homeland security: But the man chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security holds a more sombre distinction, according to Brandon Sun. The battle-hardened veteran, who served three tours in Iraq, is the highest-ranking officer to lose a child in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. John Kelly carved out a reputation as a highly respected, but often outspoken commander who could roil debate with blunt assessments or unpopular directives on issues ranging from women in combat to the treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. That status, as part of what the military calls a Gold Star family, puts him in the Cabinet of a presidential candidate who verbally attacked a Gold Star family the Khans, Muslim-American immigrants who lost a son in Iraq and had criticized Trump at the Democratic National Convention. Robert Kelly, was killed in November 2010 in Afghanistan. Kelly son, Marine 1st Lt. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ian mcleod: The figures cover the period from Nov. 4, 2015 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers were sworn in to mid-October this year, according to National Observer. Departments say they hired external media consultants to help senior officials and subject matter experts learn how to communicate clearly with the public. The details are contained in a response to an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale. Ian McLeod, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said in an email that the 54,127 spent on media coaching was about making good on a promise to make subject matter experts more available to media. Mark Johnson, a spokesman for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the department looks for outside help when the expertise they need including media training, psychological services, professional coaching and support for skill development is not available in-house. McLeod said hiring external consultants to do the training meant the media relations staff within the department could focus more directly on service delivery. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

oklahoma attorney: Retired Marine Gen, according to Brandon Sun. John Kelly has been selected to head the Department of Homeland Security, and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a climate-change denier whose policies have helped fossil fuel companies, is to be announced as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. It clearer by the day, underscored by Trump at-times contradictory words, that his actual policies as president wont be settled until after he takes his seat in the Oval Office. Separately, Trump named the former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, Linda McMahon, to head the Small Business Administration and may have breathed new life into the candidacy of a secretary of state contender. Trump, who has met twice with the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, denied he was stringing Romney along to make him pay for earlier remarks that Trump was unfit to be president. Trump said he planned to name his choice for the key Cabinet post next week and insisted that former rival Mitt Romney still had a chance. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

pipeline projects: Fort McKay Chief Jim Boucher said his small community of 800 Cree and Dene people is dependent on the oil industry for its economic well-being, according to The Waterloo Record. In the 1980s, Boucher said his reserve turned to the oil industry when its trapping economy was going in the tank, noting the partnership has led to employment for band members. A First Nations leader from northern Alberta is urging his fellow chiefs to resist buying into the arguments of environmentalists opposed to pipeline projects and the oilsands. We are pro-oilsands, he said. The debate about controversial energy projects, including the Kinder Morgan pipeline, recently approved by the Liberal government, took centre stage Wednesday at an Assembly of First Nations meeting. If it wasnt for the oilsands, my people would be in poverty right now. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

something: It was happening in our own backyards, even in our own small town, according to Guelph Mercury. I asked my parents why we were not part of it. I have strong memories of sitting at my parents dining room table with a newspaper open before me, looking at photographs of overcrowded boats and reading about Canadians who were helping the families from Vietnam to a new life in our country. Sponsorship was a big responsibility, they said, something only a group could take on. A club. A church, maybe. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

attention: It not only this federal government that has to pay attention, it every provincial and territorial government that has to pay attention, committee chairman Sen, according to CTV. Jim Munson said at a news conference. The flood of 30,000 newcomers, both government and privately sponsored, are quickly closing in on their one-year anniversaries, when supplementary benefits will expire and many could be left dependent upon provincial assistance. When youre off-loading the breaks and benefits youve got now and youre giving them to the provinces by the thousands, are we sure the provinces are ready The cross-partisan Senate committee, which includes five Conservative appointees, two Liberals and two unaffiliated senators, says the federal government has to ensure that language training is provided so the Syrians can successfully join the work force and society. Among other provisions, the committee is recommending that additional language training be complemented by daycare to make it easier for parents to attend. Another 20,000 Syrian refugee applications are in the works. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

backgrounds lababidi: Fancy Label, now two years running, offers a variety of scarves, abayas, coats, and tunics for all Muslim women of all backgrounds, according to Metro News. Lababidi managed and owned three women clothing stores in the Syrian city of Homs, with about ten employees on his roster. He bought a home in northwest Calgary with the intent to convert its basement into a clothing boutique. Homs has been under siege and the target of constant bombings since 2011. He went out to demonstrate nearly every day for a year. When the siege began, Lababidi said people inside the city began demonstrating peacefully in the streets. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canada future: Only students in Japan, Estonia and Singapore fared better than Canadian students, according to the report, according to CTV. Bonnie Schmidt, president and founder of Canada Let Talk Science, called the results a wonderful reflection of Canada education systems, particularly in the field of science. Canada tied Finland for fourth overall in the 2015 ranking compiled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which measured math, science and reading levels in 540,000 randomly-selected 15-year-olds. I think were actually paying more attention to science, she told CTV News Channel on Tuesday, suggesting that the survey results bode well for Canada future, as the global economy becomes more technology-focused. We need to pay more attention to the S.T.E.M. disciplines science, technology, engineering and math, she said. She credited Canadian teachers for their efforts, but acknowledged that more must be done to encourage students to go into science careers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canada: Parents should welcome these findings, according to Globe and Mail. Not only do Canadian students perform well in science, but they are also more likely than the OECD average to expect to have STEM careers in science, technology, engineering and math 34 per cent of Canadian students have this expectation, compared with an international average of 25 per cent. There is no gender gap in science performance in Canada, nor is there a gap between immigrant students and those born in Canada. This is good news for Canada and a testament to the many organizations across the country that help schools connect the dots between classroom science learning and the world of work. Challenges continue, not the least of which is figuring out how to continue evolving learning opportunities for Canadian youth so they can participate as citizens and in the labour market in a rapidly changing world. But significant gender differences remain in terms of the specific types of STEM careers that boys and girls expect to have, with girls much more likely to expect careers in health sciences 29 per cent versus 10 per cent and boys much more likely to expect careers in engineering 18 per cent versus 7 per cent and information and communications technology 3.7 per cent in the ICT field versus 0.3 per cent . While the PISA results do warrant celebration, we can t become complacent. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

chinese: Times were different, rather extremely difficult, she says, being born to a Chinese immigrant father and a white mother when interracial marriages were seen as unacceptable, according to Toronto Star. But now, at the age of 76, Garland and her classmates have come together to recreate a photo that was taken during a period of discrimination, and now represents a snapshot of Canadian immigrant history. W. and University Ave. The photo, which Garland found while scrounging through old shoeboxes is just one of the artifacts donated to the Toronto Public Library as part of a three-year initiative, the Chinese Canadian archives, which opened on Tuesday at the Toronto Reference Library. Among the collection are old photographs of the city first Chinese restaurants, and businesses that once existed in the area where City Hall stands today. Since the announcement calling for donations in July, the library has received hundreds of articles to commemorate the historic voices of the Chinese people in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cumberland county: Our population increase was in large part because of the influx of Syrian refugees, according to The Chronicle Herald. They have become our newest Nova Scotians and part of our Canadian family. The vast majority of Nova Scotians have opened their hearts and communities to those seeking a better life. This country was built on immigration and we are all stronger exactly because of our diversity. As representatives of the Syrian sponsorship communities from across Cumberland County, we recognize that in many cases learning English is a lifelong exercise. Our acceptance of difference is what makes Canada a beacon among countries. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

defeat: In neither case is it clear what happens next, according to Hamilton Spectator. But EU leaders need to think urgently about what they can do across the region to support orderly government in the service of liberal principles. Governments across the European Union were just beginning to celebrate the defeat of Austria hard-right Freedom Party in Sunday presidential election when the news arrived from Italy Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will resign after his crushing defeat in the referendum on constitutional reform. Their failure to act up to now is the thread that ties these and other populist revolts together. Norbert Hofer leads a movement that not long ago would have been seen as an extremist outlier proudly nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-EU. Hofer was beaten in his bid for the presidency by Alexander Van der Bellen of the Green party running as a moderate independent but he won an impressive 48.3 per cent of the vote. Austria Freedom Party isnt going away. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

donald trump: Throughout the presidential election, Donald Trump spewed relentless misogynistic, bigoted, and xenophobic meanderings, reminiscent of that one terrible racist uncle we all have at Thanksgiving dinner -- but far more terrifying, according to Huffington Post Canada. During his election campaign, the president-elect showed what he was made of -- and it wasnt pretty. Photo REUTERS/Andy Clark M As Vancouverites are well aware, the Trump Tower has been a point of controversy in our city for some time. He was found to have openly bragged about sexually assaulting women, while advocating for violent retaliation against his opponent and denouncing the democratic process as a whole. He told women who experience sexual harassment in their workplaces to just quit. He called for the mass deportation of ethnic and religious minorities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

echoes proposals: The plan would make it a regulatory offence for women to cover their faces in courtrooms, administrative buildings and schools, as well as while driving or attending demonstrations, according to Hamilton Spectator. Therefore the full veil is not appropriate here, it should be banned wherever it legally possible, Merkel said. Speaking to a cheering conference of her centre-right Christian Democratic Union, Merkel who is launching a bid for a fourth term in elections next year used her strongest language yet to back a proposal by conservative elements in her party. The call echoes proposals in France and other European nations to put restrictions on full-face coverings such as the burqa or other Islamic traditions for women such as the niqab, which shows only the eyes. But her words at the party conference reaffirming her as its candidate and leader seemed aimed to appease her internal party critics who have charged her with recklessly opening the door to hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers fleeing war. Merkel has previously decried full Muslim veils as a hindrance to migrant assimilation into Germany society. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

executive director: We are not seeing the numbers of Syrian refugees going significantly down, so we are going to see quite a lot of pressure on the food bank, said Mainu Ahmed, director of the Muslim Food Bank, according to CBC. The federal government-sponsored refugee package which includes a monthly living allowance to help support the resettled Syrian refugees is only good for the first year. More refugees are expected to arrive in the new year as well. So, the first wave of Syrian refugees will now have to start supporting themselves. Tina Lovgreen/CBC Theyre also struggling very hard, said Azim Dhaya, executive director of the Muslim Food Bank. Different size hampers are put together and handed out to families based on the number of people in their household. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

family business: Not so many companies can live to 100 years, according to Metro News. The Eaton didn t. That what the 40-year-old Toronto woman mother, Anna Marie Kalcevich, and grandmother, Georgina Pasquale Madott, had done before her at the family business established in 1917 by her great-grandparents, Edward and Donna Pasquale, to serve Italian newcomers. The Simpson didn t, said Madott, the family 90-year-old matriarch. Although the Pasquale specialty food store won t be celebrating its 100th birthday until next year, it was featured in a recent Toronto Ward Museum event that celebrated the city immigrant stories and rich multicultural heritage. We have. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

actors reading: The refugees express their desires for normalcy, peace, a permanent home, an education and a job, according to Brandon Sun. They also talk about the stuff they miss, including neighbourhood cookouts and trips to the hair salon, and articulate the grief they feel for long-lost friends and relatives. The I Hear You campaign launched Tuesday by the Boston-based charity features videos of the actors reading the firsthand stories of refugees aloud. Oxfam says there are currently more than 65 million people in the world who have been forced from their homes by war, disaster, poverty, inequality and the effects of climate change, the most since World War II. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

attention: It not only this federal government that has to pay attention, it every provincial and territorial government that has to pay attention, committee chairman Sen, according to The Waterloo Record. Jim Munson said at a news conference. The flood of 30,000 newcomers, both government and privately sponsored, are quickly closing in on their one-year anniversaries, when supplementary benefits will expire and many could be left dependent upon provincial assistance. When youre off-loading the breaks and benefits youve got now and youre giving them to the provinces by the thousands, are we sure the provinces are ready The cross-partisan Senate committee, which includes five Conservative appointees, two Liberals and two unaffiliated senators, says the federal government has to ensure that language training is provided so the Syrians can successfully join the work force and society. Among other provisions, the committee is recommending that additional language training be complemented by daycare to make it easier for parents to attend. Another 20,000 Syrian refugee applications are in the works. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

defeat: In neither case is it clear what happens next, according to The Waterloo Record. But EU leaders need to think urgently about what they can do across the region to support orderly government in the service of liberal principles. Governments across the European Union were just beginning to celebrate the defeat of Austria hard-right Freedom Party in Sunday presidential election when the news arrived from Italy Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will resign after his crushing defeat in the referendum on constitutional reform. Their failure to act up to now is the thread that ties these and other populist revolts together. Norbert Hofer leads a movement that not long ago would have been seen as an extremist outlier proudly nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-EU. Hofer was beaten in his bid for the presidency by Alexander Van der Bellen of the Green party running as a moderate independent but he won an impressive 48.3 per cent of the vote. Austria Freedom Party isnt going away. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

italian markets: After all, it another Italian government resigning, according to Toronto Star. Aside from some Italian financial bonds, the fall of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi government had little or no effect on international markets, from Tokyo to New York and in the major European stock markets. ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP/GETTY IMAGES By Angelo Dec. 6, 2016 Not many people are taking the results of Sunday vote in Italy seriously. Even in Italy, after the first loss on Monday, Italian markets saw a small rebound on Tuesday. It the reaction of someone so confused and scared about an event that he doesn t know how to handle it, yet keeps smiling. However, this soothing financial reaction is misleading. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

john mcalister: According to the Salvation Army, more than three million Canadians live in poverty, and many of these people can barely afford basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter, according to Huffington Post Canada. We live in one of the richest and most developed countries in the world, but yet more than 1 in 8 households are struggling to put food on the table, John McAlister, of the Salvation Army, told Huff Post Canada. Whether theyre homeless, escaping a bad situation at home, a new immigrant or refugee, in-between jobs or trying to raise a family solo, it can be hard for many people to buy gifts for themselves and their loved ones. For many Canadians, the challenge is finding enough money to pay rent and buy groceries, which means that Christmas gifts of toys or new clothing is a luxury they cant afford. When you dont have a place to sleep and are so discouraged due to your mental and physical illnesses, that you dont have the time or energy to consider luxuries like gifts. The homeless cant afford gifts because they are completely overwhelmed with the day-to-day actions of survival, Jennie Keeran, co-founder of Homeless Partners, a not-for-profit that helps homeless people across North America, told Huff Post Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

kalcevich: Cole Burston / Toronto Star By Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter Mon., Dec. 5, 2016 Growing up, Christina Kalcevich always helped out at her family food store, the Pasquale Brothers, on King St, according to Toronto Star. That what the 40-year-old Toronto woman mother, Anna Marie Kalcevich, and grandmother, Georgina Pasquale Madott, had done before her at the family business established in 1917 by her great-grandparents, Edward and Donna Pasquale, to serve Italian newcomers. Kalcevich and Burt have taken over the business. Not so many companies can live to 100 years. The Simpson didn t, said Madott, the family 90-year-old matriarch. The Eaton didn t. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

library staff: She has been called her country Malala Yousafzai, a comparison Ms, according to Globe and Mail. Almellehan welcomes with pride. The library staff repeatedly look over during our hour-long conversation, but no one tries to shush her. The two young women one Syrian, one Pakistani have frequently stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they ve tried to convince the world leaders to spend less time and money sending weapons into their home countries, and more of both on educating a generation of refugee children growing up angry and uneducated. The slow delivery on those promises just 600-million has been delivered has been a disappointment. The two joined forces in February to wring pledges from Western governments of 1.4-billion U.S. in education-targeted aid for Syrian refugees living in camps around the Middle East. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mass deportations: Democratic lawmakers also passed resolutions in both chambers urging the incoming administration to uphold a program for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants in the country illegally, despite intense protests from some Republicans, according to The Chronicle Herald. State Sen. California lawmakers on Monday urged President-elect Donald Trump to refrain from pursuing mass deportations and introduced urgent legislation to fund immigration lawyers and help public defenders protect the state immigrants. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, introduced a bill to fund lawyers for immigrants in deportation proceedings, while Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, proposed helping public defenders assess the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. This is a salvo, if you will, across the board to make it very clear that these are the values of California, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles, told reporters. Related Iran president Trump won t be able to harm the nuclear deal Both measures were marked urgent and aim to protect immigrants in California which has more than 10 million foreign-born residents from Trump campaign promises of tougher immigration enforcement. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mother life: It stole my family life, according to CBC. It stole my mother life, said a discouraged Marie-Flore Kapamba in an interview in French. Immigration Canada stole part of my life. Kapamba, who came to Canada two decades ago from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been working tirelessly for 13 years to bring her mother to Ottawa. Ive always dreamed of bringing my mother to the pool with my own kids, she said. My mother taught me how to swim when I was four years old. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugees: Refugees report The Senate committee on human rights is set to release its report on settling Syrian refugees in Canada, according to CTV. More than 22,000 government supported Syrian refugees settled here since November, 2015. 2. If youre looking for a newscast to catch up on the morning top stories, watch CTV News On the Go. 1. A push for privacy Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Thierren and his provincial and territorial counterparts will make a joint submission today, asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make respect for personal information a cornerstone of his government revamped national security plan. 3. Spending increase A new report says Canadian families will spend up to 420 more on groceries and dining out next year. Free speech vs. copyright Google and B.C. tech firm Datalink Technologies head to the Supreme Court in a case that could help define courts ability to block access to internet content from beyond Canada borders. 4. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.