Hassan Aden: The 31-year-old Flemington Park resident was one of three people shot outside his low-rise apartment building early Tuesday morning, according to CTV. "It shocking; it really happened within a few minutes that he came out from the house," Hassan uncle, Hassan Aden, said Tuesday outside his family home north of Toronto and In life, he became a teacher, mentor and role model. In death, Abshir Hassan would become Toronto 23rd homicide victim of the year. According to his family and police, it appears Hassan had just run outside to move his car so he wouldn't get a ticket when gunfire erupted. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

citizens: But the difference with hockey is that new citizens feel they have to learn about everything from bodychecking to Zambonis just to fit in, according to The Star. Sport can be a unifying force, helping to break the ice between strangers and providing a shortcut to learning about Canadian culture, jargon and humour, according to the reports first-hand accounts from 4,000 new citizens across Canada and When new Canadians come here they often dont know much about hockey and, given how few ice rinks are found in most parts of the world, thats not a surprise. Many of them dont know about football or baseball either. New citizens quickly recognize how difficult social interactions can be without having some hockey sense, states a report released by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship . (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Zabeen Hirji: She had put her finger on one of the biggest challenges facing this city: moving from diversity to inclusion, according to The Star. Speaking at the annual meeting of the United Way of Toronto, Hirji was careful not to offend the business leaders in the room. Eighty per cent of the charitys funds come from the corporate sector in direct donations and employee payroll contributions . But she made it clear that diversity which Toronto has in abundance is simply a description of the citys talent pool. Inclusion is the act of tapping into the whole pool not just the top layer and mixing people from disparate cultures, backgrounds and generations together in a way that allows them to combine their strengths and Having diversity is interesting, said Zabeen Hirji , chief human resources officer for the Royal Bank non-commitally. Its when you do something with it that it becomes powerful. As a woman, an Ismaili Muslim and an immigrant from Tanzania, Hirji is acutely aware of the difference. Many Torontonians are not. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Paul Maranger: The biggest jump, surprisingly enough, was in the sale of $1 million-plus condos which skyrocketed by 53 per cent to the end of June over the same period of 2013 gains beyond those seen in Vancouver, Calgary or Montreal, notes the Top-Tier Real Estate Report released Tuesday, according to The Star. Sothebys realtor Paul Maranger said hes seen a surge just since this years brutal winter in baby boomers looking for spacious but low-maintenance luxury condos, ideally with two parking spots, which can be tougher to find and The GTA high-end real estate market is roaring along, with sales of properties over $1 million up 34 per cent in the first half of 2014 over a year earlier, matching gains in the countrys priciest market, Vancouver, according to a new report by Sothebys International. Despite fears of oversupply , demand for luxury condominiums remained high, says the twice yearly state of the high-end market report by the high-end real estate company. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Sotheby International Realty Canada: The realtor says in a new report that sales of homes worth more than $1 million boomed in the first half of 2014, with all four key metropolitan areas covered -- Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal -- recording double-digit gains, according to CTV. That was followed by Calgary with a 17 per cent increase and Montreal with an 11 per cent gain, even though Quebec largest city posted an overall decline in sales in 2013 and - Canada housing market may be cooling, but there no loss of appetite for high-end real estate, according to Sotheby International Realty Canada. Vancouver and Toronto continue to lead the way with sales of homes worth $1 million or more increasing 34 per cent compared with the first six months of 2013. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Abdoul Kadir Abdi: A 20-year-old Dartmouth man has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for what the judge called a vicious attack on an unarmed man last December, according to The Chronicle Herald. Abdi, who came to Canada from war-torn Somalia at the age of six, entered the guilty pleas rather than stand trial on 23 charges, including attempted murder and Abdoul Kadir Abdi pleaded guilty Monday in Halifax provincial court to four charges aggravated assault, theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving and assaulting a police officer with a vehicle. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay: It was hardly a model example of how to negotiate a deal, according to The Chronicle Herald. The leap of faith into a new deal, signed last week by federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay and Labour Minister Kelly Regan, came after months of finagling between the two levels of governments and But in the end, the new Canada-Nova Scotia Job Fund Agreement is a bit like the labour market: Whether you are an employer or a worker, you never know exactly what you re going to get. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada Day: Canada Day, July 1, according to The Star. Its past the time to aspire to greater things. Our leaders have demonstrated their inability to provide what Canada needs most: visionary leadership, devoid of Houses of government with no respect, little civility, promises driven by power and partisanship at the expense of Canadians and Re: Canada Day, July 1 Your guest editor raised from its ongoing, daily mire of the various three-ring circuses that disguise themselves as our political infrastructure city, provincial and federal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Lee Cohen: Its going to completely change the ability of people claiming refugee status in New Brunswick to look after their health, said Lee Cohen, an immigration lawyer and the founder of the Halifax Refugee Clinic. Lee Cohen, an immigration lawyer, applauded a federal court ruling against federal cuts to refugee health-care funds, according to CBC. The federal court has seen the light and decided that oppressive government must be precluded from acting oppressively when peoples healthcare is at risk, Cohen said. Newcomers to New Brunswick could greatly benefit from a federal court ruling against Ottawas cuts to refugee health care, according to refugee advocate groups in Atlantic Canada. On Friday, a federal court threatened to strike down the governments cuts to refugee health care. The court ordered the government to reverse its cuts within four months. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Amandeep Dhillon: The sandals are three sizes too small, the truck is missing two wheels and the books are in tatters, according to The Star. The sandals, the truck, the books they all came from Toronto, with handwritten notes from his mother. Sometimes, she even slipped in a $10 bill or a photograph. They were among the last things Amandeep Dhillon sent for Manmohan, her only child, before she was stabbed to death in 2009 and From deep in a closet, Manmohan Dhillon fishes out a pair of blue sandals. Then, he takes out a toy fire truck, an alphabet book and a picture book. But Manmohan, 7, wont let go of them, says Kulwant Benipal, his maternal grandmother. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson: But Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson basically acknowledged Sunday that such proceedings might be long delayed, and he said that coping with floods of unaccompanied minors crossing the border is a legal and humanitarian dilemma for the U.S, according to Times Colonist. Repeatedly pressed to say whether thousands of Central American children will be deported promptly, Johnson said, "we need to find more efficient, effective ways to turn this tide around generally, and we've already begun to do that." A top Obama administration official says no one, not even children trying to escape violent countries, can illegally enter the United States without eventually facing deportation proceedings. "Our border is not open to illegal migration, and we are taking a number of steps to address it, including turning people around faster," Johnson told NBC "Meet the Press." At the same time, he said, the administration is "looking at ways to create additional options for dealing with the children in particular, consistent with our laws and our values." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

James Rodriguez: Ultimately all of the others were mere pretenders. Colombia and its brilliant youngster James Rodriguez, Belgium and its Golden Generation, France and its refocused freshness and plucky Costa Rica, reaching far beyond its own wildest dream. They, and 24 other nations, are left to ponder what went wrong. , according to CBC. What we, as fans, take away when our emotions are exhausted, somewhat depends on our entry point. Canada had 32 teams to cheer for We finally sorted the men from the boys. It has taken three and a half weeks and 60 games to reveal what we knew all along. It is South America vs. Europe for the championship. In the final analysis only one team can ever leave a World Cup truly satisfied. That team will hoist the trophy in a weeks time after successfully negotiating the seven steps to glory. Everyone else will have played a major or minor supporting role but for them the lingering question remains what if? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mandatory sentencing: This is a government determined to bring its brand of law and order to this country, whether it is cracking down on bogus refugee claimants, giving police more surveillance powers, bringing in mandatory sentencing, ending early parole or always going the extra mile to bring down the hammer in the name of victims rights, according to The Star. But it is hard to imagine that many of Prime Minister Stephen Harpers initiatives, no matter how mean-spirited they may appear, do not appeal to at least a Conservative core and perhaps more than just that zealously guarded core and For the federal Conservatives, the temptation to campaign against the courts in next years federal election must be overwhelming. In most cases, that agenda has crashed on the rocks of judicial challenges. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

foreign workers: The formula has served us well by minimizing the us vs. them undercurrent that charges relations between new arrivals and the rest of society. In our native and adopted land, the old and the new are in it together, according to The Star. We were never like the oil-rich Persian Gulf nations that allow employers to import temporary foreign workers, but not their families, pay dirt-poor wages and hold them hostage as indentured labour tethered to their master and It hit me on Canada Day that even the name, temporary foreign worker program, is un-Canadian. Temporary and foreign are the antithesis of long-standing Canadian immigration policy, the bedrock principle of which is that immigrants are selected to be permanent residents and future fellow-citizens. Canada studiously avoided Europes guest worker program, under which hundreds of thousands were imported in the expectation that they d leave at the end of their work. Few did, creating a permanent underclass in Germany, France and elsewhere and all the resentments that go with it. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Zarqa Nawaz: The conversation with Nawaz has been edited for length, according to The Star. Why was it necessary to put this in your foreword and Zarqa Nawaz went to journalism school and then realized that telling factual stories really wasnt her thing. She wanted to have fun and so she began writing comedy, first for films and then with a lauded television series, Little Mosque on the Prairie, which aired on CBC until 2012 . Nawaz has just finished a memoir, Laughing All the Way to the Mosque , which is as hilarious as her television show. It is so funny I had to share bits of the book with friends and my husband. She shows us Muslims are just like everyone else, funny and often carefree. You offer an apology to your Muslim readers at the beginning of your book: . . . dont think I ve forgotten you. First, stop sulking. This book could have had confessions about drug problems, strange sexual fetishes and criminal activity basically the stuff of white-people memoirs . . . There are no confessions of having sex while swinging from a chandelier . . . So you dont have to be scared of this book. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Karl Marx Street: Traffic hums as usual down Karl Marx Street, the main thoroughfare lined with cafes serving cappuccinos and macarons and boutiques selling Italian clothing, according to The Star. Dnipropetrovsk is a firewall of pro-government sentiment in a restive region, and local officials aim to keep it that way and The battlefields of eastern Ukraine are barely 160 kilometres from this city, but there is no visible sign of the militant separatism that has roiled neighbouring regions. The colours of the Ukrainian flag are on display as blue and yellow bunting is wrapped around a fence encircling the main government building. The flag itself is on conspicuous display from cars, balconies and rooftops. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Waubgeshig Rice Theytus Books: 1. Legacy by Waubgeshig Rice Theytus Books , according to CBC. Set in the 1990s, Legacy deals with violence against a young indigenous woman and its lingering after-shocks on an Anishnawbe family in Ontario. If you are looking for summer reading suggestions, you are in luck. Check out 10 new releases by indigenous authors from fiction to non-fiction, poetic prose, science, politics, romance and traditional stories brought to you by the editors of Muskrat Magazine. Legacy is the first novel by Waubgeshig Rice, whose collection of stories Midnight Sweatlodge was the gold-medal winner of the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2012 for Adult Multicultural Fiction. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee claimants: In a surprisingly strongly worded statement Friday, the federal court ruled Ottawas cutbacks to health-care coverage for refugee claimants are unconstitutional because they constitute cruel and unusual treatment, according to The Star. We remain committed to putting the interests of Canadians and genuine refugees first, he said in a statement and The Federal Court decision to strike down Ottawas cutbacks to health-care coverage for refugee claimants is just the beginning of what could be a long judicial battle. The decision was quickly lauded by many, including the Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and Justice for Children and Youth groups that, along with two refugee claimants, challenged the law. But within hours Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said Ottawa would be appealing the decision. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Vita Sackville Wests Sissinghurst: Call me a yahoo, but I no longer want to line up with hordes of other hot, grumpy tourists outside museums in Paris. To heck with Van Gogh and his overhyped sunflowers and irises. I d much rather stroll around a lovely, uncrowded garden, looking at real flowers, according to The Star. The Brits have always attracted loads of rubberneckers to their famous gardens, including Hampton Court Palace and Vita Sackville Wests Sissinghurst . But now, other countries are going after those tourist dollars. We re even doing it. The fledgling Canadian Garden Council recently handed out a fistful of awards which aim to make folks around the world more aware of everything from Charlottetowns colourful Tulip Festival to the Devonian think dinosaur plants Botanic Garden in Alberta and Whats your idea of a perfect summer vacation? And it seems growing numbers of people agree with me. One of the hottest trends in travel today is a phenomenon called garden tourism. We re visiting gardens like never before surely no surprise in our frantic, overcrowded world where there are so few opportunities to unwind. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Paul Caulford: "There was so much on the line," said Dr. Caulford, a physician and co-founder of the Toronto-area Community Volunteer Clinic for the Medically Uninsured. "We were a voice, all the people there were voices for people who didn't have one." , according to CBC. Those stories provided the backbone of the court decision that forcefully questioned Ottawa cost-cutting arguments behind the reduction in coverage. Like many doctors across the country, Dr. Paul Caulford breathed a sigh of relief Friday morning when he heard that a judicial ruling had declared the federal government controversial refugee health-care cuts "cruel and unusual." Dr. Caulford was one of numerous health-care providers who provided details to the Federal Court on behalf of those who were affected by the 2012 changes that cut off health care for certain refugees and who were too afraid themselves to come forward. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Torontos Pearson International Airport: Avery Edison landed at Torontos Pearson International Airport in mid-February for a short visit. However, border officials denied her entry into the country upon learning that she had stayed past her visas expiry date the last time she came to Canada, according to CTV. Edison, 25, was allowed to fly home four days after she was detained and A transgender woman from England has filed two human rights complaints in Canada after customs officials put her in a mens detention facility when they stopped her at a Toronto airport earlier this year. Despite carrying a passport that stipulates she is female, she was sent to Maplehurst Correctional Institute, a male-only facility, to await an immigration hearing. Edison tweeted details of her ordeal as it was happening, which sparked an outcry from friends and supporters online. She was later moved to Vanier Centre, a women s-only facility. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

The Federal Court: The decision , handed down Friday, made particular note of how the cuts would impact children who have been brought to Canada by their parents, according to CTV. Two years ago, the governing Conservatives cut back health benefits for new arrivals to Canada. Immigrants had access to basic and emergency care, but not extras such as vision or dental care and The Federal Court has ruled against the governments cuts to refugee health care, saying Friday that the changes amount to cruel and unusual treatment and outrage Canadian standards of decency. The 2012 modifications to the Interim Federal Health Program jeopardize the health, and indeed the very lives, of these innocent and vulnerable children in a manner that shocks the conscience and outrages Canadian standards of decency. The Court finds, therefore, that they violate section 12 of the Charter. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander: Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the government will appeal Friday decision by Justice Anne Mactavish, which denounced the cuts as "cruel and unusual" treatment particularly to the children of claimants who have sought refuge in Canada, according to Times Colonist. "There was not just normal health care, but enhanced health care, that goes well beyond what most Canadians receive, going to people whose claims failed, whose claims were literally bogus." The Conservative government has another legal battle on its hands after the Federal Court ruled against controversial reductions to health-care coverage for refugee claimants. "We think it is absolutely incumbent on us as a government to defend the interests of taxpayers that weren't being looked after under the previous system," Alexander said at his constituency office in Ajax, Ont. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Justice Anne Mactavish: Justice Anne Mactavish decision tells of a diabetic who survives on donated insulin, a man who nearly lost his eyesight because he couldn't afford surgery and a 14-year-old who couldn't join her Sea Cadets group on a camping trip because she didn't have a health card, according to Times Colonist. Mactavish referred often to these affidavits in her lengthy ruling and Friday Federal Court decision on refugee health care came with stories of fear and desperation and "the extreme human cost" of the federal government crackdown. The stories were contained in affidavits filed as part of an effort to overturn the federal government two-year-old decision to severely limit health coverage for failed refugee claimants and people from countries deemed to be safe. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada Border Services Agency: Avery Edison, 26, said she has filed complaints with both the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, according to Times Colonist. Edison said she was detained at Pearson airport by the Canada Border Services Agency because on her previous trip to Canada, she stayed past the expiry date of her student visa and A transgender woman from London, England, who was held in a men jail after being detained over an apparent immigration issue in Canada has filed two human rights complaints. The complaints stem from Edison experiences in February when she had travelled to Toronto for a visit. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Interim Federal Health Program: More than two years of mobilizing have pushed the Federal Court to reject the Conservative cuts to refugee health. This should encourage further mobilizing to reverse the cuts and challenge the broader agenda, according to Rabble and Please help .ca stop Harper election fraud plan. Become a monthly supporter . In April 2012 then Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced drastic cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program, beginning in June of that year. The government claimed that the cuts would promote fairness, save money and protect public health -- but the cuts did the exact opposite. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.