immigrantscanada.com

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

budget cuts: M lanie Joly, federal minister of official languages and La Francophonie, described the Ontario government's budget cuts as devastating decisions that will have a lasting impact on the more than 600,000 Franco-Ontarians and the more than 7.9 million francophones across Canada, according to Toronto Star. Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO Premier Doug Ford's government revealed the cuts Thursday in its fall economic update. In a letter that was sent Friday and obtained by the Star, Official Languages Minister M lanie Joly expressed what she described as her sincere disappointment at the provincial Progressive Conservatives' move to eliminate the office of the French language services commissioner and to scrap plans for a French-language university. The Tories said they were necessary in order to reduce costs and address what the party says is a 15-billion deficit left behind by the previous Liberal government. Joly said the promotion of the French language is central to our common approach of supporting our two official languages and defending the rights of minorities in Canada, and warned that eliminating the commissioner's position and abandoning plans for the university will have severe consequences on the vitality of the Franco-Ontario community and the Canadian Francophonie. These are devastating decisions that will have a lasting impact on the more than 600,000 Franco-Ontarians and the more than 7.9 million francophones across Canada, Joly wrote in the letter addressed to Caroline Mulroney, Ontario's minister responsible for francophone affairs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mr ford: It's up to Mr, according to CTV. Ford to manage those types of things, Scheer said. The federal Conservative leader told a news conference on Sunday that be brought up the issue with Ford at this weekend's Progressive Conservative convention in Toronto, but that ultimately the decision is the premier's to make. I told him as prime minister in 2019 I would absolutely work with premiers across the country to ensure that French-language services are not affected by any kinds of changes. The government did not immediately say how much money the move would save. Ford's government announced it would scrap plans for the university on Thursday in its first fiscal update since taking office over the summer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trump: It's not his fault, according to Vancouver Courier. It's not his strength, said Trump, who added that Kelly himself might want to depart. Trump, in a wide-ranging interview that aired on Fox News Sunday, praised Kelly's work ethic and much of what he brings to the position but added, There are certain things that I don't like that he does. article continues below Trending Stories Vision Vancouver will not run a mayoral candidate for first time in party's history Why this 25-year-old decided to be an egg farmer in B.C. Amanda Tapping on coping with miscarriage Burnaby woman killed in suspicious crash was student support worker at Templeton secondary There are a couple of things where it's just not his strength. Asked whether he would keep Kelly in his post through 2020, the president offered only that it could happen. Trump said he was happy with his Cabinet but was thinking about changing three or four or five positions. Trump had earlier pledged publicly that Kelly would remain through his first term in office, though many in the West Wing were skeptical. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

peace envoy: The Taliban are saying they do not believe they can succeed militarily, that they would like to see the problems that remain, resolved by peaceful means, by political negotiations, according to Vancouver Courier. Peace efforts have accelerated since Khalilzad's appointment as Washington's peace envoy to Afghanistan aimed at eventually winding down America's longest war. Without referring explicitly to the talks in Qatar, Khalilzad told a news conference Sunday in the Afghan capital Kabul I am talking to all interested parties, all Afghan groups... and I think there is an opportunity for reconciliation and peace. article continues below Trending Stories Vision Vancouver will not run a mayoral candidate for first time in party's history Why this 25-year-old decided to be an egg farmer in B.C. Amanda Tapping on coping with miscarriage Burnaby woman killed in suspicious crash was student support worker at Templeton secondary The Afghan government wants peace, he said. Seventeen years after the U.S.-led invasion that ended Taliban rule, the militants control nearly half of Afghanistan and carry out near-daily attacks on local security forces and government officials. The Taliban have long refused U.S. demands to negotiate with the Western-backed government in Kabul, which the insurgents view as a puppet regime. The U.S. administration now appears focused on reaching a political settlement with the Taliban, and has given in to a number of the group's longstanding demands, beginning with the holding of direct talks. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

wage increases: The Cisneros victory cements a stunning political realignment that will leave a vast stretch of the Los Angeles metropolitan area under Democratic control in the House.article continues below Trending Stories Vision Vancouver will not run a mayoral candidate for first time in party's history Burnaby woman killed in suspicious crash was student support worker at Templeton secondary Why this 25-year-old decided to be an egg farmer in B.C. Minimum wage increases go into effect June 1 across B.C. With Kim's defeat, four Republican-held House districts all or partly in Orange County, California, a one-time nationally known GOP stronghold southeast of Los Angeles, will have shifted in one election to the Democratic column, according to Vancouver Courier. The change means that the county Richard Nixon's birthplace and site of his presidential library will only have Democrats representing its residents in Washington next year. In what had been the last undecided House contest in California, Cisneros beat Republican Young Kim for the state's 39th District seat. Democrats also recently picked up the last Republican-held House seat anchored in Los Angeles County, when Democrat Katie Hill ousted Republican Rep. With other gains Republicans also lost a seat in the agricultural Central Valley Democrats will hold a 45-8 edge in California U.S. House seats next year. Steve Knight. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fatalistic outlook: Kawhi Leonard was in the middle of two costly plays down the stretch for the Raptors this past week, according to Toronto Star. Tim Bradbury / GETTY IMAGES It has arrived. It was a new team still trying to figure it all out, trying to acclimate two new key starters into the system with a new coach calling the shots, and there was going to be an inevitable slide and a regression to the mean. Things aren't nearly as good or smooth as they were, and the players are taking a fatalistic outlook. I think that we get a little stagnant at times late in games, but that just comes from us being new to each other figuring it out and learning. We're not executing as much as we'd like to, obviously, said Danny Green, one of those vital newcomers being thrown into the mix. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

francophone community: So, too, was the plan to build the new French university in Toronto by 2020, according to CTV. It's a question of money, the government said. The announcement was buried at the bottom of an economic update Doug Ford's Ontario budget Thursday -- the office of the French-language commissioner was abolished. The deficit is real; our debt is real, said Ontario Finance Minister Vid Fedeli. The province has French community colleges and a bilingual university, but no university francophones can call their own. The previous Liberal government promised Ontario's 600,000-strong francophone community the university. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

panel discussion: Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, told a defence and security conference Saturday that the military has to change because the very nature of warfare is changing, particularly when it comes to cyber-warfare, according to CTV. I think we ... stand accused of looking backwards and seeing what worked in the past and keeping those practices going forward, Vance told the Halifax Security Forum, which has attracted more than 300 experts, politicians and military officials from around the world. Gen. That worked through a great stretch of warfare that was state-on-state, that matched physical versus physical. It has required that we become diverse so that we attract the talent we need he told a panel discussion. All of us in this room are infused with that DNA. He said the problem is that the nature of warfare is changing -- fast. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration: The Portland, Maine, resident was released from the Strafford County Jail on Thursday, according to Toronto Star. An unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer reviews forms in April 2017 in Laguna Niguel, California. The New Hampshire ACLU contends Immigration and Customs Enforcement unlawfully detained 45-year-old Abdigani Faisal Hussein. A federal judge recently freed a 45-year-old Somali immigrant who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March and held in a New Hampshire jail for nine months. Twain Braden, one of his lawyers, said a similar case is currently being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Allen J. Schaben / TNS The ACLU says Hussein entered the country lawfully in 1996 as a Somali refugee.ICE detained him in March because he was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to probation for possessing khat, a mild stimulant grown in East Africa that is illegal in the U.S. The ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project in New Hampshire brought the action that led to Hussein being reunited with his family. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

neapolitan novels: The story of a febrile and rivalrous friendship between two girls in a working-class Italian neighbourhood in the 1950s, it is as intimate as Thrones is sweeping, according to Toronto Star. Ludovica Nasti and Elisa Del Genio in HBO's My Brilliant Friend. Game of Thrones required condensing a vast narrative, visualizing wonders like dragons' flight and creating a world that spanned continents.HBO's new series My Brilliant Friend, based on the wildly popular Neapolitan novels of Elena Ferrante, is a different but no smaller challenge. EDUARDO CASTALDO / HBO The first season, which begins Sunday, is set largely in a single cluster of apartments. It enfolds warring families and shifting alliances, but in a setting where everyone is packed close and prying eyes and whispers are inescapable. Its drama, though punctuated by violence, is interior and inwardly focused. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

politics: After a great deal of thought on this I am going to start a thread trying to explain the loss of the left and the success of right-wing populism, according to Rabble. I have been seeking some kind of unifying theory and believe I have found it.I have suspected that this is related to technology as this is the most consistent element across the globe. This is in Canadian politics but it applies to international politics as well. In the past I put this down to the rise of social media. You may see I touched on this in response to the comment about Scheer in the global warming thread post 271 here page 5 comment-5499751I will late it out more completely. While I think this is definitely part of it, it cannot explain it adequately.I will attempt to lay out what I think the critical change is. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rohingya refugees: It is virtually certain to be formally adopted by the 193-member world body in December, according to CTV. Among those voting against the resolution were Myanmar neighbours China, Cambodia and Laos along with Russia. The General Assembly's human rights committee approved the resolution by a vote of 142-10, with 26 abstentions. Bangladesh, which hosts 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, voted in favour. It urgently calls on Myanmar's government to end discrimination and provide a path to citizenship for the embattled minority. The resolution expresses deep concern that violence by Myanmar's military against the Rohingya has forced over 723,000 people to flee to Bangladesh since August 2017. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

egg farmer: Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, told a defence and security conference Saturday that the military has to change because the very nature of warfare is changing, particularly when it comes to cyber-warfare.article continues below Trending Stories Why this 25-year-old decided to be an egg farmer in B.C. Vancouver woman attacked in West End apartment building Vancouver's creepiest unsolved mysteries World-famous hot pot restaurant Hai Di Lao to open in Metro Vancouver I think we ... stand accused of looking backwards and seeing what worked in the past and keeping those practices going forward, Vance told the Halifax Security Forum, which has attracted more than 300 experts, politicians and military officials from around the world, according to Vancouver Courier. That worked through a great stretch of warfare that was state-on-state, that matched physical versus physical. Gen. All of us in this room are infused with that DNA. He said the problem is that the nature of warfare is changing fast. We know that the future of warfare is going to demand different ways of thinking in different domains so that we can prevail. It has required that we become diverse so that we attract the talent we need he told a panel discussion. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

half slavic: Donald Trump, the 45th U.S. president, is a second generation German-Scot two nationalities that happen to be the first and 10th most common in the United States, according to Toronto Star. Trump's mother and grandparents arrived in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century from Scotland and Germany. That is as true of presidents as it is of newcomers reciting naturalization oaths across the United States today. Two of his three wives are relatively recent arrivals from Eastern Europe and four of his children are half Slavic. Besides interviewing people who knew them, I wanted to capture the history and rhythm of life in areas where the Trumps have roots, and so I wandered, sampling food, culture and ambience. Last fall, researching a book on the women of the Trump clan, I set off on a three-week dash to the remote corners of Europe from where the Trump family hails. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ford: In Thursday's fiscal update, Ontario's Tory government put plans for a long-promised French-language university on the chopping block, in the process reversing Ford's campaign commitment to the Franco-Ontarian community, according to Toronto Star. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer faces some unpleasant political choices after Premier Doug Ford targeted Ontario's francophone minority for budget cuts, Chantal H bert writes. By putting Ontario's francophone minority on his fiscal hit list this week, Premier Doug Ford has placed his federal ally Andrew Scheer in harm's way. Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO The post of French-language services commissioner an independent office that oversees the delivery of government services to the Franco-Ontarian minority is also to be abolished. Instead, Ford delegated that responsibility to Attorney General Caroline Mulroney. That comes on the heels of the premier's decision to dispense with a minister responsible for francophone affairs at the time of his cabinet's swearing-in. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

military-led violence: Hasina has repeatedly discussed the toll on Bangladesh of hosting more than a million Rohingya -- including more than 700,000 who fled military-led violence in Myanmar since August 2017 and tens of thousands of others who escaped previous bouts of violence and persecution, according to CTV. Residents of Cox's Bazar district often complain that they have been undercut by refugees willing to work illegally for lower wages. United Nations officials and international aid agencies praised the government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who hopes to retain power in elections next month, for upholding a commitment not to force the repatriation. Thousands of acres hectares of national forests usually roamed by wild elephants have been taken over by the cramped and unsanitary camps. The people of Bangladesh are sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. But Hasina's decision not to force the repatriation is unlikely to hurt her bid to win a third term in December, according to Pinak Chakravarty, India's former ambassador to Bangladesh and a fellow with the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

procurement minister: After considering the recommendations of an independent board of review on the matter, Carla Qualtrough, the minister responsible for the post office, has now made that order final, according to CTV. The public services and procurement minister says her decision is consistent with the law and the government's support for diversity and inclusiveness. In June 2016, the government issued an interim order to stop delivery of Your Ward News to some 300,000 households through Canada Post's unaddressed bulk mail. Last fall, the tabloid's publisher, LeRoy St. They were also both charged with uttering death threats against political consultants Warren and Lisa Kinsella, but a judge last month dismissed the charge against St. Germaine, and editor-in-chief, James Sears, were each charged with two counts of wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group, namely Jews and women. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

syrian: Syrian refugee Yaseen Alshehadt, 44, is a manager at an Oakville shawarma shop, according to Toronto Star. We are so proud of Canada, he says. He's living the classic immigrant's dream. Rene Johnston / Toronto Star Although settling in a new country can be difficult, Syrian newcomers who were sponsored by the federal government and community groups are slowly setting down roots in their adopted country, according to a new survey by COSTI, the agency tasked by Ottawa to settle government-sponsored Syrians in the GTA. The survey found many are thriving, with a third having found jobs and some 87 per cent reporting they feel happy. My kids are in school. I can speak English now and have a job. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

death penalty: The communist Khmer Rouge, under the leadership of the late Pol Pot, sought to eliminate all traces of what they saw as corrupt bourgeois life, destroying most religious, financial and social institutions.article continues below Trending Stories Vancouver woman attacked in West End apartment building Diaries reveal harrowing experiences of First World War nursing sisters Nuon Chea NOO'-ahn CHEE'-ah and Khieu Samphan KEE'-yoh sahm-PAHN' were sentenced by the U.N.-assisted court to life in prison, the same punishment they are already serving after being convicted in a previous trial for crimes against humanity connected with forced transfers of people and mass disappearances, according to Vancouver Courier. Cambodia has no death penalty. Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were top leaders in a regime that forced residents out of the cities into the countryside, where they laboured under brutal conditions in giant agricultural co-operatives and work projects. Nuon Chea, 92, was considered the Khmer Rouge's main ideologist and Pol Pot's right-hand man, while Khieu Samphan, 87, served as the head of state, presenting a moderate veneer as the public face for the highly secretive group. But executions counted for only a fraction of the death toll. Dissent under Khmer Rouge rule was usually met with death, and even the group's loyalists faced torture and execution as the radical experiment at revolution failed, with blame cast about its ranks for alleged sabotage. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

adam austen: The United Nations estimates as many as one million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities are being held in arbitrary detention, according to National Observer. Canada is deeply concerned by credible reports of the mass detention, repression and surveillance of Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang, said Adam Austen, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. She noted the letter, which was spearheaded by Canada, was based on hearsay, despite widely distributed reports from detainees, relatives and officials documenting the sweeping and seemingly arbitrary detentions.A well-placed source from one of the 15 signatory countries also confirmed to The Canadian Press that Canada led the effort to send the letter. Canada called on China to release all arbitrarily detained Muslims earlier this month at the UN where China's human rights record was under review. Canada also regularly raises concerns about Xinjiang with Chinese authorities both publicly and privately, bilaterally and multilaterally, and will continue to do so, said Austen. Freeland also raised their plight with her Chinese counterpart at the UN General Assembly in September, said Austen. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fantasyland store: Financial problems at the parent company and rising rents closed that store in 2015, but FAO is now pulling back from the worst financial precipice since it was founded in 1862, according to Vancouver Courier. In recent weeks at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, workers drilled, hammered and sawed 24 hours a day to get the new store ready. The fantasyland store it opened on Fifth Avenue in 1986 was a tourist attraction, replete with its own theme song, doormen who looked like palace guards and a musical clock tower. Employees filled shelves with hundreds of plush animals that have long defined the brand bears, bunnies, elephants, chicks and more. And on the second level of the 20,000-square-foot space is a giant piano keyboard mat like the one on which Tom Hanks danced to Heart and Soul in the 1988 film Big. The big entrance clock tower has returned. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee: But despite a recent boost in resources and staffing from government, the board finalized only about 1,600 claims in the same period, so the backlog got longer, according to Vancouver Courier. The Liberals promised 74 million over two years in the 2018 budget to address the major backlog of refugee claims, many of which are coming from irregular migrants crossing the Canada-U.S. border away from official crossings. New statistics from the Immigration and Refugee Board show over 5,000 new refugee claims were filed between July and September of this year.article continues below Trending Stories Vancouver woman attacked in West End apartment building Canada's Most Dangerous Places Whistler's rankings don't paint full picture Filipinos in Vancouver send thousands of care packages back home each year Here's the latest on the Front Street road closure This was just over 1,100 fewer claims than the previous quarter. Refugee claims from other groups have also been on the rise, which has led to a current total backlog of over 64,000 refugee claims at the IRB. Wait times have also grown refugees who arrive in Canada today will wait almost two years before final decisions on their claims are reached. Read Related Topics var related Url var related Link Class relatedlink-processed ; if related Url && ! -1 var related UrlFrags related Url.split '/' ; related Url './' -1 ; related Link Class ul var related Url var related Link Class relatedlink-processed ; if related Url && ! -1 var related UrlFrags related Url.split '/' ; related Url './' -1 ; related Link Class ul var related Url var related Link Class relatedlink-processed ; if related Url && ! -1 var related UrlFrags related Url.split '/' ; related Url './' -1 ; related Link Class ul var related Url var related Link Class relatedlink-processed ; if related Url && ! -1 var related UrlFrags related Url.split '/' ; related Url './' -1 ; related Link Class ul 2018 Vancouver Courier (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

buddhist vigilantes: He said officials can't force them to go but will continue to try to motivate them so it happens, according to CTV. Some people on the government's repatriation list disappeared into the sprawling refugee camps to avoid being sent home, while others joined a large demonstration against the plan. The refugees are not willing to go back now, Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam told The Associated Press. More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from western Myanmar's Rakhine state to escape killings and destruction of their villages by the military and Buddhist vigilantes that have drawn widespread condemnation of Myanmar. Firas Al-Khateeb, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Cox's Bazar, said it was unclear when the process might begin again. The United Nations, whose human rights officials had urged Bangladesh to halt the repatriation process even as its refugee agency workers helped to facilitate it, welcomed Thursday's development. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian currency: The grade seven student said he plans to frame the 10 bill, according to CTV. Members of the Barrie Afro-Caribbean Multicultural Association are also excited about the new Canadian currency. I'm gonna let them know that it's my brother's wife to every cashier that I pay, said Desmond's distant relative, Dorian Odusanya. It's way, way overdue, said Ebenezer Inkumsh. In 1946 Viola Desmond went to a movie in a Halifax theatre while work was being done on her car. It says to the world that hey, our struggles have finally been recognized. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

delegation: Last May, rabble.ca was part of a delegation that went to Venezuela to observe the country's elections, according to Rabble. The people in the delegation saw sharp differences between what was happening on the ground and what was being reported in the western media. We've seen a lot about this on the news but there are some different interpretations about what is causing this mass migration that you don't hear. And even when there was agreement on the facts, there was disagreement about the reasons. Canada is one of the countries which is participating in the endless condemnations of the Maduro regime. And there still is. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigrants: Jolin-Barrette is also in talks with his federal counterpart, Ahmed Hussen, according to CTV. Quebec is not looking for a confrontation with Ottawa, said Jolin-Barrette is it looking for common ground. Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette continued high-level talks Thursday in Quebec City with Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc. That might be difficult when it comes to immigration the Trudeau government is planning to boost the number of immigrants who come to Canada over the next three years. Last year, Quebec accepted around 52,000 immigrants, who came to the province under one of three categories refugeesimmigrants who come under the family reunification programeconomic immigrants. The CAQ, meanwhile, wants to deliver on a campaign promise to cut immigration levels in Quebec by 20 per cent. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.