immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

audiences: Those are the images Christopher Nolan left Cinema Con audiences hanging onto Wednesday as he premiered new footage from Dunkirk, his long-awaited epic about the storied Second World War evacuation, according to CTV. It's something British people grow up with. Soldiers packed like sardines on a pier cower in fear of an unseen threat. It's in our DNA, Nolan said. Nolan told the audience of theatre owners that he wanted to tell the story in the most visceral way possible, putting audiences on the beaches, in the air and running with the troops. It's something that's been close to my heart for a long time. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canada post: He would cut federal transfers for health and other services to those provinces that dared defy him, according to Rabble. Maxime Bernier wants to end such transfers altogether, and equalization payments to boot. Please consider supporting his work with a monthly donation Support Karl on Patreon today for as little as 1 per month!Kevin O'Leary promises to punish provinces that levy carbon taxes or, in other unspecified ways, do not go along with his fiscal policies. He would also reduce the corporate tax rate by five points, privatize Canada Post, end supply management and kick the CRTC out of telecom regulation. Andrew Scheer, one of the notionally moderate Conservative leadership candidates, would scrap the current carbon tax and align Canadian climate change policies with those of the Trump-led U.S. Think none of them could really become prime minister Think again. Kellie Leitch wants to scrap the CBC and impose an arbitrary cultural values test on immigrants. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian navy: The Canadian government does not have funding at present to maintain a modern submarine capability, Perry told the Chronicle Herald, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Royal Canadian Navy is further hamstrung by its current lack of destroyers. David Perry, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said that this year's budget essentially kicked 8.48 billion of funding down the road to 2035-36, meaning that Canada's navy will not receive needed submarines to patrol its Atlantic shores. All four of its Iroquois-class vessels are now decommissioned and construction of the new Canadian Surface Combatant vessels in Halifax's Irving Shipyard will not begin until the mid-2020s. Perry noted that Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic is back up to levels not seen since the 1970s and 1980s, when the Cold War between NATO and the Soviet Union was at its height. Their construction must wait until Irving completes the construction of six Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships, vessels designed to secure Canada's Arctic frontiers against Russian naval incursions. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

explorer samuel: The premier said the history of Canada started three years earlier, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a settlement at Port Royal, N.S., now a national historic site in his riding, according to The Chronicle Herald. The history of Canada started in 1605 in Port Royal when Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Henri Membertou welcomed Champlain here in peace and friendship, the premier said Thursday after making an announcement in Fall River, N.S. It is unfortunate that people will try to rewrite history. Stephen McNeil said the CBC program, Canada The Story of Us, was wrong to assert that the country's first permanent European settlement was established in 1608 near what is now Quebec City. The fact of the matter is that Canada was founded here. The premier said Canada's public broadcaster should correct the mistake. Multicultural Canada began here in Port Royal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

iranian man: The case in question pertains to an application for permanent residency made in 1994 by Morteza Momenzadeh Tameh, an Iranian man who was admitted to Canada as a refugee, according to CBC. In 2001, officials deemed him inadmissible due to his past involvement in an organization in his home country that until 2012 was on Canada's list of terrorist entities. The decision from Chief Justice Paul Crampton also makes it clear the minister is obliged to make decisions in a reasonable time frame, no matter how busy he is. Read the Federal Court's ruling PDF Libyan man's appeal rejected in fight to stay in Canada Tameh made what is called an application for ministerial relief, which is an appeal to the minister of public safety for an exception. Since then, there have been four more ministers and not one of them has made a decision. Former public safety minister Stockwell Day refused to grant relief in 2007, but the next year a judge ruled Day had not been fully apprised of all relevant facts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

n.s .,: Stephen McNeil said the CBC program Canada The Story of Us was wrong to assert that the country's first permanent European settlement was established in 1608 near what is now Quebec City, according to Toronto Star. The premier said the history of Canada started three years earlier, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a settlement at Port Royal, N.S., now a national historic site in his riding. CBC By Michael Mac Donald The Canadian Press Thu., March 30, 2017 HALIFAX The premier of Nova Scotia has added his voice to a growing chorus of complaints about a TV docu-drama about Canada's history. The history of Canada started in 1605 in Port Royal when Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Henri Membertou welcomed Champlain here in peace and friendship, the premier said Thursday after making an announcement in Fall River, N.S. It is unfortunate that people will try to rewrite history. Multicultural Canada began here in Port Royal. The fact of the matter is that Canada was founded here. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

number: We still have a long road to travel in expanding resettlement and the number and range of complementary pathways available for refugees, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, according to Toronto Star. To meet this challenge, we not only need additional places, but also need to accelerate the implementation of existing pledges. ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP/GETTY IMAGES By The Associated Press Thu., March 30, 2017 GENEVA The number of Syrians who have fled their country after six years of war has surpassed the 5 million mark, the UN refugee agency said Thursday.UNHCR announced the milestone a year after participating countries at a Geneva conference pledged to resettle and facilitate pathways for 500,000 refugees from Syria but that only half of those places have been allocated so far. Read more HBO doc Cries From Syria' aims to revive collective sympathy over crisis Article Continued Below First' Syrian refugee and his Tim's-fuelled Canadian dream Arrival of Syrian refugees life-changing' for Prince Edward County Agency spokesman Babar Baloch said that no specific incident prompted the crossing of the symbolic milestone, and that one year ago, the figure was 4.8 million. Lebanon and Jordan have taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrians. The agency estimates another 6.3 million people have been internally displaced. react-empty 154 Turkey, which has taken in the most Syrians by far, saw an increase of 47,000 Syrian refugees since February bringing its total to 2.97 million, Baloch said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rebel-held area: Meanwhile, the war in Syria is not letting up, according to CTV. A Syrian doctor in a rebel-held area in the central province of Hama said government airstrikes were suspected of using toxic gas on Thursday on civilians and opposition fighters in the town of Latamneh. UNHCR announced the milestone a year after participating countries at a Geneva conference pledged to resettle and facilitate pathways for 500,000 refugees from Syria -- but only half of those places have been allocated so far. The doctor said his hospital treated nearly 40 people, including women and children, who were injured in two separate attacks early in the day. This is the second time such reports from this area in Hama have emerged. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that 50 people were suffering from breathing difficulties following government barrel bombs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

regrette rien: But Radford decided to persevere through a hip injury, and he and partner Meagan Duhamel held on to finish seventh in the pairs competition Thursday, according to Hamilton Spectator. Skating to the French song Non, je ne regrette rien No, I regret nothing Canada's two-time world champions scored 206.06 points. And by Thursday morning, Canada's Eric Radford was in so much pain he considered withdrawing from the world championships. That was so difficult, Radford said moments later, wearing a look of relief. We sat down and it was our team around us, and especially Meagan, gave me the confidence to go out there and really just try to do this. I thought after the short program it was going to be more smooth sailing, but my hip felt a little bit worse this morning and after the practice this morning, I've never felt more afraid and unsure. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

seekers: Avenue 0 How U.S. asylum seekers are finding their way to British Columbia Scrap safe country pact with U.S., advocates and professors urge Ottawa Here's how Canadian taxpayers and private agencies help asylum seekers The RCMP has arrested nearly half as many asylum seekers already this year as they did in all of 2016, according to CBC. And, advocates for those asylum seekers warn the agreement gives people incentive to cross irregularly, potentially putting themselves at harm. There's absolutely no need to tinker with the Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement forces people to cross with their families. A question about the future of the act was also posed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday while in Winnipeg. There are pregnant women that are crossing, children crossing in really dangerous situations where people are facing severe frostbite, said Harsha Walia with refugee advocacy group No One is Illegal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sign players: After a meeting of executives from the Premier League's 20 clubs, the owners of Stoke and West Ham called for immigration exemptions to preserve the flow of top footballers from the continent, according to Hamilton Spectator. We'd expect them to be included in exemptions but we have to wait and see, Stoke owner Peter Coates said. With the British government insisting it must regain the right to control immigration and end free movement from the EU bloc, the ability of England's top soccer clubs to sign players from Europe could be impeded. In Europe, we can get free movement and that will change, or may change, I don't know. The English Football Association two years ago persuaded the government to adopt tougher visa requirements for players trying to sign from outside Europe. We don't know. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

son finn: I've drawn on so many of their insights and comments about what goes on in the world as children, Donoghue said in a recent interview from London, Ont., where she lives, according to Hamilton Spectator. In fact, each of them has been highly amused to mark up a copy of the book with all the bits they feel that are stolen from them. Donoghue's son Finn was 7 and daughter Una was 3 when she began working on The Lotterys Plus One six years ago, and she now says it feels almost like I've written this with my kids. The acclaimed fiction writer, whose work includes the international bestseller Room and 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist The Wonder, said she didn't underestimate the task of writing a novel for children. I think there's nothing worse than an adult author kind of flouncing into children's fiction and thinking she can master it immediately. I've really tried to study the genre and figure out in what ways you can bend it, and in what ways you really do have to satisfy the child reader, Donoghue said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

telephone scammers: RCMP warn of phone scam targeting and threatening immigrantsCRA phone scam revs up as fraudsters start calling cellphones That call was followed up by a call from another person claiming to be a Halifax police officer who advised the victim to send the money or be arrested, according to CBC. Const. Halifax Regional Police said Thursday they received a report from a 23-year-old man who said he was contacted by an alleged Immigration Canada employee about a complaint against him and that he needed legal representation costing hundreds of dollars. Diane Penfound said telephone scammers are using threats of arrest to try and bilk victims out of large sums of money. It was thousands, said Halifax Regional Police Const. CBC Basically said he was in trouble and said the trouble would be rectified if he handed money, which he did, and then called us. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

explorer samuel: The premier said the history of Canada started three years earlier, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a settlement at Port Royal, N.S., now a national historic site in his riding, according to Brandon Sun. The history of Canada started in 1605 in Port Royal when Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Henri Membertou welcomed Champlain here in peace and friendship, the premier said Thursday after making an announcement in Fall River, N.S. It is unfortunate that people will try to rewrite history. Stephen McNeil said the CBC program, Canada The Story of Us, was wrong to assert that the country's first permanent European settlement was established in 1608 near what is now Quebec City. The fact of the matter is that Canada was founded here. The premier said Canada's public broadcaster should correct the mistake. Multicultural Canada began here in Port Royal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fuel anti-islam: This week, deep racial tensions affecting France's large Asian community were exposed in violence that spilled onto Paris' streets, according to Brandon Sun. Museum organizers said that some French political parties, especially the far-right, have used fear to fuel anti-Islam and anti-immigration policies. We and the Others, Prejudices of Racism, which opens Friday to the French public at Paris' Museum of Mankind, comes at a prescient moment during a divisive presidential campaign that's been rife with anti-Islam rhetoric. In politics, French people, especially young people, are taking on prejudiced attitudes and extreme views because they have forgotten where it leads, said co-curator Evelyne Heyer, a professor of genetic anthropology at the National History Museum. It revisits dark historical moments including the Rwandan Genocide, segregation in the United States, the Holocaust, as well as French colonial rule. The exhibit, which includes multimedia, objects and text, makes for uncomfortable viewing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

opposition fighters: The doctor said his hospital treated nearly 40 people, including women and children, who were injured in two separate attacks early in the day, according to Brandon Sun. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that 50 people were suffering from breathing difficulties following government barrel bombs. Meanwhile, the war in Syria is not letting up.A Syrian doctor in a rebel-held area in the central province of Hama said government airstrikes were suspected of using toxic gas on Thursday on civilians and opposition fighters in the town of Latamneh. This is the second time such reports from this area in Hama have emerged. Another medical staffer has been taken to Turkey for treatment, he added. The doctor, who uses the name of Abu Mohammed, out of fear of reprisals, said his hospital was directly hit by suspected toxic gas last Saturday, killing a 40-year-old surgeon who suffocated while performing a surgery. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

saturday night: Zamata, a former member of the Upright Citizens Brigade who plays a mean Beyonce and Rihanna on NBC's SNL, debuts her first special, Pizza Mind, on the internet platform Seeso on Thursday, according to Brandon Sun. The Associated Press sat down with the 30-year-old funny woman at the offices of media company Refinery29 to ask about her special, her sketch skills and why you shouldn't ask her to do Beyonce. If that's true, then Saturday Night Live writer and comedian Sasheer Zamata has officially, made it. Associated Press You were hired to appear on SNL in 2014 in the wake of criticism of a lack of ethnic diversity. How did you handle that Zamata That stressed me out. It was all very public. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

british columbia: As a lawyer, he says it's a challenge to balance being engaged in a case and not being overwhelmed by it, adding it can be traumatizing just hearing what some asylum seekers have been through, according to CBC. You experience it vicariously because we go through these stories in great detail. Peter Edelmann works with refugees and says many who end up in British Columbia are fleeing violent situations and persecution. Then, the responsibility that people face in terms of when people go back is quite substantial, he explained. Peter Edelmann/Twitter These stakes particularly what could happen if claims are denied put an enormous amount of responsibility on the lawyers representing them. Peter Edelmann, a Vancouver immigration lawyer, says many of his clients are suffering from trauma when they arrive in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian slaves: According to Kome, Canada's relationship to slavery consisted of the oft-discussed Underground Railway that brought Africans in bondage north to freedom, according to Rabble. But, she ignores the southbound underground railroad during the late 1700s that took many Canadian slaves to Vermont and other Northern U.S. states that had abolished slavery. In a recent rabble.ca story titled Canada's earliest immigration policies made it a safe haven for escaped slaves, Penney Kome ignores the fact that Africans were held in bondage here for 200 years and that the Atlantic provinces had important ties to the Caribbean plantation economies. Even more slaves journeyed to freedom in Michigan and New England after the war of 1812. The first recorded slave sale in New France took place in 1628. For over 200 years, New France and the British North America colonies held Africans in bondage. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

clifford offer: He facilitated and funded moving 7,500 Doukhobors to Saskatchewan from Russia, a major immigration both for them and for Canada, according to Rabble. The immigrants were one-third of the existing members of the pacifist Doukhobor religion, which had enraged the Czar by their men's refusal to wear soldiers' uniforms or to fight. In 1899, Russian author Leo Tolstoy took up Clifford Sifton's offer of free land. Instead, the conscriptees stripped naked and piled up their rifles into giant bonfires. Many live in the Kootenay region of B.C., near where U.S. immigrants also have settled. In the 21st century, about 25,000 Doukhobor descendants live in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, with about one-third still practicing their religion. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

dave bagler: Musicians Amy Millan and fellow Stars bandmate Torquil Campbell joined in on Twitter, and an opinion piece in Chatelaine was published suggesting that it's possible to spend 15 for a membership and cast a vote for someone without toxic and divisive values, hopefully preventing permanent damage to our country, according to Rabble. While supporters of this idea remain disparate and largely unorganized, it is one that is beginning to circulate widely on social media, and it can seem like attractive shortcut to many engaging with politics for the first time. Ipolitics credits Gonzalo Riva with being the first to publicly propose this idea, and was soon followed by former Green Party president, Dave Bagler, who amplified this message among Green voters. That's why it is worth engaging with this idea on its own terms, and unpacking the danger lurking just behind its good intentions. Kellie Leitch represents the real and present danger of a white nationalist, anti-immigrant candidate taking over a major political party. Why do they think this is a good idea The argument for joining the Conservative Party can be summarized as follows With the rise of Donald Trump and the emboldening of the far right around the world, progressives need to do everything we can to stop it from taking power in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

family today: A smiling Daniel Ramirez Medina hugged his brother in the lobby of a detention centre as he was freed, then hugged him again for the news cameras outside, according to The Chronicle Herald. He spoke to reporters briefly in Spanish, thanking his supporters, and later issued a written statement in English through his lawyers. A Mexican man who spent more than six weeks in immigration detention despite his participation in a program designed to prevent the deportation of those brought to the U.S. illegally as children was released from custody Wednesday pending deportation proceedings. I'm so happy to be reunited with my family today and can't wait to see my son, it said. I know that this isn't over, but I'm hopeful for the future, for me and for the hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers who love this country like I do. This has been a long and hard 46 days, but I'm so thankful for the support that I've gotten from everyone who helped me and for the opportunity to live in such an amazing country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

labour-market gaps: We need to grow immigrant levels, but in a way that balances fairness, equity, safety and prosperity, according to Globe and Mail. The initial generation of economic migrants may fill labour-market gaps, even while tending to incur higher health, social and education costs than established Canadians. So what can we do First, Canadians need to realize immigration is actually a national security policy. Yet, the real benefit accrues from well-integrated, well-educated subsequent generations. How many refugees Canada should accept is controversial. Unlike much of the rest of the world, Canada does not just take in refugees, it welcomes future Canadians. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

lawrence river: Carrying only a backpack stuffed with a change of clothes, underwear, cologne and thousands of dollars in cash, the 32-year-old Brazilian refugee last month bet his future on a masked smuggler and strangers with unknown names, according to CBC. CBC News has agreed not to disclose his identity because the refugee is a witness in an ongoing smuggling investigation spearheaded by the Canada Border Services Agency CBSA . John says he fled the United States after gang members from his hometown of Sobralia found him in a suburb outside Boston, where he had been working as a painter. Lawrence River to Cornwall, Ont., was the last leg in a seven-hour journey John hoped would lead to a new life of safety in Canada. He was an undocumented immigrant who fled extortion and gang violence in southeastern Brazil 11 years earlier. I can't go back to Brazil. I hear Trump is going to deport. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

liberties union: The agreement, approved Tuesday night by the school board in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, ends a lawsuit filed in August by the ACLU. Civil rights lawyers had contended older refugee and immigrant students were being steered to alternative high schools, according to Metro News. The agreement allows the district to continue operating an accelerated academy for the older students. The Latest on a Pennsylvania school district's settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union on educating older immigrant students all times local 10 45 p.m.A Pennsylvania school district and the American Civil Liberties Union have reached a settlement on the education of older immigrant students who speak little or no English. It also permits students with little or no English proficiency to begin their educations in a district high school and progress to a small learning setting or transfer to the accelerated program. The Lancaster School District has reached a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union over the education of older immigrant students who speak little or no English. The ACLU says the agreement extends the guarantee of a strong and appropriate education to older immigrant students in Lancaster. 9 50 p.m. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

reality-tv star: First out of the blocks to declare membership numbers after the midnight cut-off for new sign ups was businessman, reality-TV star and leadership upstart Kevin O'Leary, declaring he had enlisted 35,336 members in the 69 days he's been officially in the race, according to Hamilton Spectator. O'Leary's rival, Maxime Bernier entered the race over a year ago. Clinching those votes will take money and momentum and the campaigns were out in force Wednesday making the pitch for one to sustain the other until voting day on May 27. His campaign said Wednesday membership numbers were still being tallied, but weren't far off from O'Leary's. The money is for phone banks, direct mail campaigns, emails, travel and get-out-the-vote programs. They're tied in recent fundraising too, according to duelling fundraising pitches, with each campaign seeking to outdo the other by Friday, the end of the year's first quarter. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.