California Water Wars: There is a tongue-in-cheek saying in America attributed to Mark Twain, who lived through the early phase of the California Water Wars that whisky is for drinking and water is for fighting over. It highlights the consequences, even if somewhat apocryphally, as ever-scarcer water resources create a parched world. California is currently reeling under its worst drought in modern times. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Blair Feltmate These Manitoba floods are just the beginning. We need to prepare for worse Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist and the author, most recently, of Water, Peace and War. Age of the water wars (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Louis Riel: Louis Riel Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada How Canadian are You, eh?, found on Citizenship and Immigration Canadas website, consists of questions like What is the highest mountain in the country? Or, How many times did Queen Elizabeth visit Canada? , according to CBC. The question is: "What threat did Louis Riel represent for Canada?" And the required answer is: "He led two armed uprisings that threatened the future of Canada as a country extending from one sea to the other." 'Oh! This is so wrong. First, Canada wasnt threatened. And more importantly, it was not a rebellion. It was a form of resistance.' - Guy Savoie Its a quiz offered in English and French that designed for new immigrants to test their general knowledge about Canada. However, a question in French addressing the role of Louis Riel in Canada history is causing some controversy. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Prince Debase Betoukoumessou: Thats what Th r se Betoukoumessou asked herself Monday morning as she quickly assembled some of her husbands belongings into a suitcase he could take with him when he gets deported, according to The Star. Her husband, Prince Debase Betoukoumessou, was detained by the Canada Border Services Agency in April and was slated Monday to be sent back to the Democratic Republic of Congo a country where he fears for his life and How do you pack for a one-way trip to hell? New shoes, she thought, and slimmer pants because he had lost so much weight in detention. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Charlottetown Diocese: The diocese, which covers all Roman Catholic churches on Prince Edward Island, has been working for several years to privately sponsor three refugee families . All three of those efforts ended in failure. , according to CBC. Diocese refugee sponsorship coordinator Dan Doran, who worked with CIC, said the Canadian government needs to provide more help with private refugee sponsorship. He said refugees sometimes have to wait as long as five years. The fate of two families sponsored by the Charlottetown Diocese as refugees is unknown, because the sponsoring church group lost touch with them while the Canadian government was processing their paperwork. The Charlottetown Diocese will make another effort to sponsor more families, says refugee sponsorship coordinator Dan Doran. One of those families ended up moving to Australia, but the church group lost touch with the other two families while waiting for Citizenship and Immigration Canada to approve them. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

La Maison Simons: With annual sales of more than $300-million, the privately owned department store chain is now making up for lost time. In addition to eight stores in Quebec, Simons is expanding into other parts of Canada with as many as four more stores scheduled to open in the next three years. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Retail Ivanho hustles into outlet mall space La Maison Simons, which dates back to an 1840 dry-goods store founded by an entrepreneurial Scottish immigrant newly arrived in Quebec, took until 2012 to expand beyond its home province. Densification Next role for the shopping mall: city state? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ireland Park Foundation: The park, built to commemorate the 38,000 Irish famine victims who landed on Torontos shores in 1847, has been entirely cut off from pedestrians since 2010, according to The Star. We re very patient, said Robert Kearns, chair of the Ireland Park Foundation. He spoke at a small ceremony Tuesday to celebrate the reopening and It wont last long, but Ireland Park finally has a slight respite from the scourge of downtown construction fences. The completion of a promenade along the quay at the foot of Bathurst St. now provides access to the park. But fencing still surrounds the rest of it, and by next summer the park will likely be closed for more waterfront work. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

disclosure of information: The powers are included in Bill C-24, an overhaul of citizenship law passed last month, though have drawn little attention. The changes amend the Citizenship Act to allow Stephen Harpers cabinet to draft regulations providing for the disclosure of information for the purposes of national security, the defence of Canada or the conduct of international affairs, including under international deals struck by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Group plans constitutional challenge to budget bill The Conservative government has given itself broad new powers to share Canadian immigration files and other information with foreign governments a practice that could have far-reaching implications for individuals who cross borders. Canada got it right on immigration. Now its time to lead on refugees (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

South Fraser Perimeter Highway: Skills-training program in B.C. aims to curtail a coming jobs crisis, according to Globe and Mail. Banffs changing labour landscape Carpenters work to enclose a roof on a home being built in Springfield, Ill., in this file photo. AP Photo Multimedia Recent employment levels for B.C.s growing job types A transport trucks rumbles past an Arts and Craft house on River Road in Delta, BC, May 15, 2009. The South Fraser Perimeter Highway, a four-lane, 40-kilometre stretch of blacktop that is part of B.C. vaunted Gateway project and would link DeltaPort to highways in the Fraser Valley and run through South Delta along the Fraser River. The $1-billion project, for which prep work is beginning, skirts the Burns Bog conservation area and involves expropriation of dozens of homes some estimates say 200 . Lyle Stafford for the Multimedia 10 jobs expected to be in highest demand in B.C. over the next decade Video Video: Nova Scotia nurses threaten to quit en masse British Columbias skilled work force is expected to undergo an invisible shift in coming years as the pool of younger workers becomes smaller than the number of aging workers who have their eye on retirement. In a 10-part series, The looks at the 10 jobs expected to be in highest demand in B.C. in the next decade. This is Part One. More Related to this Story Lavergne and McGrail Was B.C.s push for better primary health care a $1-billion bust? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ryerson University professor Beau Standish: Later, after the medical biophysicist tucked his own kids into bed, he would respond with all the facts and fervour expected of any good mentor, according to The Star. Standish is one of more than 800 Canadian professionals who have offered to give long-distance career tips and encouragement to some of Canadas most far-flung northern students, through a non-profit program called DreamCatcher Mentoring. DreamCatcher matches students with professionals in their dream careers and Every Thursday afternoon, Ryerson University professor Beau Standish would get an email from a teenager in a classroom in Whitehorse, picking his brains from 4,000 kilometres away about careers in science and engineering. Call him an e-mentor. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Prince Debase Betoukoumessou, 52, has lived in Canada since fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo with his wife and four young daughters in 1997. The couple made a home in Toronto, had two sons here, and run a small salon and beauty supply store downtown, according to The Star. While there is a temporary suspension of removals to Congo, this does not apply to individuals with criminal records, those deemed to be serious security risks, war criminals or individuals who committed crimes against humanity, spokesperson Patrizia Giolti told in an email Sunday evening. Order this photo Therese Betoukoumessou holds a photo of herself and her husband Prince Debase Betoukoumessou in happier times, in the living room of her Toronto home. Prince has been ordered deported to his native Democratic Republic of Congo and Sixteen years since he escaped jail and possible death at the hands of the Congolese government, a long-time Toronto business owner and father of six will be deported Monday to the Central African country known for its human rights abuses . Canada has an official moratorium on deportations to the Congo because of concern for the safety of people sent back. However, that moratorium does not cover those whom the Canadian government believes have committed a crime, according to a official. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Charities: Charities feel chill as tax audits widen, July 11, according to The Star. We all know who these are: people on employment insurance, the homeless, single moms, and refugees seeking asylum or healthcare and so and on and Re: Charities feel chill as tax audits widen, July 11 Of course the Harper government is attacking charities via tax audits and the reason is simple. With their nasty, mean-spirited ideology they cannot understand, tolerate or accept the idea that charitable Canadians would be coming to the aid of people that they have designated as worthless bums sponging off the taxpayers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ontario: Once an economic giant, Ontario now has one of the largest debt-loads of any sub-national government in the world. And on a day-to-day basis for many, Ontario is a province in crisis. Forty per cent of those who suffer food insecurity in Canada live in Ontario. A job in the province no longer protects against poverty a full 10 per cent of those using food banks are gainfully employed. Immigrants, newcomers and other vulnerable groups are over-represented in precarious employment, often working multiple part-time jobs and still not earning enough to make ends meet. Social assistance recipients are living at least 40 per cent below any accepted poverty line , and thousands of people, including many youth, are homeless , living in shelters or on the streets, according to The Star. In her throne speech and in this weeks budget, Premier Kathleen Wynne provided us with a road map for the future that refreshingly acknowledged these challenges. While a number of commentators have focused on the fact that she intends to spend money and lots of it I was struck by something else: three concise sentences expressing her unequivocal belief in the important role for government in improving living conditions for Ontarians and These are tough times in Ontario. These are not the living conditions we expect in one of the most advanced democracies and one of the richest countries in the world. So what is a premier to do? (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Eric Hoskins: I see it as an advantage, Dr. Eric Hoskins said during an interview Friday. It gives me an insight that I think is really valuable, according to The Star. Although Hoskins is not the first doctor to become health minister, the appointment of a physician to the post is rare and one that premiers are reluctant to make for fear of the perception of a conflict and Ontarios new health minister insists the fact he is a physician does not place him in a conflict of interest, a concern many in the sector have quietly expressed. He went to medical school at McMaster University, which he says spearheaded the team-based approach to patient care and taught him the value of working with a group of practitioners including nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Peter Zezel: Zezel was generous with his time, and his love of sports and his community knew no bounds, Scarborough Centre Councillor Michael Thompson said before a sign was unveiled officially on the new road between freshly-built townhouses west of Midland Avenue. , according to Hamilton Spectator. Her brothers death in 2009 at age 44 made the moment of the streets dedication bittersweet, she said during the ceremony, but added that, Peter would have loved it. Peter and our family will always appreciate it. Peter Zezel was a great Scarborough son, and a street called Zezel Way will preserve the memory of a man whose talent and zest for life impressed all who knew him, family and friends of the late NHL player heard Friday. Born in Scarborough, Zezel was a direct descendent of the areas founding pioneers David and Mary Thomson, as well as of a Yugoslavian immigrant, Peter Zezel Sr., who could not have imagined, his daughter Neda said, a street bearing his family name. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

national team: The nation known more for shooting pucks than penalty kicks fields a national team that ranks 110th in the world, tied with Bahrain. But its fierce love for the beautiful game has been on display for all the world to see in Brazil. organizers say Canadians bought more than 29,000 tickets to World Cup matches, outranking all other nations that didn't qualify for the Cup and behind only 10 nations that did. , according to Hamilton Spectator. That multi-ethnic society and the national team struggles make it easy for fans of any nation to enjoy the World Cup in Canada. Canada has not sent a team to the World Cup in a generation. But that hasn't stopped Canadians from going a little Cup crazy. Canada was also the top non-competing nation in attendance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, officials say. As a nation of immigrants, it should be no surprise that that Canadians are wild about the Cup. One in every five Canadians is born in another country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigration and Refugee Board: Figures provided by the Immigration and Refugee Board to News show 47 claimants from the U.S. have been approved since 2007, even though the U.S. is on a list of "Designated Countries of Origin" that are deemed by Canada to respect human rights and offer state protection and therefore don't produce what Canada would recognize as refugees. , according to CBC. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has defended the federal government controversial move to cut back refugee health care by insisting taxpayers should not foot the bill for claimants who would eventually be rejected as illegitimate or "bogus." The federal government says refugees from a list of "safe" countries are "bogus" and don't deserve health care, yet hundreds of these claimants have been approved as legitimate refugees, including dozens from the United States. A small number of claimants from other "safe" countries, such as Belgium, Germany, France, Sweden have also been approved joining hundreds more from Mexico, Hungary and countries that have recently been added the DCO list. View the list of Designated Countries of Origin (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

First Nations: Tsilhqot in case Supreme Court expands land-title rights in unanimous ruling, according to Globe and Mail. First Nations Historic land-title ruling creates uncertainty for development, report says Watch Video: Once a thriving fishery town, is Namu, B.C., too contaminated for the Heiltsuk First Nation? Demonstrators took to Vancouver streets Tuesday to rally against the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would carry oil from Alberta to northern B.C. for shipment overseas. Ottawa has given Enbridge conditional approval for the project. CP Video Watch Video: Northern Gateway pipeline opponents vow to keep fighting Watch Video: Northern Gateway pipeline facts and figures First Nations in Northern Ontario have lost a fight to force the provincial government to obtain federal approval before permitting logging on their traditional lands a decision that helps clarify the jurisdiction of the two levels of government over resource extraction in territory covered by treaties. More Related to this Story First Nations B.C. First Nations take action on top courts land-title ruling (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Olivia Chow: The crowd cheered as Mr. Vaughan, Mr. Dong and federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau pumped their fists in triumph to mark the Liberal victory in the NDP stronghold recently vacated by mayoral candidate Olivia Chow. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Liberals take two Toronto ridings, Tories hang on to Alberta strongholds Surrounded by a sea of supporters, former Toronto city councillor Adam Vaughan bounded to the stage to celebrate his victory in the Trinity-Spadina federal by-election in June. One of the first people he embraced was a fellow winner: newly minted Trinity-Spadina MPP Han Dong. Long-time NDP MPP Marchese blames loss on strategic voting (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada: Canada is known more for shooting pucks than penalty kicks fields a national team that ranks 110th in the world, tied with Bahrain. But its fierce love for the beautiful game has been on display for all the world to see in Brazil. organizers say Canadians bought more than 29,000 tickets to World Cup matches, outranking all other nations that didn't qualify for the Cup and behind only 10 nations that did, according to CTV. That multi-ethnic society and the national team struggles make it easy for fans of any nation to enjoy the World Cup in Canada and - Canada has not sent a team to the World Cup in a generation. But that hasn't stopped Canadians from going a little Cup crazy. Canada was also the top non-competing nation in attendance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, officials say. As a nation of immigrants, it should be no surprise that that Canadians are wild about the Cup. One in every five Canadians is born in another country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Nova Scotia: Lets start at the beginning. Not the beginning beginning like the Big Bang and the dawn of the universe and the unfolding of all of matter but at the beginning of Canada. Or even earlier: Nova Scotia in the early part of the 19th century. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Back then, the Maritimes werent the convivial hotbed of cozy cable-knit sweaters, interesting facial hair, pint-clinking and interminable fiddle music we ve become accustomed to through beer and fish-stick commercials. Like: did you know that 1815 was colloquially referred to as The Year of the Mice ? Its true! Packs of mice decimated crops, arriving in such abundance that their waterlogged corpses were lining the coast. These hardships were rewarded in 1816, called The Year Without Summer which sounds like something out of Game Of Thrones , during which an abiding winter frost proved a significant hassle for agriculturalists who had just spent the last year shooing packs of rodents into the ocean. As one merchant noted, in the years following the War of 1812, an sic universal gloom had settled over the province and This summer, John Semley asks the tough questions of our nation: Are we Canadians really a funny people? And, if so, how did we get that way? Each week, for 10 weeks, he will explore a new facet of our history in humour. For the previous instalment, click here . The front lines of funny: Exploring how Canadians became so hilarious, one book at a time (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Mbuyisa Makhubu: Raul Makhubu says these details should be enough proof to identify the mysterious man languishing in immigration detention in Canada for 10 years as his long-lost elder brother, anti-apartheid icon Mbuyisa Makhubu, according to The Star. He divulged all the information about the landscape in our home, how everything stood like in our yard. He knew our parents names. No one knows about my fathers history and what he was called at home. Yet this gentleman in detention in Canada knows all about this. I know he is my brother and A moon-like birth mark on the left chest. The knowledge of the landscape of the family home and location of the coal box in the yard. Information about the year their father left and where he died. This man gave information that only a member of our family can be aware of, Makhubu said in an interview from Johannesburg. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Rue Bernard: But Flaneur , a startup literary magazine, went ahead with it, dispatched a team to scour a 1.9-kilometre strip known as Rue Bernard , discover its habits, haunts and its humanity and take from it inspiration for a collection of stories, comics, poems, essays, profiles and photos, according to The Star. Bernard stretches from the wealthy francophone enclave of Outremont in the west where it is officially an avenue to the back alleys that hum with black-hatted Hasidic Jews. It ends up in the east as a plain old rue, or street, in the rundown or reclaimed industrial area known as the Mile End. This in the neighbourhood put on the map a few years ago as Arcade Fires home base and It must have seemed at one point like a ridiculous notion: a Berlin magazine devoting an entire 123-page issue to one street 6,000 kilometres away in Montreal. Making money from the slick finished product, which was released last week, may be another matter. But it has mined a few nuggets of truth about life in Canadas second-largest city. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Toronto Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: Some members of Toronto Latin-American and Caribbean communities say they've been largely left out of preparations for the Games, with only superficial efforts made to include them. Toronto Pan Am Games start 1-year countdown , according to CBC. "There is no buzz in the community, the community is not aware much of the Pan Am Games," said Manuel Rodriguez, president of the Toronto Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Hordes of athletes from the Americas and the Caribbean competing in next summer Pan Am and Parapan Games might find themselves without a cheering crowd of local supporters from their home countries, a community leader says. And with only a year to go before the opening ceremony the Games kick off July 10, 2015 they worry there isn't enough being done to drum up enthusiasm for an event that should have thousands rallying behind their compatriots. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Peter Taptuna: All of us agree that the changes are detrimental to our jurisdictions, Dave Hancock said at the end of a brief western premiers conference hosted in Iqaluit, in the eastern Arctic, by Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Earlier PEI, Nova Scotia join Alberta in opposing changes to foreign worker program Western provinces have a genuine, pressing need for skilled labour and the federal governments recent overhaul of its temporary foreign worker program goes too far, the interim Alberta premier said Thursday. Related Manitobas foreign worker strategy called a model for other provinces (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

military procurement: They are chipping away at the prime ministers policies on everything from electoral reform to military procurement. Advocacy groups have raised red flags, the media have highlighted the damage he is doing to peoples lives and communities and the courts have reined him in. But the primary thrust is coming from citizens who dont like what is happening to their country, according to The Star. Alexander immediately announced he would appeal the ruling. Although the fight is not over, the Tories lost the first round badly and It took a while to find the chinks in Stephen Harpers armour. But Canadians have done it now. The latest manifestation was the July 4 Federal Court ruling striking down the governments cutbacks to medical care for refugees. Justice Anne Mactavish said the two-year-old policy shocks the conscience and outrages our standards of decency. She gave Immigration Minister Chris Alexander four months to bring Ottawas treatment of asylum seekers into line with the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual treatment of any person. The doctors, lawyers and childrens activists who brought the case to court were relieved and heartened. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Idi Amin: If there was a poster child book for the virtues of this complex concept, it could easily be former daily newspaper editor Tasneem Jamals Where the Air is Sweet , a perfect summer read that could tempt even the most stalwart non-fiction devotee back into novel territory. The reader is immediately drawn in with a tense preview of the central conflict that will drive the narrative an Indian family in Uganda, threatened under the dictatorship of the brutal tyrant Idi Amin then further hooked with a lovely story of three generations of this family that emigrated from Gujarat northwest India in 1921, according to The Star. Many considered themselves lucky to get out alive. Others, however, faced with a future as penniless refugees, risked their lives trying to liquidate remaining assets and smuggle some money out of the country. The family in Where the Air is Sweet is one such, taking a risk that might appear unthinkable without the context and history that Jamal draws with the multi-generational tale. Unsurprisingly, after 50 years, the family has come to call Africa home, despite the cultural differences that Raju, the patriarch and central protagonist, struggled with on arrival and In the ongoing debate as to whether or not literary fiction is dead, its champions argue that indulging in fiction is a precious chance to simultaneously immerse ourselves in an alternate reality, engage with another mind, heighten our capacity for empathy and exercise our imagination. All while soaking up the rays on the patio. A passing familiarity with African history is all the spoiler alert we need, since many will already know that, shortly after Amin came to power in 1971, he expelled 80,000 Asians as part of his vision of Africanization. He exploited existing Indophobia and made scapegoats of the Indian and Pakistani communities, initially established before the turn of the 20th century. Amin seized Asians property regardless of their birthplace and citizenship status and gave them 90 days to leave. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.