christmas: This could be by gifting someone an item that, when bought, a donation is given to a specific UK or international charity, according to Rabble. Another option is to donate to a cause in someone's name. One way to make Christmas go further is by choosing unusual presents that have a charity attached to it in some way. We certainly love the idea of using Christmas gifts to give back to the community. Clothing and accessories 1. Here, you can find a list of our top charity Christmas gifts, including everything from jewellery to more specific forms of aid. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

breakdowns centred: One of the main breakdowns centred on Article 6 which covers international accounting for climate pollution and credits between countries, according to National Observer. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers along with politicians like Jason Kenney and Andrew Scheer, had been making misleading suggestions that Article 6 could be used to give Canada credit for exports of LNG and other fossil fuels. The countries gathered in Madrid for COP25 were unable to agree on the main objectives of the negotiations and kicked the most important decisions down the road to next year's meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.A coalition of countries seeking higher ambition were blocked by a group of big polluters insisting on accounting tricks such as hot air credits, opposing help for nations suffering the impacts of climate change, and demanding that human rights protections get removed from the main sections of the agreement that COP25 was intended to resolve. The High Ambition Coalition includes island countries like the Marshall Islands which are threatened by rising sea levels as well as European countries which, just this week, dramatically strengthened their own climate plans. Lives are at risk here, Stiell told National Observer. Simon Stiell, a minister from Grenada who spoke for the coalition, put blame for COP's failure squarely on the United States, Brazil and Australia. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

inuvialuit: The grizzly bears are moving into new areas, said Vernon Amos, chairman of the Inuvialuit game council, in an interview from Inuvik, N.W.T. At about 3,400 residents, Inuvik is the most populous community within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region that stretches across about 100,000 square kilometres of land, according to National Observer. What people are readingUN climate negotiations end in 'demoralizing, enraging' failureCOP25 derailed as polluters prioritized over people and planet Now who will lead Canada's Conservatives Grizzlies have long roamed the four mainland Inuvialuit communities, including Inuvik, but there are more of them and they're appearing for the first time around the two more northerly communities of Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok, he said. Inuvialuit hunters and trappers say grizzly bears are showing up in increasing numbers on islands of the Beaufort Sea and experts say climate change is likely a driving factor. Amos, 42, grew up in Sachs Harbour and says the ecosystem has changed significantly over his lifetime. There is a much longer melting and growing season. While the seasonal freeze used to begin in August, this year it occurred toward the end of September or early October an increasingly common occurrence, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

johnson ascendant: Johnson ascendant your general election recap Read more The world of the 2010s is over, according to Rabble. From 2010 to 2015, the Conservatives were in coalition, and the Liberal Democrats could moderate their excesses. Of all the necessary mental adjustments, this will be the hardest to make. From 2015 to 2019, the Conservatives had a small majority and then no majority. Opposition could be felt and heard. Backbenchers and rebel alliances were free to dictate policy as if we were reliving the 19th century. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

page: And the current cast of characters is eerily reminiscent of those in that childhood classic -- if not even more bizarre. if page width onload 479 document.write ' ' ; ; You may recall that the original tale was about a young girl who nods off to sleep and dreams that she runs after an agitated white rabbit and unexpectedly falls into a warren of strange misadventures from which she finally awakens -- just in the nick of time to avoid the evil Red Queen's edict, Off with her head! Thus far, however, Americans have unfortunately not awakened from the nightmare of the contemporary Malice in Blunderland, the congressional impeachment hearings whose shifting Schiff-controlled narrative has been advanced by Trump-hating Democrats and likeminded loathers brought into the proceedings to validate their biased claims, according to Rabble. With its bungled series of changing charges, the presidential impeachment scenario can aptly be described as curioser and curioser. Originally orchestrated by Mad Hatter Adam Schiff, the plot of the impeachment hearings has been every bit as preposterous as that of the Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, written over a century and a half ago. If any fun is to be found in all of this nonsense, it might come from comparing the current wild-eyed crop of impeachment pushers to the hodgepodge of fantastical characters Alice encounters in Wonderland. Mad Hatter Schiff and Dormouse Nadler who snoozed at his own hearings! -- have played their parallel roles looking much like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber. The scampering white rabbit, for example, could well be white pants-suited Nancy Pelosi, nervously flitting here and there, eager to retain her personal power by acquiescing to the demands to impeach Trump, and then acknowledging -- as she scurries off to join her colleagues -- I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. if page width onload 479 document.write ' ' ; ; But the current impeachment hearings have been anything but a tea party. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

andrew scheer: Just two weeks ago, Scheer pleaded with Alberta Tories that loyalty to the party meant loyalty to him personally, according to Rabble. Conservatives organizing to oust Scheer from the top job told me at the time that they expected to have him out before Christmas. Andrew Scheer pledging days earlier to fight to the bitter end to stay on as federal Conservative Leader fell on his sword Wednesday morning. I agreed that Scheer had little chance of surviving, but considered their prognostications of a pre-Christmas bloodletting wildly optimistic. Joining a large contingent of grassroots members and activists calling for his head was a respectable number of insiders who's careers are mostly as political operators. For not the first time, I was wrong. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

atlantic council: But as National Observer recently reported, Pinterest does use an algorithm, by means of which, Pinterest users were steered toward misleading content, extremist memes and conspiracy theories about Canadian politics ahead of the Oct. 21 federal election, researchers studying the platform found, according to National Observer. Ultimately, the best disinformation campaigns are the ones people don't know about, said John Gray, a visiting research fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Research Lab DFRLab who conducted the analysis of Pinterest alongside research associate Kanishk Karan. The Canadian government thought Pinterest wouldn't be vulnerable to political disinformation, in part because government officials believed the image-sharing platform doesn't use an algorithm to promote content, according to a briefing obtained by National Observer. What people are reading Whiplash for Canada at COP25Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is a thorn in Doug Ford's side Lose livestock or lose the planet, scientists warn Canadian government officials held a discussion with Pinterest staff on March 29, according to a briefing note prepared in May for former democratic institutions minister Karina Gould and obtained by National Observer through freedom-of-information. The memo also details discussions with Reddit and the ephemeral-image-sharing service Snapchat. Gould is now the minister of international development. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

climate: That includes ministers whose portfolios have traditionally overlapped with environmental concerns, such as the minister of natural resources and the minister of oceans and fisheries, according to National Observer. But Trudeau is also challenging officials such as the minister of Canadian heritage, who will work with national museums to increase Canadians' awareness of climate change and work with Wilkinson on new legislation to regulate federally owned heritage lands. In addition to Jonathan Wilkinson, who was named minister of environment and climate change last month, 16 members of Trudeau's cabinet were given explicit directives to work on climate issues. Before entering politics, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault was a prominent environmental activist. What people are reading Whiplash for Canada at COP25Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is a thorn in Doug Ford's side Lose livestock or lose the planet, scientists warn In addition to Guilbeault, the mandate letters for Minister of Innovation Navdeep Bains, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fran ois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Fisheries Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Health Patty Hajdu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal, Minister of Transport Marc Garneau, Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan and Minister of Agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau all call upon their respective cabinet member to work directly with Wilkinson on specific projects. Wilkinson, whose mandate letter calls on him to introduce new greenhouse-gas reduction initiatives to help Canada achieve its emissions targets under the Paris Agreement, will be an especially active and influential figure in cabinet. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

power corp: R. Jeffrey Orr, the CEO and president of Power Financial, becomes president and CEO of Power Corporation, according to CTV. Pansolo Holding, which is controlled by a Desmarais family trust, will maintain control of Power Corporation following the restructuring. The brothers, who are the sons of Power founder Paul Desmarais Sr., will remain with the organization as chairman Paul Jr. and deputy chairman Andre of Power's board of directors. The holding company plans to buy between five million and six million of the 30 million participating preferred shares of Power Corporation that it is eligible to purchase, which represents about 50.2 per cent of voting shares. Minority shareholders of Power Financial will receive 1.05 Power Corp. subordinate voting shares and a nominal cash amount in exchange for each share of Power Financial they own. The Montreal-based company says the reorganization will simplify its corporate structure and allow it to focus on financial services, as well as create value for its shareholders. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rabble rousers: The other half recognizes that our oil and gas industry is vital, and our ecological problems can be managed, according to Rabble. To make matters worse, the fault line for these competing sets of beliefs runs roughly along an east-west divide, and the re-elected Liberal Party ran on an unwritten policy of screw the West we'll take the rest . This country is in serious trouble. Half of the population believes we are in a climate crisis, one requiring shutting down our oil and gas industry. There is talk of separation in the West, and it is not just angry talk of rabble rousers. The election result will accentuate this divide. Some influential and serious people are considering redrawing the map to have the western provinces function as a separate country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

shareholders: Minority shareholders are set to vote Tuesday on the 10.30 per share offer from the Baker-led group, while the deadline to vote by proxy is Friday, according to CTV. Petrie says it appears increasingly unlikely that minority shareholders will approve the deal given dissident shareholder Catalyst Capital Group owns a roughly 17.5 per cent stake and a proxy advisory service has recommended shareholders to vote no. CIBC analyst Mark Petrie says an increased bid from the group led by executive chairman Richard Baker is the most likely path to privatization, but it is far from clear whether this is in the cards. Two other proxy advisory services have, however, encouraged shareholders to vote for the proposal. We continue to believe a modestly boosted bid from the majority group should be enough to get the deal done, but at this stage handicapping probabilities is futile, Petrie wrote. The bid also faces a lawsuit and ongoing hearing at the Ontario Securities Commission -- both seeking to block the offer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

media messages: While citizens may feel that they are being helpful by forwarding on cautionary messages they see on social media or receive by email, there's a counter-cautionary tale to be told about doing that as well, according to Georgia Asian. Yesterday December 11 the APD took to social media to quell fears arising from some viral social media messages about crime in the Fraser Valley. However, a sudden proliferation of alarming social media posts making these claims has prompted the Abbotsford Police Department APD to address the issue relevant to all citizens beyond Abbotsford of what to do about such online alerts from unconfirmed sources. The APD stated that they have been observing several posts on social media over the past two weeks that may appear alarming to community members. The Abbotsford News reported that an Abbotsford organization issued a public safety bulletin about some incidents that went viral among community members. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

scheer i: Today, I felt it was appropriate to speak to my friends and colleagues in the House of Commons about one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made, said Scheer, according to National Observer. I just informed my colleagues in the Conservative caucus that I will be resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. The Tory leader, who was first elected as an MP in 2004 at the age of 25, rose to make the announcement in the House of Commons on Thursday, saying the conservative movement needs someone who can give 100 per cent, and it was time for him to put my family first. Scheer said he will ask the party's national council to immediately begin the process of organizing a leadership election. The party's mandatory leadership review is scheduled for April. He intends to stay on as leader of the party until a new one is chosen, he added, and will continue to serve constituents in his riding of Regina Qu'Appelle as a member of Parliament. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

olympics: Canadian athletes racked up 26 medals, including 14 gold, in Vancouver, both records for Team Canada, according to CTV. According to Google statistics, the Vancouver Olympics was the top-trending search in 2010, with the men's and women's hockey gold medals and figure skater Joannie Rochette's bronze medal emerging as some of the most-searched moments of the Games. CTVNews.ca spoke with Google Canada spokesperson Alexandra Klein to break down the biggest trending topics of the decade 10. 2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPICS Canada emerged as a force in the Winter Olympics when Vancouver hosted the Games to kick off the decade in 2010. Klein said the searches regarding the 2010 Olympics showed that Vancouver was experiencing a coming of age as a city. FORT MCMURRAY WILDFIRE In May 2016, wildfires ravaged Fort McMurray, Alta., forcing a complete evacuation of the city and destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings. The conversation around the Olympics was a lot about Vancouver becoming an internationally recognized city, a world-class city, she said. 9. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rd parliament: The suspension is for the entirety of the 43rd Parliament, according to CTV. A new Parliament is underway Sign up for our Capital Dispatch newsletter This means that parliamentary secretaries will once again be able to have the ability to be appointed to committees, act as substitutes, move motions, and cast votes around those tables. Quietly during routine proceedings on Thursday, Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader got unanimous consent to suspend sections of the Standing Orders the rules of the House that had to do with the powers theses members have. In the last Parliament, the Liberals opened up and amended the House rules to make it so that parliamentary secretaries were not allowed to be voting members on House committees, an effort said to be in the name of more committee independence. When asked last week by CTVNews.ca whether or not this was a step that the government would be taking, Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez said it was being discussed. Though now, facing the realities of a minority government where opposition parties have the majority of seats on House committees, the Liberals have backtracked on that decision. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cent stake: A rival offer of 11 per share made by Catalyst Capital Group has been rejected by HBC's special committee because it says the Baker-led group, which holds a 57 per cent stake in the retailer, is not interested in selling its shares, according to CTV. ISS raised questions about the thoroughness of the sale process and if the agreed transaction maximizes value for minority HBC shareholders. Institutional Shareholder Services raised concerns about the disclosures surrounding the 10.30 per share offer by a group led by HBC executive chairman Richard Baker. Given that significant defects have been identified with the sale process, shareholders cannot be confident they are receiving maximal available value for their shares, ISS said in its report. However, the special committee at HBC said Monday the ISS report is flawed and urged shareholders to support the offer by the Baker-led group. The proxy advisory firm said the only defect of the rival offer identified by HBC's special committee was the opposition of the Baker-led group of continuing shareholders. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

climate leadership: Canada must apply its international climate leadership to all domestic action, the letter says, according to National Observer. It must demonstrate how a major fossil fuels producer and exporter can transition away from these pollutants, blazing a trail for other fossil fuel-reliant economies to follow. The group of youth from across the world said Canada has taken a leading role globally in pushing for climate action, but must apply the same commitment domestically, in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and dated Dec. 10, Human Rights Day. They also wrote separately to Norway, another developed economy with a major and still-expanding oil and gas industry, with similar demands. Trudeau has sought to align himself with Thunberg, who has galvanized the world's young people to demand action on climate change after she started skipping school last year to protest outside the Swedish parliament. What people are reading Canadian airline makes history with first flight in the world by all-electric float plane Andrew Scheer will never relent Kenney prepared to be pragmatic' on oilsands pollution cap The group which in September filed a complaint at the United Nations against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey argues that climate inaction amounts to a violation of the rights of children, who will bear the brunt of the negative effects of a warming planet. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

inequality: But labour markets are part of a broader political-economic context, where past and current policies have favoured some population groups over others, says the report, according to CTV. This history of wealth accumulation for some but not others is a crucial contributor to racialized economic inequality today. Employment income is the sole or main source of income for most Canadians, and labour market policies play a major role in improving or worsening income inequality, says the newly published report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which looks at income inequality along racial lines. There is little Canadian data examining wealth according to race, but Statistics Canada did include some details on income linked to net wealth -- specifically, capital gains and income from investments -- broken down by visible minority status in the 2016 census. The data on visible minorities does not include Indigenous Peoples. The analysis in the report suggests a discrepancy between racialized Canadians, which is how the co-authors refer to those who identified as visible minorities in the 2016 census, and non-racialized, or white, Canadians. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

emitters: The tax will be applied on 10 per cent of emissions produced by the province's biggest polluters starting in 2020, according to CTV. A new Parliament has begun Sign up for our Capital Dispatch newsletter Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Friday his department agrees that plan will meet federal requirements that each province have a price on pollution from big industrial emitters. In late October, Alberta unveiled a system to impose a 30-a-tonne tax on greenhouse-gas emissions from big industry, including the oilsands. Provinces that don't will have a federal version imposed on them. We are very pleased that Alberta has now agreed to commit to putting in place a price on pollution at least with respect to heavy emitters, said Wilkinson. The government amended regulations to exempt Alberta from the federal system for industry on Friday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sowing distrust: A judge and law clerks will read the complaint, as will CNN's counsel, according to Rabble. But as the top of the complaint makes clear, it's intended for a wider audience, namely the folks who tune in when Nunes, an outspoken defender of President Trump, appears on Sean Hannity's Fox News program. Devin Nunes R-Calif. on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against CNN in a federal courthouse in Virginia. CNN is the mother of fake news. CNN is eroding the fabric of America, proselytizing, sowing distrust and disharmony. It is the least trusted name, reads the complaint. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

impeachment clauses: Meanwhile, outside the Longworth Building, where Nadler's committee has been convening, an equally vigorous campaign is being waged to shape how the public understands the role impeachment plays in our constitutional system, according to Rabble. Making sense of our eighteenth-century Constitution in our twenty-first-century world poses a number of challenges, so it's not all that surprising that in the rush to make a complex issue fit into our head-spinning and vertigo-inducing news cycles, some simplification and distortion is inevitable. To aid them in this solemn task, committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and his colleagues on Wednesday summoned an impressive list of constitutional scholars to offer authoritative interpretations of the Constitution's impeachment clauses. Still, it's worth pausing to ask a more basic question How should the Constitution's provisions on impeachment be interpreted The present debate over Donald Trump's impeachment has largely been framed in originalist terms. The dominant model, for the moment, is what's known as public meaning originalism. But for all of this doctrine's supposed appeal as a settled form of legal interpretation, it would be prudent to recognize that originalism now comes in about as many flavors as the Ben and Jerry's product line. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

button issue: A previous volunteer committee made several recommendations to council in 2017, including cutting the mayor's salary, which council voted in favour of, according to CTV. I recognize that this can be a hot button issue for folks, said committee chair Scarlett Crockatt. The five person citizen committee will spend the next year studying the salary, pension, benefits and other perks of councillors and the mayor, who earn 113,325.63 and 200,586.40 respectfully. That's not a reason to do it. My goal is to balance the perspectives in conjunction with my committee members and do what we think is best for the community and use as many external sources as we can. This is important to our community, Crockatt added, that our city councillors and the council overall is an important contributor as it sets things for our city. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

choice words: Candid comments As party leaders descend on Ottawa ahead of Parliament's return to business, they had some choice words for Trudeau who was caught on video talking with world leaders about U.S. President Donald Trump. 2, according to CTV. Parliament begins Five Members of Parliament are vying to be the next House of Commons speaker as the 43rd session of Parliament -- and a new era of minority government -- is set to begin in Ottawa. 3. Here's what else you need to know to start your day. 1. Health scare Canadian rapper John River is accusing the Ontario health-care system of systemic racism after he spent months searching for help with a medical issue that was being misdiagnosed. 4. Hate warning An ex-Iron March user and de-radicalized neo-Nazi says that the rising of fascism in the world is not being taken seriously enough, and wants to tell others that it's not too late to leave hatred behind. B.C. bloodwater The B.C. government says it will send an inspector to a fish processing plant after new video obtained by CTV News revealed bloody seawater streaming into a migratory route for wild salmon. 5. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mandate letters: Gen, according to CTV. Julie Payette in the Senate chamber. The throne speech is penned by the Prime Minister's Office but read by Gov. Government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the speech, say it will aim to set a collaborative tone, as befits a government that will need the support of one or more opposition parties to pass legislation and survive confidence votes. Some of the details will be filled in when Trudeau issues marching orders to each of his 36 cabinet ministers in mandate letters. A new Parliament begins tomorrow Sign up for our Capital Dispatch newsletter In accordance with tradition, the speech is to give only a rough sketch of the principles and priorities that will drive the government in the days to come. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

government officials: The list gives the most concrete figure yet for the number of women caught up in the trafficking schemes since 2018, according to CTV. But since the time it was put together in June, investigators' aggressive drive against the networks has largely ground to a halt. The list, obtained by The Associated Press, was compiled by Pakistani investigators determined to break up trafficking networks exploiting the country's poor and vulnerable. Officials with knowledge of the investigations say that is because of pressure from government officials fearful of hurting Pakistan's lucrative ties to Beijing. In October, a court in Faisalabad acquitted 31 Chinese nationals charged in connection with trafficking. The biggest case against traffickers has fallen apart. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

conspiracy theories: Users didn't have to like, share or save a single post for the algorithm to start recommending far-right propaganda; they simply had to click on one partisan meme, and the algorithm took care of the rest, according to National Observer. The study concludes that, through its algorithm, Pinterest may contribute to the dissemination of extremist memes as recommended popular items on its app. The analysis, conducted by researchers at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab DFRL found that after clicking just one anti-Trudeau post on Pinterest, the platform's algorithm quickly steered users into a far-right ecosystem flooded with disinformation, conspiracy theories and inflammatory memes. What people are reading Prospects look bleak for Canadian mountains, Arctic and coasts, says IPCCOntario auditor general slams Doug Ford's climate policies Ottawa accused of 'stalling tactics' over mercury treatment facility The findings are particularly important given that Pinterest is the second-most popular social media platform in Canada, accounting for 22 per cent of all traffic from Canadian social media users, according to the web analytics company Stat Counter. Yet according to the DFRL researchers, as election day approached, the platform increasingly became a repository for meme-based political smear campaigns. Despite its popularity, Pinterest is often left out or glossed over in discussions about mis- and disinformation on social media. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.