clown nose: Vermette, a full-time humanitarian clown, has never felt so enriched, according to Toronto Star. He has never felt so enraged, either. The 29-year-old from Trois-Rivi res, Que., sold his entertainment company two years ago, launched a fundraising campaign, filled a backpack and dove into a new life marked by overwhelming misery, suffering, violence and desperation. Now his shows are for street kids in Haiti and Burkina Faso, Syrian refugees in Greece and Jordan, Burmese refugees in Thailand and Russian orphans living in ramshackle conditions. If you brought me a recipe to save the world I'd drop my clown nose and do it. Yes, it's rough sometimes, he admitted in a recent interview. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gourmet: Cate Simpson, one of the event organizers, says over 50 chefs and food professionals have donated hundreds of items to a gourmet garage sale, according to CBC. We have beautiful donations, she said. The B.C. chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a society of professional women associated with the culinary arts, is hosting the garage sale to provide funds for its scholarship program for culinary students. We have cookbooks signed cookbooks, limited edition cookbooks cooking tools, baking equipment. Major the Gourmet one of the first gourmet caterers in Vancouver known for her gorgeous food displays. Some of the highlights of the sale include contributions from Nicky Major a.k.a. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mass graves: Well over 1 million people have fled the fighting that began a year ago when the Democratic Republic of Congo's military killed the regional tribal leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia, according to Toronto Star. More than 3,300 people in the region have died, according to estimates by the Catholic Church. Once again, children are among the most vulnerable victims. The United Nations has counted more than 80 mass graves. Children make up more than half of the displaced people, said Yvon Edoumou, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office in Congo. Across the once-peaceful region, children are forced to take up weapons, either recruited by militias, or to defend their homes. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

kyi: Aung San Suu Kyi, the celebrated de facto leader of Myanmar, has come under harsh international criticism for failing to speak out against the violence, according to Metro News. Many of those gathered in Ottawa were demanding the Liberal government strip Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship. The powerful military in Myanmar is accused of burning down the homes Rohingya Muslims, forcing more than 400,000 members of the persecuted minority to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh as refugees, according to the latest figures from the United Nations. As Canadians, we believe in democracy, freedom, protection of human rights and a commitment to the rule of law, said Fareed Khan, who has sponsored a petition calling on the Liberal government to revoke the honour. Regrettably, that no longer seems to be the case, he said. When Canada conferred honorary Canadian status on Aung San Suu Kyi, it was because she was said to embody these principles, Khan told the crowd gathered below the steps leading up to Parliament Hill. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

oromia: More than 55,000 Oromos were displaced from the Somali region after the recent incident and are now sheltered in makeshift camps, Addisu Arega, Oromia region's spokesman, said in the statement, according to Metro News. Overall, some 416,807 Oromos have been displaced this year alone in fear of attacks by the Somali region's Special Police Force. The statement from the Oromia government follows claims by Somali regional officials earlier this week that more than 50 people were killed in an attack against ethnic Somalis in Aweday town. Oromia officials say only 18 people were killed and that Oromos have been moving out of Somali towns and villages in fear of reprisals. Though they agreed to reconcile in April, conflict persists in many locations. Border disputes between the two ethnic groups are common. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

relationship china: They will be joined by more than 100 heads of state and government, including Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders who is said to be bringing a 70-member entourage, according to CBC. Violence against Rohingya 'looks a lot like ethnic cleansing,' Freeland saysANALYSIS End of a special relationship China looks at North Korea with frustration and even fear While Trump's speeches and meetings will be closely followed, it will be North Korea, which Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls the most dangerous crisis that we face today, that will be most carefully watched. The spotlight will be on U.S. President Donald Trump and France's new leader, Emmanuel Macron, who will both be making their first appearance at the General Assembly. No official event addressing Pyongyang's relentless campaign to develop nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States is on the UN agenda, but it is expected to be the No. 1 issue for most leaders. The Security Council, in its first statement on Myanmar in nine years, condemned the violence and called for immediate steps to end it. Not far behind will be the plight of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, victims of what Guterres calls a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has driven nearly 400,000 to flee to Bangladesh in the past three weeks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

saskatoon chapter: Elbardouh, a board member of the Islamic Association of Saskatchwan's Saskatoon chapter, was hosting a workshop Saturday focused on helping Muslim community members as well as non-Muslims and the media recognize and hit back at negative, Islamophobic depictions of Muslims in the mainstream media, according to CBC. Fair treatment She pointed specifically to instances in which the religion of a person reported to have committed a crime is mentioned, and how that reinforces a negative stereotype. Fear of Islam, she said. That is an indication that, 'Be aware. My advice is to say the name, don't mention the religion, and if you were to mention the religion, do it for everybody else who you are reporting about. The Muslims are doing this,' she said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sterling k: A beaming Margaret Atwood, the celebrated Canadian author whose 1985 novel is the show's source, was onstage and received a standing ovation, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Bravo series is shot in Toronto, Hamilton and Cambridge, Ont.. Sterling K. Brown, whose role in This Is Us earned him the top drama series actor trophy, paid tribute to the last African-American man to win in the category, Andre Braugher in 1998 for his role as a police detective in Homicide Life on the Street. Go home, get to work, we have a lot of things to fight for, producer Bruce Miller said in accepting the best drama trophy for A Handmaid's Tale, which also won best drama writing and directing awards and a best actress trophy for Elisabeth Moss. Nineteen years ago, Detective Frank Pemberton held this joint, Brown, hoisting his Emmy and calling it his supreme honour to follow Braugher. Earlier, Nicole Kidman spoke uninterrupted for 2 minutes and 45 seconds, while Brown got 1 minute, 58 seconds, before he was played off, a significant difference given the short time winners get to say their piece. He was good-natured as the orchestra cut into his speech, but it seemed a glaring misstep on a night in which the TV academy reveled in signs of the industry's increasing diversity. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

swastika bunting: Now it's Rogers & Hammerstein's venerable The Sound of Music TSOM . So, this go-round, tour wrangler Jess Gouker the real star of the show packed BAC's eighteen wheeler full of 1930's Austrian necromancy magical Alps and meadows, a magical gothic nunnery, a magically rococo country Schloss, magical swastika bunting, according to Vancouver Observer. Also along for the ride a lot of magical thinking about how to fend off fascism. Every few months, the boxwallah touring company sends us a semi-trailer packed with musical comedy magic anything from Kinky Boots to Phantom of the Opera. When I first saw TSOM at New York's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Ike was still president and Diefenbaker firmly entrenched in 24 Sussex and the cocky Anglophone democracies freshly triumphant over the Nazis were just embarking on a new crusade, this time against godless Communism. But in passing on their legacy to us kids, they and a generation of like-minded Moms & Dads preferred to gloss over the messy details of that era in favour of a tidier, cheerier narrative. Hitler's 1938 Anschluss annexation of Austria was just a couple of decades in the rearview mirror, well within my parents' living memory. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

vilma pagaduan: Although a Ryerson and York University study showed that it takes the government an average of 19 months to process caregivers' permanent residency applications, caregivers who have approached the organization Migrante-Ontario for help with their applications have waited up to a decade, according to Rabble. Former caregiver and current member of the caregiver advocacy organization Eto Tayong Caregivers Caregivers are Here Vilma Pagaduan highlighted the social costs of extended family separation. Carrying placards reading Expedite backlog now! Let families reunite, Canada, Stop Breaking Families Apart, and Closed Work Permit Slavery, the caregivers in attendance -- many of whom took unpaid days off to attend this gathering -- demanded the Canadian government handle the 27,000 permanent residency applications submitted by caregivers that have yet to be processed. Because caregivers have been kept apart from their families for years, their families are in limbo in many cases, caregivers' marriages break apart because they've been apart from their partners for so long, she said. My children beg me everyday to live together, she said. Caregiver Jocelyn Goderoy echoed Pagaduan's remarks about the emotional challenges caregivers and their children face when living apart, pointing to how she has been abroad for 13 years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trudeau plan: Freeland also told a Toronto rally in support of the Rohingya that she also discussed the issue with Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General who is currently leading a commission investigating the crisis unfolding in Myanmar, according to National Observer. She says another key focus for Canada is getting the ambassador into the area of heaviest conflict to report first-hand on the situation. She did not elaborate on the specific actions she or Trudeau plan to take. Myanmar's powerful military is accused of torching the homes of 400,000 Rohingya Muslims, forcing them to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh as refugees. Freeland did not address those concerns, but told the rally that Trudeau expressed his very strong condemnation of the treatment of the Rohingya directly to Suu Kyi earlier this week. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under harsh international criticism for failing to speak out against the violence, with some arguing she should be stripped of both her Nobel Peace Prize and her honorary Canadian citizenship. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

chocolate factory: He'd heard that Canada was a nation of diversity, according to Toronto Star. What the rest of his family father Isam, mother Shahenaz and four siblings knew about their future home was the usual. Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS By Jim Coyle News Sat., Sept. 16, 2017 Before the missiles came and destroyed his family's chocolate factory in Damascus in early 2013, pretty much the only thing Tareq Hadhad knew about Canada was the little he'd picked up from MTV. He'd heard of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. It was the coldest country in the world. So Antigonish was a surprising destination for me. Back then, had you mentioned Antigonish to Hadhad, he might have responded with the Arabic equivalent of Bless you! I hadn't heard about Halifax, or Nova Scotia before, he laughed this week. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

chrystia freeland: She did not elaborate on the specific actions she or Trudeau plan to take, according to CTV. Freeland also told a Toronto rally in support of the Rohingya that she also discussed the issue with Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General who is currently leading a commission investigating the crisis unfolding in Myanmar. Chrystia Freeland says both she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plan to focus on the issue at next week's United Nations General Assembly in New York. She says another key focus for Canada is getting the ambassador into the area of heaviest conflict to report first-hand on the situation. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under harsh international criticism for failing to speak out against the violence, with some arguing she should be stripped of both her Nobel Peace Prize and her honorary Canadian citizenship. Myanmar's powerful military is accused of torching the homes of 400,000 Rohingya Muslims, forcing them to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh as refugees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration consultants: She pleaded guilty to charges related to passport fraud and misrepresentation over a five-year period when she provided immigration services to 265 clients, according to CBC. She was an unlicensed immigration consultant and had evaded more than 42,000 in income taxes. More than 770 of the company's 1,600 clients have now lost their permanent residency or citizenship status or face inadmissibility hearings according to the Canada Border Services Agency CBSA . On Sept. 12, CBSA says employee Zheng Wen Vicky Ye was sentenced to pay 94,532 in fines and received a conditional sentence of two years less as day. In August, Tian Gary Chen and Xiao Ben Ben Chu, also unlicensed immigration consultants with the company, were handed conditional sentences. CBSA CBSA Chen will also have to perform 40 hours of community service for misrepresentation under the Immigration Act and providing false addresses and phone numbers to clients so they could maintain the appearance of residency in Canada while living outside the country, said CBSA in astatement. Page of a passport showing entry and exit stamps that were falsified to meet residency requirements to maintain permanent residency in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

law enforcement: The bill, known as SB-54, is intended to bolster the state's immigrant protections, which are already among the toughest in the nation, according to The Chronicle Herald. The legislation will now be considered by Gov. California lawmakers approved a sanctuary state bill on Saturday that would put new restrictions on interactions between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, drawing the ire of federal officials who argued the legislation prioritizes politics over public safety. Jerry Brown, who announced his support after the top state Senate leader agreed to water down the bill and preserve authority for jail and prison officials to co-operate with immigration officers in many cases. They've also approved money for legal assistance and college scholarships for people living illegally in the U.S., and made it harder for businesses and government agencies to disclose people's immigration status. The legislation is the latest effort by Democratic lawmakers in California, home to an estimated 2.3 million immigrants without legal authorization, to create barriers to President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to step up deportation efforts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

norris mcdonald: As some of you may know, I'm partial to racing cars, according to Toronto Star. Breaking it down even further, I'm partial to Canadian racing cars, particularly those conceived, designed and built in this, our home and native land. Toronto Star file photo By Norris McDonald Special to the Star Sat., Sept. 16, 2017 Of all the 100-plus cars that will be on display Sunday morning when the fifth Cobble Beach Concours d'Elegance opens to the public, I expect the 1967 sports racing car, the Chinook Can Am Mk 5, will attract a lot of attention. Not too many of those around, unfortunately. And then there were the Hungarian-immigrant Fejer brothers, George and Rudy. Bill Sadler and David Greenblatt were a couple of guys who designed and built road-racing cars while Doug Duncan dreamed up and constructed some of the most wicked fast oval-track supermodifieds you've ever seen, including the first Canadian rear-engine super. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

police: Police did not say that they had nabbed the man believed to have planted the bomb that partially exploded on a crowded London subway train Friday morning, but Home Secretary Amber Rudd and others said the arrest was of major importance, according to CTV. The man is being held under the Terrorism Act and has been brought to London for questioning. Police arrested an 18-year-old man in the port of Dover -- the main ferry link to France -- and then launched a massive armed search in the southwestern London suburb of Sunbury in which they evacuated residents, established a huge cordon and imposed a no-fly zone above the property being searched. His identity is a closely guarded secret and police have implored the press not to speculate while the inquiry unfolds. It's clear that Britain's police and security services are still worried. Authorities would not say if they thought the man was trying to flee to France on a Dover ferry. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rohingya militants: It is not acceptable to Canadians and I am very proud that Canadians are raising their voices here in Canada, according to CBC. The rally was one of two held Saturday attended by hundreds that called for an end to the violence that has forced nearly 400,000 Rohingya to flee since late August when Myanmar security forces began a series of what they have dubbed 'clearance operations' after Rohingya militants attacked police posts. Based on the reports, this looks a lot like ethnic cleansing and that is not acceptable, Freeland said at a rally in Toronto Saturday organized by the the Burma Task Force. Another rally was held on the steps of Ontario's legislature at Queen's Park. On Saturday, Freeland announced Canada's ambassador to Myanmar will seek entry into the once-Muslim-majority state of Rakhine, which independent monitors have so far not been allowed to enter. Calls on Ottawa to revoke Myanmar leader's honorary citizenship Canada provides 2.5M infunding for Rohingya refugees A similar rally was held in Montreal and another was planned for Sunday afternoon outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

security forces: Another 117 people were wounded and one Congolese officer was killed, he said in a statement, according to CTV. Thirty-nine gravely wounded Burundian refugees were evacuated by helicopter to the city of Bukavu, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo said. Maman Sidikou said he was deeply shocked at the violence. Friday's clashes erupted in Kamanyola in Congo's South Kivu province when Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers protested the expulsion of four of their countrymen from Congo, Sidikou said, citing credible reports received by the peacekeeping mission. The UN envoy called for a swift investigation and urged Congo's security forces to use force as a last resort. The death of the Congolese army officer led to the escalation of violence. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

washington post: Allison Joyce / Getty Images By Annie Gowen The Washington Post Sat., Sept. 16, 2017 UKHIA, BANGLADESH The soldiers arrived in the Burma village just after 8 a.m., the villagers said, ready to fight a war, according to Toronto Star. They fired shots in the air, and then, the villagers claim, turned their guns on fleeing residents, who fell dead and wounded in the monsoon-green rice paddy. Nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh since late August during the outbreak of violence in Burma's Rakhine state. The military's retribution for a Rohingya militant attack on police posts earlier that day had begun. Roshid said he saw a soldier grab Yusuf Ali and slit his throat with such ferocity the old man was nearly decapitated. Mohammed Roshid, a rice farmer, heard the gunfire and fled with his wife and children, but his 80-year-old father, who walks with a stick, wasn't as nimble. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

aid partners: DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP/GETTY IMAGES By The Canadian Press Fri., Sept. 15, 2017 OTTAWA Canada is giving Bangladesh extra money to help it cope with the influx of Rohingya Muslims fleeing neighbouring Burma, according to Toronto Star. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says the additional 2.55 million will target care for women, new mothers and children under five. The UN estimates 240,000 children are among the 400,000 Rohingya who have fled Burma since late August. So far this year, Canada has committed to 6.63 million in humanitarian assistance funding to aid partners in Burma and Bangladesh to help conflict-affected people, including the Rohingya. Bibeau says the funds will also help victims of gender-based violence, and will be given to three different United Nations agencies. The announcement follows a 4.3-million contribution by the European Commission earlier this week to help deal with the crisis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

buddhist myanmar: Rohingya villages targets of 'systematic burnings' by Myanmar security forces, Amnesty International says Trudeau presses Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi on violence against Muslim minority Nearly 400,000 Rohingyas, a Muslim minority fleeing a brutal crackdown by the Burmese security forces in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, also known as Burma, have crossed the border with Bangladesh since the latest flare-up of violence on Aug. 25, according to CBC. That's on top of 400,000 Rohingya refugees who were already in Bangladesh. The Canadian funding announcement follows an urgent appeal by the office of the UN Resident Co-ordinator in Bangladesh last week, calling for 77 million US to help humanitarian agencies operating in Cox's Bazar, in eastern Bangladesh, to assist people who have fled violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where many of the Rohingyas have lived for generations. Canada 'deeply concerned' Canada remains deeply concerned about the violence in Rakhine state and the displacement of more than 375,000 people into Bangladesh since late August, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters The support Canada is announcing today will help partners provide life-saving assistance to people fleeing violence. Rohingya refugees reach for aid distributed by local organizations at Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

emergency hotline: Amid the uncertainty, colleges and universities are stepping up efforts to protect students enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, telling them to be hopeful but plan for the worst, according to The Chronicle Herald. Harvard University has opened a round-the-clock emergency hotline for immigrants in the program. Mixed signals from Washington over a possible agreement to preserve protections for young immigrants are increasing anxiety and confusion on college campuses, where the stakes are high. The University of Illinois at Chicago has posted advice on what to do if federal agents show up on campus. Nearly sixty college and university presidents sent a letter urging congressional leaders to make the program permanent out of moral imperative and a national necessity. UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco and many other campuses are offering free legal advice to immigrant students now facing fears of deportation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

european roots: This hinders our ability to tackle the root of the problem and not just the divisive outcome that we have been speaking of since early 2016, according to Rabble. Beyond the analytical threat this re-emergent rhetoric poses, there is also a very real and immediate threat. One of the dangerous outcomes of these events is that the more we focus on them, the more they obfuscate and shift analysis away from the reasons they have emerged. The racist ideology at the core of these movements -- the alt-right, nationalists, or whatever name they chose to co-opt to disguise their white supremacist core -- is driven by the belief that the white race, with its European roots, is better equipped to handle power than their non-white counterparts. To substantiate this threat, these racist organizations lean on conspiracy theories -- orchestrated and behind-the-scene efforts by others Jews, Muslims, Communists, and social Liberals to undermine their power and authority. Their call to action hinges on the idea that whites are being squeezed out of power and control by the left, political correctness, and immigration -- ultimately they perceive that their actions constitute a measured defensive response to a white genocide. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gender-based violence: So far this year, Canada has committed to 6.63 million in humanitarian assistance funding to aid partners in Myanmar and Bangladesh to help conflict-affected people, including the Rohingya, according to CTV. The announcement follows a 4.3-million contribution by the European Commission earlier this week to help deal with the crisis. The additional 2.55 million is aimed at helping provide care for women, new mothers and children under five, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement. Bibeau said the funds will also help victims of gender-based violence, and will be provided to three different United Nations agencies. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, also an honorary Canadian citizen, says her government is fighting a militant insurgency. The UN estimates 240,000 children are among the 400,000 Rohingya who have fled Myanmar since late August, recounting attacks by government troops and Buddhist mobs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ice agents: When we became aware of it last week, it was discontinued, according to CTV. Statement Regarding Recent Media Reports on Phoenix-area Location Motel 6 motel6 14 September 2017 Employees at a Motel 6 near a stretch of other budget motels, discount stores and fast food restaurants - refused to answer questions Thursday and referred all queries to corporate headquarters. In a tweet about reports first published in the Phoenix New Times, Motel 6 said Wednesday This was implemented at the local level without the knowledge of senior management. The news that Motel 6 workers in Phoenix were aiding ICE agents immediately thrust the chain into the national immigration debate, with some detractors complaining about its vague and tepid statement. They'll leave the light on - for ICE and police, Cecilia Wang, national deputy director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a tweet. Social media exploded with criticism and satire aimed at the budget motel chain, with some playing off its slogan We'll leave the light on for you. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.