ecosystems and create world-class, innovative firms. We value newcomers and what they have to offer. But opportunity does not equal reality unless it seized and realized. Why now Consider the uncertainty in Britain for promising startups and entrepreneurs in the London-Cambridge innovation ecosystem. And that means actively prospecting for such global talent in places such as Britain, the United States, France and Germany, to name several obvious targets. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cbsa agent: Handfield immediately filed an appeal with the CBSA agent who ordered the deportation and was told a decision will be made by Monday or Tuesday, according to Brandon Sun. Torre pleaded guilty in 1996 in a cocaine conspiracy case involving Montreal Cotroni crime family and served part of his nine-year sentence in prison. The Canada Border Services Agency told Michele Torre, 64, he'll be deported to his native Italy on Sept. 16."They already have a plane ticket," Torre lawyer, Stephane Handfield, said in an interview, adding Ottawa only began deportation proceedings in 2013. His daughter, Nellie, 38, broke into tears during a phone interview describing how her father will be leaving behind his ailing wife, three children and six grandchildren behind. One day, his bosses told Torre to go and pick up a package they said was coffee, she added."He only found out three days later why he got arrested," she said. "It was a set-up. She says Torre worked as a cook in a Montreal cafe in 1992 before it was bought by organized crime members in 1994. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian tradition: By Paul Wells National Affairs Fri., Sept. 9, 2016 In fairness to Kellie Leitch — no wait, come back — it would have been surprising if no candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership had run on identity politics, according to Toronto Star. Leitch, of course, is the physician and Conservative MP who has been vaulted from obscurity into a sort of pallid, sickly limelight for suggesting it would be a swell idea to screen potential immigrants for anti-Canadian views that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms. In the current field of certain or probable candidates, the two who most closely fit those requirements are Andrew Scheer, the former Commons Speaker, above, and Erin O'Toole, writes Paul Wells. There are enough examples around the world of politicians who have sought to profit from fear of outsiders that I was actually wondering, before Leitch made her move, why that particular tactical position seemed destined to lay unoccupied in the Conservative race. Trump, in particular, will have plenty of imitators in years to come. From Marine Le Pen in France to the anti-immigrant UKIP party in Britain, to Donald Trump in the U.S., there are plenty of examples. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian: Leitch values weapon may be too blunt and dull to be called Orwellian . But her recent comments on immigrant screening still qualify as dog-whistle politics, with the messages pitched to a frequency only bigots can tune in clearly, according to The Chronicle Herald. She talks about protecting Canadian values. Leitch says we should apply a Canadian values test to screen immigrants. They hear, Keep out the Muslims. Do you like hockey Love it. Just imagine assigning immigration bureaucrats to test newcomers for Canadian values. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cbsa agent: Handfield immediately filed an appeal with the CBSA agent who ordered the deportation and was told a decision will be made by Monday or Tuesday, according to CTV. Torre pleaded guilty in 1996 in a cocaine conspiracy case involving Montreal Cotroni crime family and served part of his nine-year sentence in prison. The Canada Border Services Agency told Michele Torre, 64, he'll be deported to his native Italy on Sept. 16. "They already have a plane ticket," Torre lawyer, Stephane Handfield, said in an interview, adding Ottawa only began deportation proceedings in 2013. His daughter, Nellie, 38, broke into tears during a phone interview describing how her father will be leaving behind his ailing wife, three children and six grandchildren behind. One day, his bosses told Torre to go and pick up a package they said was coffee, she added. "He only found out three days later why he got arrested," she said. "It was a set-up. She says Torre worked as a cook in a Montreal café in 1992 before it was bought by organized crime members in 1994. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

examples: There are enough examples around the world of politicians who have sought to profit from fear of outsiders that I was actually wondering, before Leitch made her move, why that particular tactical position seemed destined to lay unoccupied in the Conservative race, according to The Chronicle Herald. From Marine Le Pen in France to the anti-immigrant UKIP party in Britain, to Donald Trump in the U.S., there are plenty of examples. Leitch, of course, is the physician and Conservative MP who has been vaulted from obscurity into a sort of pallid, sickly limelight for suggesting it would be a swell idea to screen potential immigrants for anti-Canadian views that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms. Trump, in particular, will have plenty of imitators in years to come. Win-win! Candidates who stake out such positions usually find there is a low ceiling to their support. Surely, demagogues and race-baiters around the world are telling themselves, I could push the same buttons Trump pushes and come across as less of a bellowing orange-faced country-club mutant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

knots: The NDP has had its own existential crisis this week, leaving a federal political landscape with its two main opposition blocs consumed by internal disagreements over what their parties stand for and how they should seize the future, according to Metro News. As they soul-search, the Liberals are edging ahead with new policies and approaches that could change the way we relate to the broader world. Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch polling on whether newcomers to the country should be screened for their Canadian-ness has her Conservative competitors tying themselves in knots, and the chattering classes wondering if there is a growing market of voters who would be driven to cast ballots based on how they perceive immigrants. Here are three ways federal politics affected Canadians this week:OPPOSITIONAL DISORDERLeitch persistence on identity politics forced several of her rivals into a corner this week, prompting them to engage on the touchy subject of how much newcomers should be pushed into being like the rest of us. It wasn't the only party wrestling with its internal dynamics. The debate has shaken up the Conservative leadership race, with its ever-lengthening list of candidates, and drawn condemnation from some lifelong Conservatives worried that the party will be scarred as intolerant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.