drunken-driving case: That office is now investigating the shooting Saturday night in which Oliver, who is white, fired a rifle at a car full of teenagers leaving a party, striking and killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, according to Brandon Sun. Messages left with a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, a police spokesman and a lawyer for Oliver were not immediately returned Thursday. Personnel records from the Balch Springs Police Department show former officer Roy Oliver was suspended for 16 hours in December 2013 after the Dallas County District Attorney's Office filed a complaint about his conduct when he was serving as a witness in a drunken-driving case. The personnel records also included periodic evaluations that noted at least one instance when Oliver was reprimanded for being disrespectful to a civilian on a call. The complaint from the prosecutor's office said the office had a hard time getting Oliver to attend the trial, he was angry he had to be there, he used vulgar language that caused an assistant district attorney to send a female intern out of the room, and he used profanity during his testimony. That evaluation, dated January 27, 2017, called the reprimand an isolated incident and urged Oliver to be mindful of his leadership role in the department. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

priority: When Bladek's name is called, it'll cap a long, often frustrating journey to a pro football career in Canada, according to Brandon Sun. It has been a long time coming, Bladek, 23, said via telephone from Florida. The six-foot-four, 306-pound Bethune-Cookman University offensive lineman is expected to be an early pick Sunday night. I'm excited about it . . . This is what I've been dreaming about, thinking about every hour, every minute. No matter what pick that is, I'll be seen as a priority and that means a lot . . . whenever you're made a priority, that's a really good sign. Any team that believes enough in me to select me is going to get my full-fledged dedication. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

show-me-your-papers measure: Greg Abbott has pledged to sign the bill into law, which could now come quickly, according to Brandon Sun. The GOP-led Senate passed the bill Wednesday despite objections from Democrats, who call the bill a show-me-your-papers measure that will be used to discriminate against Latinos. Republican Gov. The term sanctuary cities has no legal definition, but Republicans want local police to help federal immigration agents crack down on criminal suspects in the U.S. illegally. Republicans have a strong majority in the Legislature and shoved aside Democratic objections to push the bill, even as President Donald Trump's efforts to withhold federal funding for sanctuary cities have hit roadblocks in federal courts. The bill allows the state to withhold funding from local governments for acting as sanctuary cities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

albertans: For a few days at least, Albertans, who can be a fractious bunch, ignored their differences to deal with the crisis of 90,000 refugees from the flames, according to Rabble. Coming when it did, the fire cast a pall -- literal and metaphorical -- over the Alberta NDP government's plans for a celebration of its unexpected victory at the polls one year before in the May 5, 2015, general election. This was at once a terrible moment and a great moment in Alberta history a time of enormous stress and loss to which Albertans responded with generosity, courage, wit and skill. Obviously, there was no time for such fripperies in the crisis created by the massive fire moving into the city of Fort McMurray, where it eventually would destroy about 2,400 structures, roughly 15 per cent of the city's buildings. Only about 3.5 billion of the losses were insured, making this the most expensive disaster in Canadian history, at least as far as insurance companies were concerned. Given the severity of the fires, even at about 10 billion it was probably lucky the losses weren't greater. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

driver: A taxi driver brought a refugee claimant to the door I was really intrigued how the driver found out about the organization, because we had no signage, he remembered, according to CBC. He said, 'I asked a bunch of my taxi driver friends, what can we do to help this guy.' Vander Spek's interest in what he describes as the social network of taxi drivers was born and in 2013, he began snapping their pictures and interviewing them about their lives. Toronto photographer Henry Vander Spek, whose photo company is called Culturesnap, said he first became interested in taking pictures of taxi drivers more than a decade ago, while working at a refugee agency. He walked CBC Toronto through a series of his favourite portraits. Henry Vander Spek Swapan One of the things that I learned about him is that he and his wife support 60 kids back in Bangladesh. Swapan, photographed in front of Union Station, impressed Vander Spek with his commitment to giving to charity back home in Bangladesh. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration officers: On Thursday, the school will debut its modernized version of Porter's Within the Quota, according to Metro News. The ballet is one of several productions happening across the country in reaction to the administration's immigration policy, including a Boulder, Colorado, play featuring immigrants and immigration officers and a Los Angeles play touching on themes of terrorism and immigration detention centres . They are part of a long history of art as a form of activism and political resistance that can help people connect the struggles of the moment with the struggles of the past, said Sarah J. Jackson, a communications studies professor at Northeastern University. Nearly a century later, the ballet is being revived by a Princeton University music professor troubled by President Donald Trump's actions on immigration. Art is a form that can often reach people that might not engage in more traditional spaces of politics or activism, Jackson said. With theatre and other forms of art, you're bringing people into a space and introducing them to a set of ideas in a thought-provoking way without doing the thing they might be uncomfortable with making it an explicitly political space. Most people will never lobby at a statehouse for a bill, or go to a rally or protest in their life. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

maitland district: The red brick school, with its cheery classrooms and gleaming halls, was built at the height of the baby boom and filled with students and hope, according to Huffington Post Canada. Decades later, the school's enrolment had dwindled to 20 students, its classrooms nearly empty and hallways deserted. Today, the students are gone, the northern Nova Scotia school a symbol of the relentless exodus from Atlantic Canada that was made plain again Wednesday by the latest census numbers from Statistics Canada. The local school board put multiple grades in one class and put off badly needed maintenance. Our senior population is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2015, Maitland District was shuttered altogether, the few kids left in the village bused to other schools. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

marketing efforts: And dozens of other schools produced online videos to welcome foreign students, according to Hamilton Spectator. As U.S. colleges face new but significant declines in applications from abroad, many are rolling out marketing efforts to combat fears of harassment and concerns that President Donald Trump's stance on immigration reflects a United States that is becoming less welcoming to foreigners. Purdue University sent overseas applicants a note from two mayors touting Indiana's friendly smiles and hospitality. Students are telling us that they don't feel safe here in the United States. This year it was a little more important to make sure that they felt comfortable with their decision. That they're concerned about discrimination, racism, said Katharine Johnson Suski, admissions director at Iowa State University. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

members: Hearing this, the Advocate's Society responded promptly and rebooked in a jurisdiction where homosexuality was not criminalized and where discrimination on the basis of a protected ground was not permitted or anticipated, according to Huffington Post Canada. I think the Advocate's Society made the right call for its membership, so whether it was legally required to do as it did was never a consideration. LGBTQ members brought to their attention the fact that Jamaica is not a safe jurisdiction in law or in practice for queer people and that the choice of location could, in effect, exclude many of those members. Photo Meinzahn via Getty Images From the perspective of an employment lawyer, I have to consider what the legal obligations of an employer in similar circumstances might be. I think the answer would likely come down to accommodation analysis and whether visiting a particular jurisdiction is a bona fide occupational requirement. If a company hosts its corporate retreat in a jurisdiction where the law is hostile to its LGBTQ employees, are they in so doing discriminating against their LGBTQ employees What if they open an office there and require periodic attendance What if their training center is located in a jurisdiction where discrimination against an employee is not only legal, but likely I'm looking at you, Mississippi I have long been of the view that employers in Ontario should tread carefully when sending their employees to jurisdictions which may have laws that are hostile to them or where they are likely to be exposed -- as a result of their membership in an identifiable group protected by the Human Rights Code -- to discrimination or danger. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

newar group: This year, as workers from the ethnic Newar group finished building and decorating a new chariot, they hoped for good times ahead, according to The Chronicle Herald. The 15-meter 48-foot tall wooden chariot, which began its annual monthlong procession on Sunday, is meant to please gods so they can provide for a generous rainfall, harvest and prosperity. Months later, in February 2005, then-King Gyanendra seized absolute power, and the Himalayan nation was in the grip of political unrest, an escalating communist insurgency and a dwindling economy. We have to build it strong so that it does not collapse. The Rato Machindra festival, in which Hindu and Buddhist devotees pull two thick ropes tied to the chariot though the narrow streets of Patan, a Kathmandu suburb, preludes the monsoon season in a nation where a majority of population still depend on farming. If anything happens to the chariot, there will be bad luck for the country, said Krishna Dangol, the latest in a generation of chariot builders. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

officers: As police forces across Canada face restrictions or bans at Pride events, St, according to CTV. John's Pride is now welcoming uniformed members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and RCMP. Last July, the RNC said it would play a less visible role at the Pride parade in Newfoundland's capital than it had in prior years, saying the force would offer traffic support but uniformed officers would not march in the procession. John's, N.L., has reversed course and invited uniformed police officers to march in the city's Pride parade this July. The decision came at the request of Pride event organizers, who had encouraged officers to take part in the proceedings while off-duty and not in uniform in an effort to make the event more accessible to all. We were semi-uninvited, where you could show up, you just couldn't tell anyone you were a police officer there, Mike Ghaney, a gay RNC constable who had written to Pride last July expressing his disappointment at the decision, said in an interview Wednesday from Corner Brook. The organization stressed that uniformed police would not be turned away from the parade, but encouraged officers to represent their unit in other ways like wearing T-shirts or carrying banners. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

persecution case: It basically puts LGBTQ people and their refugee claims at the same level as a political opinion or a religious persecution case, meaning that their sexuality is not put on trial the way it has been up until today, according to CBC. I'd rather die than go there' Gay Egyptian seeks asylum The Immigration and Refugee Board released the guidelines, the first for dealing with such cases, on Monday. It's revolutionary, Winnipeg immigration lawyer Bashir Khan said. A 12-page document covers terminology, appropriate language, challenges faced by individuals with diverse sexual and gender identities, the importance of protecting sensitive information, principles for assessing credibility and avoiding stereotyping. Winnipeg immigration lawyer Bashir Khan calls the new guidelines for refugee claims involving sexual orientation and gender revolutionary. Khan said about 30 per cent of his cases so far this year involve asylum seekers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer and are fleeing persecution in their home countries. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

pride: As police forces across Canada face restrictions or bans at Pride events, St, according to Huffington Post Canada. John's Pride is now welcoming uniformed Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and RCMP officers. John's, N.L., has reversed course and invited uniformed police officers to march in the city's Pride parade this July. Last July, the RNC said it would play a less visible role'' at the Pride parade in Newfoundland's capital than it had in prior years, saying the force would offer traffic support but uniformed officers would not march in the procession. Royal Newfoundland Constabulary police officers march in the 2014 St. The decision came at the request of Pride event organizers, who had encouraged officers to take part in the proceedings while off-duty and not in uniform in an effort to make the event more accessible to all.'' The organization stressed that uniformed police would not be turned away from the parade, but encouraged officers to represent their unit in other ways like wearing T-shirts or carrying banners. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

racialized groups: Concerns about racial profiling are broader than policing, the report says, according to Metro News. Racialized and Indigenous peoples may experience unwarranted heightened scrutiny in education, stores, shopping malls, housing and workplaces, on buses, subways and trains, at airports and border crossings, in health care and by private security and child welfare agencies. While police encounters remain a common situation where racialized groups have experienced profiling, respondents reported being targeted because of their race in a broad range of contexts, the Ontario Human Rights Commission writes in its new report Under Suspicion, released Wednesday. The report is based on consultations and survey results from 1,650 individuals and organizations, gleaning wide-ranging personal experiences of racial profiling and data shedding light on the places and scenarios in which the phenomenon occurs. The commission states that the individual reports of racial profiling have not been independently verified and that it cannot determine with certainty that they stem from discrimination. The survey, conducted in the summer of 2015, was not meant to capture the average Ontarian's experience; rather, it draws from a non-random sample, specifically targeting members of the indigenous, racialized and Muslim communities, as well as experts in human rights, academia and law. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

science research: Racial profiling can have profound personal impacts, the report states, according to CTV. It also has harmful impacts on the social fabric of society. The report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission released Wednesday finds a widespread feeling among racial minorities and indigenous people that their complaints about the practice have been ignored. The report, Under Suspicion, which runs to 110 pages without appendices, combines social science research with first-hand accounts from more than 1,600 individuals and organizations. Among other things, the report finds the profiling, which often flows from deeply-rooted institutional culture, can affect almost all facets of a person's life -- from shopping, to driving and getting around, to attending school. It finds aboriginal people, blacks, Muslims, Arabs and West Asians are most affected by the negative stereotypes that result in racial profiling. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee society: Some of our past executive board members are taking in people, we're calling friends like it's emergency funding, according to CBC. We have yet, in 34 years, to turn anybody away, Ilona Beiks, vice president of the Inland Refugee Society of B.C. told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's On The Coast. Faced with begging and borrowing, the refugee settlement society is struggling to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of refugees crossing into Canada. In a typical month in 2016, the IRS served about 24 refugees. Housing coordination is only one of the services offered by the IRS. The society also provides access to English language classes, food, transportation and other immediate needs. This year that number has been closer to 100 each month. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rights commission: Dreamstime By Wendy Gillis News reporter Jennifer Yang Identity and Inequality Reporter Wed., May 3, 2017 Racial profiling is alive and well in Ontario, according to a new survey by the province's human rights commission with more than 1,500 Ontarians reporting experiences of being racially profiled not just by police, but also at their workplaces, schools, hospitals and shopping malls, according to Toronto Star. While police encounters remain a common situation where racialized groups have experienced profiling, respondents reported being targeted because of their race in a broad range of contexts, the Ontario Human Rights Commission writes in its new report Under Suspicion, released Wednesday. JOSHUA LOTT / New York Times file photo According to a new survey by the province's human rights commission, racial profiling is alive and well in Ontario with individuals detailing accounts of profiling at hospitals, workplaces and shopping malls. Concerns about racial profiling are broader than policing, the report says. The report is based on consultations and survey results from 1,650 individuals and organizations, gleaning wide-ranging personal experiences of racial profiling and data shedding light on the places and scenarios in which the phenomenon occurs. Racialized and Indigenous peoples may experience unwarranted heightened scrutiny in education, stores, shopping malls, housing and workplaces, on buses, subways and trains, at airports and border crossings, in health care and by private security and child welfare agencies. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

slide leglessly: But no, he read song lyrics he calls them poems about a snake, according to Hamilton Spectator. Who likes snakes Almost no one. He could have held forth on health care, taxation, trees in springtime, how Democrats and Republicans can get along, the instinct to bomb, driverless cars, how much to tip, whether argan oil is the new shea butter, anything he liked. Snakes are meat ropes, living string. They hide easily and move faster than you'd ever think. They are long, soft pencils, fleshy tubes that slide leglessly. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

slide leglessly: He could have held forth on health care, taxation, trees in springtime, how Democrats and Republicans can get along, the instinct to bomb, driverless cars, how much to tip, whether argan oil is the new shea butter, anything he liked, according to Toronto Star. But no, he read song lyrics he calls them poems about a snake. JIM WATSON / AFP/GETTY IMAGES By Heather Mallick Columnist Wed., May 3, 2017 On the 100th day of Donald Trump's presidency, what did this peculiar man talk to his nation about Snakes. Who likes snakes Almost no one. They are long, soft pencils, fleshy tubes that slide leglessly. Snakes are meat ropes, living string. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sports: Despite its teams and the city making strides on race, Boston still has perceptions of racism to overcome, according to CTV. Boston has a reputation, partially left over from a long time ago, that there is more racism within Boston sports, said Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Boston's reputation as a racist sports town developed through decades of barriers broken and maintained, intertwined with broader struggles for progress along with today's climate of racial tension that sports can't avoid. The type of incident that happened ... is something I would've expected to read about in Boston 25 years ago. The All-Star said he felt it was just the right time to speak out after experiencing previous racial heckling at Fenway over 12 seasons, though he said it was more a sign of larger racial issues than an indictment of Boston or its fans. Jones was given an extended ovation on Tuesday night as he stepped to the plate for his first at-bat, a moment sharply different from what he described Monday night, saying he heard fans call him the N-word and had peanuts thrown in his direction in the dugout, hitting a nearby police officer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

talat xhaferi: Zaev's party placed second in a December parliamentary election, behind the conservatives who previously governed, according to Metro News. Unlike the conservatives, he has struck a coalition deal with small ethnic Albanian parties. Talat Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian, has said he will formally ask President Gjorge Ivanov to hand left-wing opposition leader Zoran Zaev the mandate to govern as prime minister. The president earlier refused to give Zaev the mandate, saying Zaev's pledge to consider enhancing the ethnic Albanian minority's standing would undermine Macedonia's sovereignty. Demonstrators protesting Xhaferi's election as parliament speaker rioted in parliament last week, injuring 100. Ivanov has 10 days to answer the new request. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

two-storey home: She learned the hard way when three pumps couldn't keep a combination of relentless weekend rain and rising Lake Ontario water out of her home, according to Hamilton Spectator. It started coming up through cracks in the basement floor, she said Tuesday, watching as pumps pushed the invading water out of her home via a series of hoses onto her lawn and eventually into a growing pool at the end of Bayside Avenue. The beach strip newcomer moved into her modern two-storey home a year-and-a-half ago without knowing much about the sandbar community's soggy history. Our furnace and our water heater are sitting in three inches of water. Longtime residents say the flooding hasn't been this bad on the strip in decades. The insurance company says it's groundwater, so it's not covered I had no clue it could get so bad. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

washington post: Jeenah Moon / Bloomberg file photo By Renae Merle The Washington Post Wed., May 3, 2017 Women and minorities are locked out of some of Wall Street's most lucrative positions, managing just 1.1 per cent of the 71.4 trillion of the industry's assets, according to a report released Wednesday, according to Toronto Star. The difficulty in attracting investments comes as firms with diverse leadership teams match, and sometimes exceed, the profits of their competitors, found the study commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Bella Research Group. Wall Street has long fought its reputation as a place where women and minorities struggle to succeed. This study, and our experience, confirm that there is no legitimate reason not to invest with diverse asset managers in the 21st century, said Alberto Ibarguen, president of the Knight Foundation, which has an endowment of more than 2 billion. In the complex world of asset management, where firms are given billions of dollars to invest by pensions, endowments and wealthy investors, the disparity is particularly stark. Read more Holding State Street to its pledge on board diversity is why Fearless Girl must stay Wells Fearless Girl' statue stares down Wall Street's iconic bull Article Continued Below Wall Street has long fought its reputation as a place where women and minorities struggle to succeed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

youtube channel: Now her mission is to help other immigrants navigate their move to Nova Scotia, according to The Chronicle Herald. It was a cultural shock and I knew I always wanted to help immigrants, she said. When Dhamija first moved to Nova Scotia there were a number of things she found extremely difficult finding a suitable place to live, searching for a family doctor, looking for schools, daycares and more. Dhamija posts videos onto her Youtube channel, life4immi, once a week talking about different problems that immigrants may face when they move to Nova Scotia, and she tries to give the best advice she can based on her experience. These are very basic problems; they come from every day life, she said. She has posted content that includes how immigrants celebrate Christmas, life in Canada, choosing a school, interviews and more. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

agreement: We will get it done, Trump confidently told Abbas, according to Brandon Sun. I'm committed to working with Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement, Trump said. At a White House meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Trump pledged to reinvigorate the stalled Mideast peace process that has bedeviled his predecessors and said he would serve as a mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator between the two sides. But any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or by any other nation. The source of Trump's optimism was not immediately apparent. The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration officers: On Thursday, the school will debut its modernized version of Porter's Within the Quota, according to Brandon Sun. The ballet is one of several productions happening across the country in reaction to the administration's immigration policy, including a Boulder, Colorado, play featuring immigrants and immigration officers and a Los Angeles play touching on themes of terrorism and immigration detention centres. Nearly a century later, the ballet is being revived by a Princeton University music professor troubled by President Donald Trump's actions on immigration. They are part of a long history of art as a form of activism and political resistance that can help people connect the struggles of the moment with the struggles of the past, said Sarah J. Jackson, a communications studies professor at Northeastern University. Most people will never lobby at a statehouse for a bill, or go to a rally or protest in their life. Art is a form that can often reach people that might not engage in more traditional spaces of politics or activism, Jackson said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.