christian faith: McKitty's family turned to the courts to prevent doctors from taking her off life support, saying her Christian faith defines death as the cessation of heartbeat, not of brain function, according to CTV. Citing charter protections, they argued doctors should make accommodations for religious beliefs in making a determination of death, and obtained an injunction to keep her on a respirator while the case was before the courts. Taquisha McKitty was 27 when doctors declared her dead by neurological criteria in September of last year following a drug overdose that left her unconscious on a Brampton, Ont., sidewalk. An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled against them over the summer, saying the charter does not apply to McKitty because the document only protects persons and McKitty, because she is clinically brain dead, is not legally a person. McKitty's family is asking Ontario's highest court to overturn the decision, set aside her death certificate and refer any dispute about her treatment to the Consent and Capacity Board, an independent provincial tribunal that rules in matters involving issues such as a person's capacity to consent to or refuse treatment. The judge also said in her ruling that death could not, in Ontario, be subject to a person's wishes or beliefs because that could lead to an unacceptable level of medical, legal and societal uncertainty and cause potential adverse effects on the health-care and organ donation system. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fruit seller: Many residents said that the powerful loudspeakers used at the rally made it impossible for them to ignore the communally charged speeches made by the Hindutva leaders who addressed the crowds, according to Rabble. But they emphasised that they would not be provoked by such intimidation. On Sunday, though, the police had cordoned off the entire area and most residents chose to stay indoors to avoid possible confrontations with the Hindutva supporters who had come for the rally. The roots of evil forces are weak and we believe everything happens as per God's will, said Atiq Hussain, 78, a fruit seller near Turkman Gate in Old Delhi. The younger lot of Muslims is educated and these tactics of intimidation will no longer work on them. We believe in the Supreme Court and that it will ensure a peaceful resolution of the Babri Masjid dispute. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

guantanamo bay: An affidavit by Khadr filed with the court says the impact of his bail conditions are mainly psychological -- a daily reminder of what he went through, according to CTV. I feel like the indefinite and potentially endless detention that I suffered in Guantanamo Bay is continuing, he wrote. Khadr, who is now 32, will be back in the Court of Queen's Bench in Edmonton Thursday to apply for changes to his bail conditions which were imposed while he appeals war crime convictions by a U.S. military commission. I hope that there will be some end to this process, but there is none in sight. He says in his affidavit that he would like to be able to speak on the phone or over Skype to his sister Zaynab Khadr. Khadr spent years in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay after he was caught when he was 15 and accused of tossing a grenade that killed special forces soldier Christopher Speer at a militant compound in Afghanistan in 2002. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

montreal: Lawyer Jacky-Eric Salvant right and Gabriel Bazin, vice-president of the Ligue des Noirs du Quebec, listen to a presentation by members of the Montreal Police at City Hall, according to Toronto Star. Salvant is seeking 4 million in damages from the city of Montreal on behalf of 500 people who claim they were singled out by city police officers because of their race. She was part of a group of citizens at city hall Tuesday who expressed little confidence as the Montreal police force unveiled its latest plan to prevent racial profiling by its officers. Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS As soon as a young, black man gets a car the harassment begins, Marcelin said in an interview, referring to family and friends who have had run-ins with the police. Incoming police Chief Sylvain Caron and other officers presented councillors with the force's 2018-21 plan to prevent racial profiling. I lived in Montreal North for 15 years, and I've witnessed police destroy the lives of young people. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

reporters tuesday: We have been in direct contact with ... Chinese diplomats and representatives, Trudeau said in Ottawa, according to CTV. We are engaged on the file, which we take very seriously and we are, of course, providing consular assistance to the family. Trudeau spoke briefly to reporters Tuesday about the unexplained case of Michael Kovrig, an international-affairs analyst who worked as a political lead for the prime minister's official visit to Hong Kong in 2016 when he was posted there by the Canadian government. Read the court documents in the Meng Wanzhou case News of Kovrig's detention comes after China warned Canada of consequences for its recent arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport. So far, it's unclear whether there is any link between the two cases, though a former Canadian ambassador says he has little doubt of it. A Vancouver judge released her on bail and under strict conditions Tuesday afternoon. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

star executive: Photographer Melissa Renwick says she feels humbled and honoured to receive the Travers Fellowship, according to Toronto Star. Richard Lautens / Toronto Star File Photo James Travers, former Star executive managing editor and columnist, had previously spent years as a foreign correspondent based in Africa and the Middle East for Southam News. Mojtehedzadeh and Renwick will use the 25,000 fellowship to delve into a rarely seen perspective on the migrant worker program, focusing on the voices of the spouses and children left behind in Mexico, and asking the question is a program meant to empower families actually destroying them Toronto Star reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh says the human cost of the migrant worker program is invisible to many Canadians. He died in 2011. While migrant workers often face extreme vulnerability performing manual labour on Canadian farms, their families also experience deep financial, psychological and health consequences at home as a result of prolonged separation. Bernard weil / Toronto Star File Photo The idea that some families must choose to live apart for the majority of their lives to put food on the table struck us as an instinctively compelling one, said Mojtehedzadeh, who reports on labour issues for the Star. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

congress: His principled opposition to both the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also saw him leaving the Congress party on two separate occasions, according to Rabble. His latter decision to quit the Congress in 1959 would result in the founding of the Swantantra Party, India's first political party with a classic liberal bent as opposed to the deeply socialist Congress party. adsbygoogle window.adsbygoogle .push ; C Rajagopalachari Source Twitter It's virtually impossible to present a biographical account of the man Gandhi called his conscience keeper in this limited space, but the beauty of Rajaji is that his ideas about the economy, faith, foreign relations and political discourse remain more relevant than ever in December 2018. Born on December 10, 1878, in Thorapalli Village of Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, Rajaji was a man way ahead of his times, who was both revered and rejected in equal measure. adsbygoogle window.adsbygoogle .push ; Through the course of his career, he served as a leader of the Indian National Congress participating in the demonstrations against the Rowlatt Act, joining the Non-Cooperation movement, the Vaikom Satyagraha temple entry for lower castes and the Civil Disobedience movement.A lawyer by trade, he would go onto serve as Premier of the Madras Presidency, a member of the Constituent Assembly, Governor of Bengal, Union Home Minister and Chief Minister of what was then Madras state. Great people die, but their ideas live long after them. Governments often don't deliver on these promises. There is a reason why R.G. Casey, the Australian who served as Governor of Bengal, called him the wisest man in India . Minimum Government, Maximum Governance' adsbygoogle window.adsbygoogle .push ; When the current ruling administration took office in May 2014, the slogan often bandied about was minimum government, maximum governance an idea dipped in the elixir of economic reform. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian authorities: Canadian authorities detained Meng on Dec. 1 during a layover at the Vancouver airport, according to CTV. The U.S. accuses Huawei of violating American economic sanctions against Iran. Relations were shaken by Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and daughter of its founder. The Huawei case has threatened to complicate U.S.-China efforts to resolve a bitter trade dispute -- though the two countries signalled Tuesday they are preparing to resume talks. The detention came after China warned Canada of consequences for Meng's arrest. Heightening tension between China and Canada, Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed Tuesday that a former Canadian diplomat had been detained in Beijing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

specks album: She says it with a chuckle, but Ladan Hussein the Toronto singer/songwriter better known by her stage name, Cold Specks spent a good year in hell to earn that laugh, according to Toronto Star. She's not kidding around. There's a lot to write about. There's a deep well of autobiographical material waiting to be plumbed on the next Cold Specks album, and none of it is pretty. http //KEXP.ORG presents Cold Specks performing live in the KEXP studio. Except the outcome, that is Hussein is still with us to continue making music. Recorded November 24, 2014. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

migration conference: Unregulated migration bears a terrible human cost a cost in lives lost on perilous journeys across deserts, oceans and rivers; and a cost in lives ruined at the hands of smugglers, unscrupulous employers and other predators, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a migration conference in Marrakech, Morocco, according to CTV. More than 60,000 migrants have died on the move since the year 2000, he said. The debate over the Global Compact for Migration, the first of its kind, has proven to be a pivotal test of the U.N.-led effort to crack down on the often dangerous and illegal movements across borders that have turned people smuggling into a worldwide industry, and give people seeking economic opportunity a chance. This is a source of collective shame. It can also involve high-skilled workers from developed nations looking for opportunities beyond their homelands. Migration affects hundreds of millions of people across the globe -- farmers coming off the land or forced by climate change to head to cities, families fleeing war or persecution at home, impoverished workers from the developing world looking for jobs in rich countries. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

dandakaranya jungle: Telangana was the Dandakaranya jungle that Ram crossed during his exile, according to Rabble. Parshuram, the sage who challenged Ram before recognising his powers, meditated in Madhya Pradesh. Chhattisgarh was the maika, or parental home, of Ram's mother. In Rajasthan, Ram's lieutenant Bajrang Bali would be enough to defeat Ali, a name aimed at evoking a fear of Muslims. Lest there be ambiguity as to the identity of the biryani-eaters, he explained whom he meant while addressing a rally in Nagaur, Rajasthan, on November 26. Campaigning in four of the five states where Assembly elections were held, Adityanath also boasted that the BJP was the only party capable of establishing Ram Rajya, a state of peace and development where everyone received welfare benefits without discrimination . The only exception, he thundered, were terrorists who would be fed bullets and not biryani. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration section: Marina Sedai, chair of the immigration section of the Canadian Bar Association, said she wasn't surprised lawyers had the highest success rate, according to Toronto Star. SUPPLIED PHOTO Canada received 342,154 temporary resident applications in 2017, the data shows. But chances of success are much higher if they hire an immigration lawyer to help get their study, work or visitor visas, according to immigration data obtained under an access to information request. While 86 per cent of applicants declared themselves as self-represented, 6 per cent were represented by consultants and another 5 per cent by lawyers. Overall, 18.9 per cent of the applications were rejected. The remaining 3 per cent hired Quebec notaries or used non-remunerated representatives. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

security team: Meng Wanzhou is facing allegations of fraud for using a shell company to violate the U.S.-European Union trade sanctions against Iran, according to CTV. On Monday morning her legal team presented its case for bail, trying to paint a picture of a comprehensive security plan with near-constant monitoring. The CFO of Huawei, a multinational Chinese telecommunications company, remains in custody more than a week after she was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport. During the proceedings, Meng sat in a green jumpsuit and appeared to be listening attentively. It includes a dedicated driver and security team, to be paid for by Meng herself. Detailed release plan presented The plan was fronted by Scot Filer, a former RCMP staff sergeant who is now with Lions Gate Risk Management. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

d-n.y .,: Already embraced by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., an increasingly influential figure on the left, the Green New Deal is designed to nudge prospective Democratic presidential candidates to stake out aggressive positions on climate change, according to National Observer. Some cast the goals as idealistic and politically risky. ; Organizers with the Sunrise Movement activist group frame it as a make-or-break issue for Democratic voters, particularly young ones. Hundreds of young demonstrators are planning to turn out Monday on Capitol Hill to push Democrats on a package of ambitious environmental goals including a nationwide transition to 100 per cent power from renewable sources within as little as 10 years that's collectively dubbed the Green New Deal. But they're fighting recent history on that point. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., jockeyed during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary over their plans to stave off the devastating effects that scientists have warned of as temperatures continue to rise. Hillary Clinton and Sen. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

hussen: Canada will have a more official way, through the compact, to address the problems that cause migrants to leave their countries for Canada, Hussen said, according to National Observer. People talk about how we should approach irregular migration one of the ways to do that is to work with other countries, Hussen said. Speaking from Marrakech, Morocco on Friday, where a UN summit on migration is to kick off next week, Hussen said the Global Compact on Migration is an important agreement that will set out, for the first time, an official international framework for countries to work together on the causes and impacts of migration. ; For Canada, one of the key benefits will be an opportunity to work with source countries of irregular asylum seekers, who have been crossing into Canada via non-official entry points by the tens of thousands over the last two years. One of the things that we do is work with partner countries to assist them with job creation and skills-development programs that enables source countries for migrants, like Morocco, to ensure a better future for their people here so that they don't have to take risky journeys for migration and engage in irregular migration. Australia, Israel, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have said they will not support it. But despite two years of work at the UN level and consensus reached after six rounds of negotiation on the final text, a movement of protest against the agreement has grown in Europe over the last year, leading several European countries to quit the compact. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

iraqi militants: Emad Tamo, the Yazidi boy whose photo went viral after he was freed from Daesh and eventually reunited with his mother in Winnipeg, Man. is photographed with his new bike outside his home at Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, according to Toronto Star. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Now, he's behind a movement to bring new bicycles to all Yazidi refugee children in Winnipeg. For the 14-year-old boy, the bicycle stands for freedom, something that only a few years ago was snatched away from him and his family when they were taken by Iraqi militants and held captive for three years. I saw so many kids they suffered when they were captured by Daesh . There were so many kids they were crying. We saw a lot of things, Emad said through translator Khalil Hesso, president of the Yazidi Association of Manitoba. They were dead. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fear refugees: The non-binding document, which aims to help countries deal with growing numbers of migrants, including asylum seekers, is expected to adopted at a UN conference in Morocco early next week, according to CTV. About 400 people attended Saturday's protest and counter-protest in the capital. The protests on Parliament Hill centred around whether or not Canada should adopt the United Nations' Global Compact on Migration, which the federal government says it will sign. The two sides were separated by riot police. I want to keep Canada Canadian! an anti-migration protester told CTV Ottawa. No hate! No fear! Refugees are welcome here! one side chanted. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

english test: Niagara College flagged concerns with inconsistencies in the scores of English-language tests taken by students applying from India, according to Toronto Star. It has asked 428 applicants to retake the test in India or risk having their offers of acceptance cancelled. Niagara College has contacted more than 400 students admitted to its January 2019 programs who had taken IELTS tests at locations in India, telling them they had to undergo a second English test or risk losing their offer of admission. Niagara College The International English Language Testing System IELTS is accepted by most Canadian academic institutions and is one of two major English language tests used by Immigration Canada as independent proof of an immigration or citizenship applicant's language proficiency. Those students were made to take an in-house language test and the college found 200 out of that group were failing in their academic programs because their English was not at the required level. Steve Hudson, Niagara College's vice-president of academic and learner services, said the school launched an investigation this fall after the number of first-year international students flagged by faculty for being at risk academically surged to 300 from an average of 150 in previous years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

camp: Rising numbers of migrants live in the makeshift camp that sprung up on a soccer field near a busy Casablanca bus station, where they are bedded down under tents or shacks built from plastic and wood, according to CTV. Scant food, a lack of heat and no sanitation are the main worries at the Oulad Ziane camp, as lice and respiratory infections are becoming endemic. These sub-Saharan Africans who dream of going to Europe are a symbol of the problems world dignitaries are trying to address with the U.N.'s first migration compact, being finalized at a conference in Marrakech on Monday and Tuesday. Morocco embodies multiple dilemmas facing the countries meeting in Marrakech It's a major source of Europe's migrants but is also a transit country as well as a migrant host for other Africans fleeing poverty and persecution. But the United States and several European countries have said they won't sign on. The 34-page U.N. Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is to be formally approved in Marrakech, Morocco, on Dec. 10-11. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

crown prosecutors: The arrest, carried out at the request of authorities in the United States, has infuriated the Chinese government and worsened pre-existing tensions between the two global heavyweights, according to Toronto Star. In this courtroom sketch, Meng Wanzhou, back right, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, sits beside a translator during a bail hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Friday. Meng Wanzhou was taken into custody on Dec. 1 at the Vancouver airport. Jane Wolsak / THE CANADIAN PRESS On Friday, the first day of Meng's bail hearing at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Crown prosecutors revealed the nature of the claims for the first time. The U.S. authorities allege Meng committed fraud by telling an HSBC executive her company was in compliance with U.S. sanctions against Iran limiting communication technology. A warrant from the Eastern District of New York alleges Meng knew Huawei was operating a company called Sky Com to do business with Iran, which has been subject to U.S. sanctions since 1979. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

teaching students: Ikwe Widdkiitiwin is one of Manitoba's largest women's shelters, according to CTV. Ikwe Widdkiitiwin's executive director Stephanie Johnson told CTV News that the most important thing was to believe survivors. The report also found that 79 percent of adult domestic homicide victims were female, and 53 percent were either refugees or immigrants, people of Indigenous heritage, people living in rural areas or children. A lot of times that's the one that hurts the most, said Johnson. Johnson also stressed the importance of educating men, families and the greater community, suggesting that such an education should begin before adolescence in teaching students what healthy boundaries and healthy relationships look like. When you've had the courage to go out, you've have the courage to ask for help and then you're not being believed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

british columbians: A referendum service office run by Elections BC for the 2018 referendum on electoral reform and proportional representation, according to Toronto Star. All ballots must be received by 4 30 p.m. on Friday Twitter/ElectionsBC But even in the final days, many voters expressed confusion about what is on the ballot and how they should vote. The referendum asks whether B.C. should switch to a proportional representation voting system or keep its current first-past-the-post system. Voting closes at 4 30 p.m. on Friday, and since Elections BC must receive all ballots by that time and no later, it's too late to send yours in the mail. Here is everything we know, and what we don't yet know, about the referendum, its controversies and how British Columbians are participating. But you can drop them off until that time at any Referendum Service Office or, outside the Lower Mainland, a Service BC centre. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trade barriers: But other premiers, including fellow Conservative Brian Pallister from Manitoba, disputed Ford's interpretation of what the prime minister said behind closed doors in Montreal and Trudeau himself dismissed the charge, according to CTV. Ford at least did not follow through on a threat to walk out of the meeting, which he had criticized for being too narrowly focused on Trudeau's priority -- reducing interprovincial trade barriers -- and not enough on the priorities of provinces and territories. The one sour note was sounded by Ontario's Progressive Conservative premier, Doug Ford, who accused Trudeau of moving the goalposts on Canada's climate-change plans, requiring Ontario to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions more than Ford had expected. Trudeau managed to mollify the premiers by letting them talk about whatever they wanted. I was encouraged by the kind of no-holds-barred discussion. Everything was discussed, said Blaine Higgs, New Brunswick's Conservative premier and the chair of the meeting from the premiers' side. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

climate science: Yet many people don't, according to National Observer. Instead, they believe a variety of climate myths. Birds of a feather flock together, so I am sure that nearly all of those reading this article accept the main findings of climate science. Arm yourself with Climate Change knowledge when you have to deal with doubting Uncle Pete at the Christmas dinner table. holidays climatescience These include claims that the world isn't warming; or if warming is occurring, it is natural and not human-caused; or volcanoes produce more carbon dioxide than we humans do. Pete spoils the family mood by making these false claims, which he found on talk radio or the Internet. I know none of you believes these myths, but it seems that almost everybody has an unpleasant relative call him Uncle Pete who comes to dinner. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

troll farms: Online operatives create social media accounts or hijack existing profiles, and even set up troll farms of employees paid to comment on traditional media websites, social media and anywhere else they can reach their target audience, the centre says, according to CTV. Cyber threat actors also try to steal and release information, modify or make information more compelling and distracting, create fraudulent or distorted 'news,' and promote extreme opinions. In a report Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security warns that state-sponsored players can conduct sophisticated influence operations by posing as regular people. The new centre, a wing of the Communications Security Establishment, Canada's electronic spy agency, brings together experts from the CSE, Public Safety and Shared Services. An updated version will be issued next spring, just months before Canadians go to the polls. The CSE warned in a study for the Liberal government last year that cyberthreat activity against the democratic process is increasing around the world, and Canada is not immune. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration officials: Those caveats were in place before the zero-tolerance policy that prompted the earlier separations at the border, according to CTV. The government decides whether a child fits into the areas of concern, worrying advocates of the families and immigrant rights groups that are afraid parents are being falsely labeled as criminals. Despite the order and a federal judge's later ruling, immigration officials are allowed to separate a child from a parent in certain cases -- serious criminal charges against a parent, concerns over the health and welfare of a child or medical concerns. From June 21, the day after President Donald Trump's order, through Tuesday, 76 adults were separated from the children, according to the data. Nine were hospitalized, 10 had gang affiliations and four had extraditable warrants, according to the immigration data. Of those, 51 were criminally prosecuted -- 31 with criminal histories and 20 for other, unspecified reasons, according to the government data. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.