hug christmas: When he'd come by a newsroom or Variety Village every December to drop off cash and cheques for charity, he'd have his Santa's hat on and there wasn't a sports editor or writer over the past five decades who wouldn't drop what they were doing and give the generous old guy a big hug, according to Toronto Star. Christmas just won't be the same now. But to most people, at least in Toronto newsrooms and charities, he was the spirit of Christmas. Greenberg, as giving with his time and fundraising efforts as anyone could be, passed away at age 89 last Saturday. Article Continued Below Greenberg, who grew up in a Jewish family and spent his entire life living on Major Street in the Annex, took it upon himself to raise money for children in need at Christmas. He'll be a tough act to follow. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigrants: It's been a positive experience thus far, for sure, said Baker, according to The Chronicle Herald. The changes to the entrepreneurship stream of the nominee program came into effect earlier this year and were intended to get more immigrants to start businesses and put down roots in P.E.I. communities other than Charlottetown, Stratford and Cornwall, where immigrants have tended to settle. Geoff Baker, Kensington's chief administrative officer, said recently that in the two months since the changes came into effect, he's done 16 interviews with potential immigrants interested in getting a letter of endorsement from the Town of Kensington. Prior to the program changes, the provincial nominee program operated on a first-in, first-out system. Unlike the previous system, people applying to the program can now seek endorsements from a list of Island municipalities. It now uses a ranked system, where top-scoring applicants are invited to proceed within the program. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

interview monday: We have the old established communities, and we have the new communities, according to CTV. I really want to be an ambassador and work at the grassroots level to bring these voices to the fore. There are so many voices here from all over the world and each community is brimming with stories, is brimming with spoken word, is brimming with poetry, Afua Cooper said in an interview Monday. Cooper has published five books of poetry and is also a writer of young adult fiction and history. Her book The Hanging of Angelique The Untold Story of Slavery in Canada and the Burning of Old Montreal was a national best-seller, and was short listed for the Governor General's Award. She is the co-creator of Black Halifax, an interdisciplinary presentation that uses poetry and spoken word to tell Halifax's 300 year-old African Nova Scotian history. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

scotia: The college is there to talk about licensing and answer questions of can you work in Nova Scotia ' The Nova Scotia Health Authority will be there basically to talk to them about the jobs that they have available, and we are there as the Nova Scotia office of immigration to tell them how they can get here to Nova Scotia from the new stream we have devised that is a faster, more simple, process, Diab said, according to The Chronicle Herald. Events will be held in both cities with the aim of attracting more doctors as part of recruitment efforts targeting the U.K., Ireland, Australia and the United States, Diab said. Diab, as well as representatives from the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, will head to Dublin on Wednesday, followed by London, before heading back on Sunday. Physicians licensed to practise in those countries have credentials already recognized by Canada. The four doctors will work in Cape Breton, Antigonish and Halifax, and a fifth application is being processed and is expected to be finalized this month. The province launched a physician-specific immigration stream in February aimed at making the immigration process faster for physicians with Canadian-approved credentials, and has brought in three family doctors and one specialist who are on a path to permanent residency. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

soccer league: Hubert Akilimali, 34, was born in Congo but was forced to flee due to conflict, according to CTV. He arrived in Canada nine years ago, and says the Wasps have become like a family. Members of the Wasps FC came from four different continents to seek a better life in Canada, and they've found camaraderie in their new home though the universal language of sport. Akilimali says the team was put together last year in honour of his friend Jean-Baptiste J.B. Ajua, a Rwandan refugee who was trying to organize a team full of refugees to compete in the Manitoba Major Soccer League. The Wasps are hoping to make Ajua's dream a reality. Ajua, who was a rising star on the University of Manitoba track and field team, drowned in the summer of 2016 at Birds Hill Provincial Park at the age of 22. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

thatch-roofed homes: Officials backed away from initial reports that Woodroffe was the principal suspect in Arevalo's killing, according to Toronto Star. Arevalo and Woodroffe were both killed Thursday in the Indigenous community of Victoria Gracia, officials said. The Peruvian attorney general's office said Sebastian Woodroffe was dragged by the neck shortly after the killing of Olivia Arevalo, an octogenarian plant healer from the Shipibo-Konibo tribe of northeastern Peru. But police did not begin to investigate until a cellphone video appeared in local media showing a man purported to be Woodroffe begging for mercy while being dragged between thatch-roofed homes. Read more Mother of Canadian man missing for months in Peru says she won't give up search Article Continued Below Canadian allegedly killed Briton during spiritual retreat in Peru Canadian dies in Peru after drinking tea with shaman On Saturday, officials dug up Woodroffe's body from an unmarked grave where he had been hastily buried. react-empty 139 Every year thousands of foreign tourists travel to the Peruvian Amazon to experiment with ayahuasca, a bitter, dark-coloured brew made of a mixture of native plants. He was then left motionless on the muddy ground. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trudeau: Thank you to the first responders working at the scene we're monitoring the situation closely, according to CTV. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible incident at Yonge and Finch in Toronto. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible incident, wrote Trudeau in a tweet. Thank you to the first responders working at the scene we're monitoring the situation closely. We are all unsettled and very disturbed by a situation like this. Justin Trudeau Justin Trudeau April 23, 2018 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne assured Ontarians that all levels of government and police services are working together to investigate the incident and expressed her shock at the incident. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

work upfront: George Chahal will bring forward a notice of motion asking administration to revamp the city's approach to engaging ethnocultural citizens with better-tailored approaches depending on projects and communities along with more translation resources, according to Toronto Star. It's being proactive and preventative and doing the work upfront, said Chahal. This week, Coun. Understanding who we're speaking to ... maybe we need to actually go to them rather than expecting them to come to us. But his idea has brought out questions from some of his council colleagues who believe civic engagement is important but may require more than translation and shifting the city's tactics. This comes after his Ward 5 office began fielding calls from diverse constituents in need of help from simple city service offerings and answers to basic questions they couldn't easily find elsewhere. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

interview monday: I really want to be an ambassador and work at the grassroots level to bring these voices to the fore, according to Vancouver Courier. Cooper has published five books of poetry and is also a writer of young adult fiction and history. There are so many voices here from all over the world and each community is brimming with stories, is brimming with spoken word, is brimming with poetry, Afua Cooper said in an interview Monday.article continues below Trending Stories Downtown playground had been problematic' prior to fire Inside the dark 'incel' world of Toronto's murderous rampage Police warn Bitcoin ATMs easier, more profitable' for laundering money than casinos Liberal leader takes shot at employer health tax during visit to manufacturing business We have the old established communities, and we have the new communities. She is the co-creator of Black Halifax, an interdisciplinary presentation that uses poetry and spoken word to tell Halifax's 300 year-old African Nova Scotian history. Cooper assumes the mantle of Halifax poet laureate on Tuesday, becoming the seventh in a line of female poets who have used the position to shed light on community issues and spark political action.A poem last year by outgoing poet laureate Rebecca Thomas a Mi'kmaq woman and the first Indigenous person to hold the role prompted council to reopen debate over how the city commemorates its controversial founder. Her book The Hanging of Angelique The Untold Story of Slavery in Canada and the Burning of Old Montreal was a national best-seller, and was short listed for the Governor General's Award. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ban: The justices' first deep dive into a Trump administration policy comes in a dispute over the third and latest version of the administration's ban on travel from some countries with majority Muslim populations, according to Vancouver Courier. Opponents of the policy and some lower courts have labeled it a Muslim ban, harking back to Trump's campaign call to keep Muslims from entering the country.article continues below Trending Stories Inside the dark 'incel' world of Toronto's murderous rampage Downtown playground had been problematic' prior to fire Police warn Bitcoin ATMs easier, more profitable' for laundering money than casinosDFO, NEB to inspect Trans Mountain Burnaby site this week after reported sediment spill The high-stakes arguments at the high court on Wednesday could offer some indication about how a court that runs on respect for traditions and precedent will deal with a president who regularly breaks with convention. That's about to change. Apart from the campaign statements, Trump's presidential tweets about the travel ban and last fall's retweets of inflammatory videos that stoked anti-Islam sentiment all could feature in the court's discussion of the travel ban's legality. But I think the president set it up so that it's virtually impossible to ignore him when he's shouting from the rooftops about what his purpose was in the three versions of the ban, said Cecillia Wang, the American Civil Liberties Union's deputy legal director. The court could get to the right outcome without getting into the question of his tweets. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee crisis: Scheer sees an opening for the Tories now that the Bloc Quebecois appears to be tearing itself apart, according to National Observer. And the refugee crisis at the Quebec-New York state border is providing him with talking points in the province that positions his party in stark contrast with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals. Party leader Andrew Scheer like his predecessors says Conservative policies such as low taxes, strong borders and respect for provincial jurisdiction make his party the natural choice at the federal level for Quebecers. ; But while the message might be similar to the one trotted out by the Tories before the 2015 election, the context is not. On Friday, the second day of the Conservatives' cross-Quebec tour, Scheer sat down with Cogeco Nouvelles for a radio interview in Trois-Rivieres, about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. It's been more than one year and the Trudeau government has done nothing, Scheer said in the French-language interview. The Conservative leader hammered home his message on what he called illegal immigrants. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

school: The news is worrying to Montreal-area French school boards because they're running out of classrooms and specialized teachers to properly absorb the newcomers, according to National Observer. If there are more arrivals this summer than we had in the last few months, we don't have enough space, not enough classes, said Catherine Harel Bourdon, president of Montreal's largest school board. Quebec received some 25,000 asylum seekers overall at regular and irregular border crossings last year and many were families with young children. ; And with more than 6,000 new arrivals already this year, some officials are predicting the numbers will only rise over the summer. Harel Bourdon says the school board has received some 1,300 asylum seekers in the past three years. And her school board isn't the only one feeling the pressure. In the first three months of 2018 alone, there have been 250 new students entering welcome classes the equivalent of a little school, she said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trump administration: But the Trump administration has political reasons to hurry, according to National Observer. There are just weeks left to meet the legislative deadlines for ratifying a deal in the U.S. Congress this year. Those teams kept talking while their political masters leading the process left Washington on Friday, with plans to reconvene there early next week. ; Sources familiar with the talks say the sides are finalizing rules on auto parts; are still far apart over dairy, public procurement, and pharmaceuticals; and are likely inching toward a deal that will pare down the controversial dispute mechanism under NAFTA's Chapter 11 that lets companies sue governments.''You can call this a perpetual negotiating round,'' Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said, before departing for the weekend.''We have had some very energetic and productive conversations.''She and her Mexican colleague are both rejecting the idea of deadline pressure, insisting there is no requirement to get everything done by some specific date ''It will take as long as it takes to get a great win-win deal,'' Freeland said. The administration is keen to have the agreement voted on during the current, friendlier, Republican-led Congress, as polls show a potential transfer in power after the November midterms. That carrot-and-stick tactic would be extremely high-risk, said Phil Levy, a former trade economist for George W. Bush and a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The White House has been weighing different hardball tactics to force Congress to move quickly on ratification and one involves a dramatic threat to cancel the existing NAFTA if lawmakers don't approve the new one. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

congolese restaurant: Now, Kavungu calls power-forward Serge Ibaka a loyal customer, according to Toronto Star. Ma Yv Grill in Pickering has been serving up authentic Congolese food for the past six years. But when she heard another Congolese basketball player was coming to Toronto's beloved team, she had already learned his name by the time he called in with a food order. It's probably the only Congolese restaurant in the GTA, as far as Kavungu's count goes, after a place downtown and another in Scarborough closed down. Switching to her native French, she explains her excitement of being there to serve our community, and all the people who love adventure, and tasting exotic food. Read more Raptors fan favourite all Biz-ness in return with Magic Article Continued Below Raptors' Serge Ibaka making a difference at the rim We really want for people to know Congolese food, because there's not many restaurants Kavungu said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

designer clothing: In their recent class, they watched a documentary by Filipino-Canadian filmmaker Alex Humilde entitled Balikbayans about the cardboard boxes that Filipino migrant workers use to ship non-perishable food, household items, electronics, toys and designer clothing they buy with their hard-earned money back to their loved ones in the Philippines, according to Toronto Star. They also learned about the significance of remittances sent from migrant workers to the developing world, and were shocked to find out that every year an estimated 2 billion U.S. is wired from Canada to the Philippines. Ursula Catholic School in Scarborough. The new Filipino-centred curriculum, launched in March, is refreshing to Cabrera and Austria, who are both 13 and second-generation Filipino-Canadians. I found the class very engaging because it connected with me. The content was familiar to them, and was the first time they saw their culture and community reflected in what's being taught in school. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mini phenomenon: Studio estimates on Sunday have placed A Quiet Place, with 22 million, in first, and Rampage in second with 21 million, but it's possible those numbers may shift when final results are tallied on Monday, according to CTV. Still, John Krasinski's A Quiet Place continues to be a mini phenomenon. This time buzz had the slight advantage. With a 17 million production budget, A Quiet Place has grossed 132.4 million from North American theatres in three weeks. The film boasts a worldwide tally of 283 million, and Johnson has continued using his social media accounts to hype the film and thank audiences. Rampage, too, is down only 41 per cent domestically in its second weekend and continues to rake in the dollars globally. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

name woodroffe: Relatives of Olivia Arevalo Lomas, 81, said that a foreigner had asked her for a healing session and then shot her to death, according to CTV. The man's body was later found buried about one kilometre from Arevalo's home, and an autopsy showed he died by strangulation after receiving several blows. That man has been identified in a statement from Peru's interior ministry as Canadian Sebastian Paul Woodroffe. A Twitter account for Peru's Ombudsman's Office called for an investigation after the lynching and murder of the alleged perpetrator of Arevalo's assassination. Prosecutors said they were exploring several theories related to Arevalo's murder and that they would not rest until her murder is solved. The Ombudsman's office did not name Woodroffe. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ontario: In the past, more than half of newcomers settled in Ontario, according to Toronto Star. The vast majority of Ontario's newcomers 85,500 in 2017 settled in the Greater Toronto Area, which saw an increase of 5.4 per cent from two years earlier. The number of permanent residents settling in the province has rebounded to 111,925, or 39 per cent of the 286,480 new arrivals to Canada last year, from a low of 95,828, or 36.8 per cent of the 260,411 in 2014. This past January alone, Ontario received 10,870 new permanent residents, up 48.6 per cent from 7,315 in the same period last year. Experts said the immigration bump in the GTA and Ontario appears to be due to the economic downturn in Alberta, which saw immigrant arrivals drop to 42,100 last year from 49,200 in 2016, with its national share declining to 14.7 per cent from 16.3 per cent. Greater Toronto's share was 8,600, 57.2 per cent higher than January 2017. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

policy change: Windrush was the name of the ship that brought the first load of immigrants from Caribbean countries in 1948, according to CTV. The Commonwealth immigrants who arrived in the decades after that have come to be known as the Windrush generation. Some of the victims of the so-called Windrush scandal have been let go from their jobs, lost access to vital social services and faced deportation. Many of them came as children and were never formally given paperwork, despite being legally in the U.K. After a policy change in 2013 when May was Home Secretary, some employers were forced to check immigration statuses, and many members of the Windrush generation received letters telling them to leave. The special needs teaching assistant arrived in the U.K. with his parents in 1961 at the age of eight. Michael Braithwaite, who was born in Barbados, lost his job as a result of the policy after more than five decades in the country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

asylum seekers: And with more than 6,000 new arrivals already this year, some officials are predicting the numbers will only rise over the summer, according to CTV. The news is worrying to Montreal-area French school boards because they're running out of classrooms and specialized teachers to properly absorb the newcomers. Quebec received some 25,000 asylum seekers overall at regular and irregular border crossings last year and many were families with young children. If there are more arrivals this summer than we had in the last few months, we don't have enough space, not enough classes, said Catherine Harel Bourdon, president of Montreal's largest school board. In the first three months of 2018 alone, there have been 250 new students entering welcome classes -- the equivalent of a little school, she said. Harel Bourdon says the school board has received some 1,300 asylum seekers in the past three years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

friday afternoon: Several required medical attention for dehydration and exhaustion, local authorities said, according to The Chronicle Herald. Fariq Muhammad said he paid the equivalent of about 150 for a place on the boat that left from Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a violent military crackdown on Rohingya has sparked an exodus of some 700,000 refugees over land into neighbouring Bangladesh since August. The eight children, 25 women and 43 men were brought ashore on Friday afternoon at Bireuen in Aceh province on the island of Sumatra, the third known attempt by members of the ethnic minority to escape Myanmar by sea this month. The refugee vessel was intercepted by a Thai navy frigate and later escorted by a Thai patrol vessel until sighting land, said Fariq. We were forced to leave because we could not stay, could not work, so our lives became difficult in Myanmar. The group believed the Thais understood they wanted to reach Malaysia and were dismayed when they realized they were in Indonesia, said Fariq, who gave the identification numbers of the Thai vessels. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

highrise building: We should be building a healthy supply of new homes equally fast so that newcomers and established residents can find places to live at prices they can afford, according to Toronto Star. Unfortunately, as things stand, getting new homes to market in the GTA is a process hindered by red tape and lengthy delays. New residents bring their skills and talents, and they spur economic growth from which we all benefit. In order to get approvals for a new project, developers have to navigate layers of government regulation. To be clear, our industry supports regulation that ensures safe, well-built projects. On the municipal level alone, they go through 15 major approval steps to complete a townhouse complex or a single-family home, and nine major steps for a highrise building. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

halifax saturday: Some graduates received diplomas in advanced project management, information management, customer service and some in all three, according to CTV. The African Diaspora Association has spent the last 15 years helping immigrants. Celebrations were held at a culture caf in Halifax Saturday. Robinah Kakembo is part of the association and she says the program aims to build more than just connections. Kakembo says she knows only too well how badly the programs are needed. In terms of social connections, building networks among immigrants, and supporting immigrants in terms of employment, education and training programs, even just integration, says Kakembo. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

islamophobic posters: While one could claim these are isolated incidents, these events have pointed to a larger issue at play, according to The Chronicle Herald. In Newfoundland and Labrador, visible minorities defined as non-Indigenous and non-white are discriminated against based on the colour of their skin, according to a recent survey by Corporate Research Associates, a global public opinion and market research company. Racist and Islamophobic posters were found at Memorial University and Blackface was portrayed at the local branch of the Law Enforcement Torch Run. It operates the independent Atlantic Quarterly and it conducts quarterly telephone surveys to track political, economic and social trends affecting residents in the Atlantic region. Blackface was portrayed at the local branch of the Law Enforcement Torch Run. In the survey, only four per cent of respondents reported that they experienced racial discrimination five or more years ago, but nine per cent said that they were the targets of racial discrimination in the last five years, suggesting that racism in the province has been increasing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

region: We should be importing them to build on our dream here in Atlantic Canada, according to The Chronicle Herald. Without more people we cannot deliver on the services that you and I and our families expect in this region. I think the single biggest thing we can do as a region, as a population, is to welcome more new Canadians to our region and allow them the opportunity that all of us have been given to build a wonderful life for ourselves here, Stephen McNeil said during a panel with the three other Liberal premiers in Atlantic Canada. In a backhanded swipe at the previous NDP government, McNeil said when the Liberals were elected in 2013, we came in with a half-a-billion-dollar deficit, we had no migration of young people into the province and our population was declining. . . . The last two years we've had more young people move into our province than move out and we've seen a tremendous growth in new Nova Scotians who are coming here looking for hopes to build a new life here. During that period, 1,022 left the province. According to Statistics Canada, 4,356 people moved into Nova Scotia between June 2016 and June 2017. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sumatra aceh: It was unclear how long they had been at sea, said Riza Yulianto, the police chief of Bireuen regency in Aceh on the island of Sumatra, according to Toronto Star. Aceh's Disaster Mitigation Agency said the Rohingya told local authorities that they wanted to reach Australia. The group of eight children, 25 women and 43 men was brought ashore in their wooden boat Friday afternoon. Read more Opinion Tony Burman Who can help save the Rohingya Canada Article Continued Below No end in sight for Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh six months after attacks Report urges Canada take lead to aid Rohingya refugees The agency said it was co-ordinating with the local government to provide temporary shelter. Hidayatullah, who uses one name, said fisherman went to the aid of the Rohingya after seeing the boat at about 2 p.m. It said seven people were given medical treatment. react-empty 142 Officials were interviewing the refugees, and villagers had donated clothes and food, said Hidayatullah from the local civic group Rapid Response Action. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.