immigrants: According to the Angus Reid Institute, 49 per cent of surveyed Canadians want to see the federal government's 2018 target of 310,000 immigrants reduced, indicating that Canada will have to work harder to maintain its position as a beacon of diversity in the world, Olga Stachova writes, according to Toronto Star. Richard Lautens / Toronto Star file photo This statistic is both startling and revealing because this is the first time since Justin Trudeau became prime minister that such a large number of Canadians are saying there should be fewer immigrants to Canada. According to the Angus Reid Institute, 49 per cent of surveyed Canadians want to see the federal government's 2018 target of 310,000 immigrants reduced. The Liberal government under Prime Minister Trudeau has raised the target for new permanent residents from approximately 250,000 under the Conservative government of former prime minister Stephen Harper. Extrapolate this poll finding and you will find a troubling consensus building across the political spectrum. The target for 2017 was 300,000, rising to 310,000 for this year and increasing incrementally in the coming years to 340,000 in 2020. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

malay women: The caning in northeast Terengganu state was due Tuesday but reportedly postponed to Sept. 3 due to technical reasons, according to CTV. Amnesty says a delay is not enough and calls for the sentences to be quashed immediately and unconditionally to reverse this injustice once and for all. Two unidentified ethnic Malay women, aged 22 and 32, had pleaded guilty for attempting to have sexual intercourse and were sentenced to six strokes of a cane and fined by a Shariah court earlier this month. It said Wednesday the court's decision comes amid growing concern of a climate of fear and discrimination against people in Malaysia's lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered community. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

plate: I am very, very proud to be given that particular plate, said Lt.-Col, according to Rabble. Archie Steacy of the B.C. Veterans Commemorative Association, which is leading opposition to the change. The opposition has complained the consultation is only taking place online while some military veterans have threatened to return their special licenses if the RCMP are allowed to join their exclusive club. Having served in the armed forces for a period of 38 years I feel really good when I am driving my car and people stop me to say thank you. Much to the chagrin of some military veterans, the Legion's definition of a veteran now includes former RCMP. In the mid-2000s every province adopted a special veterans licence plate. Granted a monopoly over the poppy symbol nearly a century ago, the Royal Canadian Legion allows provincial governments to use their trademark poppy on licence plates to signify the driver is a veteran. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee health: Jouma's brother is anemic, resulting in routine hospital visits, according to CTV. My little brother knows English good, but not the hospital language. Ammar Jouma, 17, and his family are experiencing these obstacles weekly. So we have really difficulties sic in hospital to understand what they are saying or what we want to explain to them sic Jouma said. In terms of health, we just don't have any support from the province here, said Rhianna Charchuk, an advocate for refugee health. Jouma's concerns about language barriers were shared alongside a panel of stakeholders which spoke in front of a city committee Wednesday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

wares: She also made time for interviews on location, according to The Chronicle Herald. When people talk about my Mom, they say, the first day you meet Ngozi, is the very moment she will begin to help you plan your life,' recalled Otti's son Toby. The founder of the African Community Investment Cooperative of Canada and mother of six was stricken with cancer but saw to it that the 20 or so participants, mostly immigrants, had a respectable venue to show their traditional food, clothing and other wares at the co-operative's caf on Herring Cove Road. She would forget about herself to help others succeed. The teenager is attempting to raise 50,000 to fulfill his mother's dream of being buried in her home of Nigeria surrounded by her husband and children. The 19-year-old Dalhousie University student made those statements in a moving tribute to his mother who died on Friday, leaving behind a family of seven as well as a wider African immigrant community in Halifax. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

game plan: The court has set dates that are earlier than any of the lawyers wanted, but the court had openings in its schedule, Cohen said in an interview, according to Vancouver Courier. We're going to have to expedite our preparation ... But that shouldn't get in the way of our game plan or our hope for success. Defence lawyer Lee Cohen entered the pleas for his two clients Wednesday in provincial court in Charlottetown.article continues below Trending Stories EXTREME BEAR ACTIVITY' forces closure of two Metro Vancouver trailsB.C. wineries need us to drink their wines to offset losses of wildfire seasonCTV Vancouver reveals its 'major refresh' as former anchor prepares to give her side of the story Is this the most distracted driver in B.C. Judge Nancy Orr decided that an eight-day trial will begin Nov. 30, with seven other days set aside in December. In May, the Canada Border Services Agency charged 60-year-old Ping Zhong with three counts of aiding and abetting misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The siblings are alleged to have provided residential addresses to business immigrants seeking permanent residency, though the immigrants didn't really live on the Island as required under the province's immigration system. Five charges were laid against her 58-year-old brother, Yi Zhong. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

labour shortage: We have established one of the best economic and financial performances of recent history in Quebec, according to National Observer. We have done this. The Liberals' Philippe Couillard lauded his government's performance over the last few years while at the same time trying to portray Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault as an economic liability. ; We are the party of the economy and we have proven it, Couillard said in Yamachiche in central Quebec. I have done that. Couillard also accused Legault of failing to recognize what he called the major economic challenge facing Quebec the existence of a labour shortage in the province. Recent opinion polls have consistently placed the Coalition in first place and Couillard is no doubt hoping to narrow that gap before the Oct. 1 election by repeatedly hammering home the message of sound Liberal economic stewardship. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee agency: I saw myself in every parent, according to Vancouver Courier. How can any mother endure seeing her child thrown into a fire The two-time Academy Award winner said Their experiences will never leave me. In her very different role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, Blanchett said she heard gut-wrenching accounts of torture, rape, people seeing loved ones killed before their eyes, and children thrown into fire and burned alive.article continues below Trending Stories EXTREME BEAR ACTIVITY' forces closure of two Metro Vancouver trailsB.C. wineries need us to drink their wines to offset losses of wildfire seasonCTV Vancouver reveals its 'major refresh' as former anchor prepares to give her side of the story Is this the most distracted driver in B.C. I am a mother, and I saw my children in the eyes of every single refugee child I met, she said. The Rohingya have long been treated as outsiders in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, even though their families have lived in the country for generations. The latest crisis began with attacks by an underground Rohingya insurgent group on Myanmar security personnel last August in northern Rakhine State. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sadava: Sep 6, 9 15 pm, Winter Garden; Sep 7, 12 45 pm, TBLB 1; Sep 15, 6 pm, AGO. See listing, according to NOW Magazine. See review September 6 at nowtoronto/movies. And then director Patricia Rozema saw the show.MOUTHPIECE directed by Patricia Rozema, written by Amy Nostbakken, Norah Sadava from their play and Rozema, with Nostbakken, Sadava, Maev Beaty, Ari Cohen, Jake Epstein and Jess Salgueiro. 91 minutes. There's nothing new about acclaimed plays being adapted for the screen, but usually those plays feature strong plots, compelling dialogue and well-defined characters. There's very little plot in the two-hander. No disrespect to Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, but their indie stage sensation Mouthpiece features none of that. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

union activist: I found that out when the civil rights leader and union activist was honoured by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council in May and Armstrong took me along as one of his guests, according to NOW Magazine. A rainbow of people in their 20s to their 80s clamoured for his attention. Rolling with Bromley Armstrong was like rolling with Elvis. The Labour Council established an award in his name in 2004. Armstrong died August 17, which also happens to be the birthday of Jamaica's national hero, Marcus Mosiah Garvey. It's given to a person who demonstrates outstanding leadership on labour and human rights. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

bill blair: Bill Blair, federal minister of border security and organized crime reduction, attends a press conference in Toronto on Friday, August 3, according to Toronto Star. Bill Blair, the new minister responsible for border security and organized crime reduction, is officially tasked with leading the charge on irregular migration. In a freshly minted mandate letter made public Tuesday, the prime minister asks Blair to lead conversations with the United States on the Safe Third Country Agreement, working closely with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen. A mandate letter from the prime minister says Blair's work will be supported by the departments of Public Safety, Immigration and Foreign Affairs. Blair's work will be supported by the departments of Public Safety, Immigration and Foreign Affairs, the letter says. Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS The agreement stipulates that asylum seekers are required to make their refugee claims in the first safe country in which they arrive meaning those who come into Canada at an official land border crossing are sent back to make their claim in the U.S. The agreement does not cover irregular asylum seekers those entering Canada at unofficial points, most notably in Quebec. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

border: The representative in Canada for the UN High Commissioner for refugees says people shouldn't be qualified as illegal, according to CTV. They are irregular arrivals. Some argue they are illegal migrants, while others refer to irregular crossings due to the entries happening away from official border points. They enter irregularly, but there is nothing illegal when you cross an international border to claim asylum. Conservative MPs say the act of crossing the border is illegal -- it's an offence under the Customs Act -- and therefore that's the term they will use. The Immigration and Refugees Protection Act is very clear on the fact that it is applicable also to people who transit through another country, Jean-Nicolas Beuze told MPs on the citizenship committee last July. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gottingen street: Perhaps you have never set eyes on the man, who was tall and broad until disease took hold of him, who sported a grey soul patch the first time we met, and who spoke with the sonorous tones of someone who had spent time around show business, according to The Chronicle Herald. But you know his work, whether you realize it or not. So, on Monday, three days after his death, I took the Hallywood tour, which is meant to be done on foot, so that you can move easily up and down the streets of north-end Halifax that Forbes made his own. On Gottingen Street where his heritage carpentry shop, Forbes Restoration, now sits forlornly vacant, but also up on the surrounding streets. Along, as well, Falkland and Cogswell streets where a run of residences, painted in authentic period colours, have, at some point or other, also been Hal-ed. Along Maynard, for example, where a string of wooden, semi-detached houses, built while Queen Victoria sat on the English throne, bear his personal touch, including what one commentator described as well-proportioned windows and robust fascia mouldings. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

quebec work: The agreement stipulates that asylum seekers are required to make their refugee claims in the first safe country in which they arrive meaning those who come into Canada at an official land border crossing are sent back to make their claim in the U.S. The agreement does not cover irregular asylum seekers those entering Canada at unofficial points, most notably in Quebec, according to The Chronicle Herald. Blair's work will be supported by the departments of Public Safety, Immigration and Foreign Affairs, the letter says. In a freshly minted mandate letter made public Tuesday, the prime minister asks Blair to lead conversations with the United States on the Safe Third Country Agreement, working closely with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen. Blair will report to Public Safety. The letter contains no formal commitment to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement in such a way that would close the loophole that facilitates the Roxham Road crossing in Quebec. Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel called Blair's appointment an exercise in public relations, not a plan of action. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

security forces: It has been accused of being lax in fighting online misinformation and manipulation in many countries, but Myanmar is one where it has been most closely tied to deadly violence, according to CTV. Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine over the past year in response to a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the military, which has been accused of massive human rights violations. The social media giant was heavily criticized for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims. Critics accuse the military of carrying out ethnic cleansing, or even genocide, an allegation denied by the government, which says it was responding to attacks on security forces. It said it was deleting 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages. Facebook said it also targeted pages and accounts that pretended to provide independent news and opinion, while covertly promoting messages of Myanmar's military. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

vicki maruyama: But that's a far cry from the Canadian citizenship she believes they deserve, she said, according to CTV. They're not Canadian because I'm not Canadian enough apparently, she told CTV News. The two children of Vicki Maruyama a Canadian citizen were able to get into the country last week from Japan under a temporary resident permit. It made me feel horrible. Public anger about the cost of helping 15,000 so-called Canadians of convenience evacuate from Lebanon during a 2006 war started the then-Conservative government working on Bill C-37. I was like, What We live here, I'm from here, I grew up here.' Maruyama's family is another example of how a law designed to stop people from taking advantage of the perks of citizenship seems to be ensnaring people with real ties to Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

western-backed coalition: The U.N. panel also pointed to possible war crimes by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels who have been fighting the coalition that gets support from the U.S., Britain and France, according to The Chronicle Herald. In one of the first reactions to the report, a Saudi diplomat told The Associated Press that the findings were not accurate. Their report the first since being mandated to investigate by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council nearly a year ago is increasing international pressure on the Saudis' Western-backed coalition that already has been widely condemned for devastating airstrikes on civilians as well as combatants. In 2015, Saudi Arabia announced it would lead a coalition of countries against the Houthi rebels who had ousted Yemen's internationally recognized government. The experts documented 6,475 deaths from March 2015 until last June, but said the real figure is likely to be significantly higher. In the years since then, the U.N. says the conflict has become the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22 million people in desperate need in what is already the Arab world's poorest country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mandate letter: Blair's work will be supported by the departments of Public Safety, Immigration and Foreign Affairs, the letter says, according to Vancouver Courier. Blair will report to Public Safety. In a freshly minted mandate letter made public Tuesday, the prime minister asks Blair to lead conversations with the United States on the Safe Third Country Agreement, working closely with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.article continues below Trending StoriesB.C. wineries need us to drink their wines to offset losses of wildfire season Gangs of VancouverUBC has the perfect study for unhappy perfectionists Help desperately wanted Squamish businesses held back by lack of staff The agreement stipulates that asylum seekers are required to make their refugee claims in the first safe country in which they arrive meaning those who come into Canada at an official land border crossing are sent back to make their claim in the U.S. The agreement does not cover irregular asylum seekers those entering Canada at unofficial points, most notably in Quebec. Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel called Blair's appointment an exercise in public relations, not a plan of action. This is because Justin Trudeau has no intention of doing so. The letter contains no formal commitment to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement in such a way that would close the loophole that facilitates the Roxham Road crossing in Quebec. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

environment: It also noted the committee's mandate remains the same and still includes the consideration of climate change, and the federal environment minister still counts herself a member, according to National Observer. The moves are among a host of changes made Aug. 28 to Canada's governance, in the wake of last month's cabinet shuffle and in the lead-up to the 2019 election. Trudeau also launched a new cabinet committee devoted entirely to Indigenous reconciliation, as part of a cabinet restructuring that was unveiled Tuesday. ; The renaming of the Environment, Climate Change and Energy cabinet committee to Environment and Clean Growth reflects the government's commitment to addressing climate change through growing the economy, Trudeau's office said. New mandate letters for rookie ministers were announced, too, with Bill Blair, the new minister in charge of border security and organized crime, ordered to lead conversations with the United States on the Safe Third Country Agreement governing asylum seekers. They are also an opportunity for ministers to get briefed on the latest tricky issues affecting their files. Cabinet committees are influential, often-overlooked gatherings where ministers decide on how to push the government's agenda forward. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

february: She claims she was hired on as a multicultural customer service representative in February 2018 and allegedly fired without cause or notice three months later.article continues below Trending StoriesB.C. wineries need us to drink their wines to offset losses of wildfire season Help desperately wanted Squamish businesses held back by lack of staffPNE transformation just getting started be different but stay the same Cover Dale Mackay and his son Ayden are the perfect ensemble Throughout her employment the plaintiff was forced to provide customers who spoke Cantonese and/or Mandarin better deals than customer who did not speak Cantonese or Mardarin, the claim states, according to Vancouver Courier. Further, the unlawful discriminatory pricing scheme violates consumer protection laws as well as societal mores. Kwok Bo Daisy Halliday filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on August 15. In many though not all instances, the unlawful discriminatory pricing scheme inflicts human rights abuses upon customers and/or potential customers of the defendants. Halliday claims punitive damages must be set at an amount which will financially impact the defendant, and must accordingly be set with reference to the defendant's vast financial wealth and resources. Forcing the plaintiff to foist this upon consumers represents a marked departure from the type of workplace Canadians should feel entitled to and warrants the rebuke of this court. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

party policy: Scheer said Conservatives recognize that there are many Canadians who have been born in Canada by parents who have come here to stay and who have contributed greatly, according to National Observer. I will not end the core policy that facilitates this. Tories who attended the biennial convention in Halifax passed a new party policy, which is non-binding, that calls for the government to enact legislation to end birthright citizenship in Canada unless one of the parents of the child born in Canada is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada. ; Critics on social media accused the Conservatives of supporting a policy that could lead to stateless children, prompting Scheer to issue a statement late Sunday saying that while the policy did not specifically target ending birth tourism, ending birth tourism will be among the objectives of our policy. Unlike Justin Trudeau, I will safeguard it against abuse, said Scheer. Dench said the impact of the policy would go way beyond its intent if indeed the objective is in fact to combat birth tourism. Janet Dench, the executive director of Canadian Council for Refugees, says there is no meaningful data to suggest that birth tourism is an actual problem and that if the measure came into force, the vast majority of people affected would not at all be people who come for birth tourism reasons. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mike: The Cardinals took off the interim tag from Shildt's title and promoted him to full-time manager through 2020, a reward for steering the team back into post-season contention after replacing the fired Mike Matheny.article continues below Trending StoriesB.C. wineries need us to drink their wines to offset losses of wildfire season Help desperately wanted Squamish businesses held back by lack of staffPNE transformation just getting started be different but stay the same Cover Dale Mackay and his son Ayden are the perfect ensemble Why now We could have waited but we feel like the time is right, President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said Tuesday at Busch Stadium, according to Vancouver Courier. As we stated from Day One, we would use this time to really see how he handled the job. Louis Cardinals thanked Mike Shildt. We just felt like we could not do better. Mike checks a lot of boxes along the way. Mike has shown he can do the job. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

bob rae: There's a significant opportunity for Canada to have a role, provided we're prepared to meet our own obligations, which is something the government is very committed to doing, he said on Monday, according to CTV. Rae visited the Rohingya refugee camps last fall and released a report about the situation in April. Bob Rae told CTV News Channel that the Canadian government will need to talk with other countries about what steps they can take in ending the year-long crisis. The report called on the Canadian government to welcome Rohingya refugees and enforce sanctions on the Myanmar government. Canada has publicly condemned the violence and has committed 300 million over the next three years to help the refugees. There were very serious allegations that were made to me about sexual violence, about the burning of villages, Rae said about his trip to the refugee camps. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

bob rae: Bob Rae holds a press conference in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, October 23, 2017, according to Toronto Star. Rae, Canada's special envoy to the Rohingya crisis, says tough legal challenges lie ahead for the international community in proceeding with a genocide prosecution against Myanmar's military leaders. Rae offered that assessment after a United Nations human rights report released Monday that named six individuals as being responsible for the planned crimes against Rohingya Muslims and marked the UN's most stinging denunciation of the crisis that erupted last August. Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS The UN estimates more than 700,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh in a bloody crackdown by Myanmar's military. While he stopped short of using the genocide label as have many western governments Rae said Monday's finding puts more pressure on the international community to finding a forum to prosecute those named by the UN investigators. Rae, in his report released earlier this year, said the prosecution of crimes against humanity needed to be pursued and urged Canada to play a leading role. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

british columbia: It continued when the party chose Audrey McLaughlin as the first woman to lead a national political party in Canada, according to Rabble. Then, only two months ago, Wab Kinew was elected leader of the Manitoba NDP. Mr. It began way back in the early seventies in British Columbia when Rosemary Brown became the first black woman to be elected to a provincial legislature. Kinew has a real chance of being not only the first Indigenous leader of a party, but becoming the first Indigenous premier of one of the 10 provinces. In Jagmeet Singh, the party becomes the first party in Canada to put its diversity money where its mouth is. Now, the federal NDP has gone and done it again. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

budget cuts: Montreal's public schools are bursting at the seams and, similarly to the highways and bridges across the province, the bill for decades of neglect has come due, according to The Chronicle Herald. As the first week of the Quebec election campaign comes to end and as thousands of children return to school, teachers and their unions want the four main political parties to make a pledge reinvest massively in education instead of dogmatically striving to balance the budget. A mini baby boom in the 2000s, increased immigration and a recent influx of refugees are putting enormous pressure on the education system in the city amid recent budget cuts and rapidly deteriorating school infrastructure. At Saint-Gabriel-Lalemant elementary school in Montreal's north end, the red, orange and grey-painted extension protrudes from the original building's backside, swallowing part of the paved schoolyard. We got to a point where we transformed everything that was transformable, she said in an interview, sitting inside one of the new classrooms in the extension. Marie-Jose Mastromonaco, a school board commissioner and its vice-president, said many of her board's 150 schools had been expanding internally over the years, turning less frequently used spaces such as libraries into classrooms. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.