Statistics Canadas: Approvals for EI claims are partly based on regional unemployment rates, but officials say staff will be able to manage the expected backlog next week so the wait for Fridays new job numbers wont affect when people get their cheques. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Statistics Canada rushing to redo July job numbers Statistics Canadas decision to pull its latest jobs report forced officials to put employment insurance claims on hold and triggered a flood of speculation from economists as to what Fridays updated numbers will reveal. Business Briefing 12 jokes: Next jobs report? Your guess is as good as a statistician s (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Islamic State: The U.S. announced Wednesday that it was talking to several countries including Canada about helping Yazidis, Iraqi Christians, and other people who have become displaced by the advance of Islamist fighters. Related Items Articles U.S. attacks on insurgents a necessary response US credits airstrikes with allowing Iraqis to escape mountain, making rescue mission unlikely France announces it will send weapons to Iraq 'in coming hours,' co-ordinating with the Brits Egypt top Muslim cleric condemns Islamic State as danger to Islam Australian prime minister won't rule out sending a combat force to Iraq to prevent 'genocide' Iraq prime minister seems increasingly isolated; urges military not to meddle in politics , according to Winnipeg Free Press. "We have offers of support from a number of allies like France, Australia, Canada," Rhodes said. The United States is considering a multinational mission to whisk displaced people to safety in Iraq and it appears there may be a supporting role for Canada. At a White House briefing, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the U.S. was taking up offers to help those who are under threat from the al-Qaida splinter group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporations: The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporations latest quarterly forecast predicts lower sales volumes for 2015, with 163,000 to 203,200 homes expected to be built. The lower end of that forecast is below the 179,600 to 189,900 new homes expected by the end of this year. MAP: House prices across Canada , according to CBC. Add it all up, and the housing agency calls for a "soft landing" in housing a term used by economists to describe a housing market that slowly cools down without ever experiencing a jarring, sudden large drop in prices, sales or new builds. Prices will tick higher Canada national housing agency says it expects builders to stop making as many new homes and focus on selling the ones they've already built. The low end of that range is itself a slowdown from 2013, when 187,923 new Canadian homes were built. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadian citizenship: The group launched a constitutional challenge last year, arguing that forcing candidates for Canadian citizenship to swear allegiance to the Queen violates the protections for free speech and freedom of religion in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Our case against the Queens oath When new citizens swear an oath to the Queen, they are not pledging allegiance to her personally, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday , rejecting a challenge by three permanent residents who have refused citizenship over an oath they say violates their political or religious beliefs. Globe editorial The oath to the Queen is constitutional as is changing it (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Chuck Hagel: Calling the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan "catastrophic," France said Wednesday it would start supplying arms to the Kurdish forces fighting Sunni extremists from the Islamic State group. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. It said the French president spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday evening and agreed on the need for an "extremely rapid response," but didn't clarify whether Britain outright consented to furnish weapons to the Kurds, who are trying to push back radicals of the IS group. WIth Marines standing at attention, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel arrives at a Camp Pendleton hangar where addressed the Marines and answered questions Tuesday Aug. 12, 2014. Hagel announced the deployment of another 130 U.S. troops to Iraq in remarks to Marines at this Southern California base on the final stop of a weeklong, around-the-world trip that also took him to India, Germany and Australia. AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Paul Rodriguez Paris and London have agreed to co-ordinate their actions on both humanitarian aid and arms, the office of President Francois Hollande said. Related Items Articles White House talking to Canada, others about aiding Iraqi refugees (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Rijnsburg: On May 10, 1940, nine-year-old Case awoke to sounds of gunshots and aircraft overhead. Black figures with white plumes above them were dropping from airplanes; the sky over Rijnsburg was filled with enemy paratroopers. Five years of Nazi occupation followed. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Although born into the Great Depression, followed by the privations of the Second World War, Case had a resilient spirit and a lust for life. The fifth of 12 children, he was apprenticed to a carpenter at age 12. Bombing disrupted his education but he was enterprising, bright and precise, and proved well suited to his craft and Husband, father, great-grandfather, old-world craftsman. Born on Nov. 11, 1930, in Rijnsburg, the Netherlands; died on March 12, 2014, in Norval, Ont., of cancer, aged 83. Submit a Lives Lived column (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Fashion industry companies: Fashion industry companies that hire foreign models say they have been lumped into the same category as employers who hire low-skilled workers in the fast-food industry. , according to CBC. Canadian retailers, modelling agencies, photographers and hundreds of other members of the fashion industry are calling on the federal government to expedite applications to bring in foreign models and eliminate the $1,000 fee employers must pay for every foreign worker they hire. Canada fashion industry appears to be the latest sector of the economy side-swiped by changes announced earlier this summer to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Businesses needing skilled workers sideswiped by changes (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Israel: Both made the initial mistake of accepting the broad parameters of Stephen Harpers position that Hamas is a terrorist entity and that Israel has a right to defend itself. But as Israeli missiles, bombs and shells ripped through civilians, day after day, many stunned Canadians asked why, amid the mounting humanitarian catastrophe, the opposition parties were mouthing mostly platitudes, according to The Star. The NDPs Quebec and youth wings made their displeasure known to the party brass. Some activists protested at the offices of Thomas Mulcair and the partys foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar and The federal New Democrats and Liberals, especially the latter, have been weathering a backlash for what has been seen as their kid glove treatment of Israel over the Gaza war. Liberal supporters wondered why Justin Trudeau issued a statement July 15 laying all the blame on Hamas but not calling on Israel to show any restraint. They were further outraged by a solidarity trip to Israel by two Toronto-area Liberal MPs, John McCallum and Carolyn Bennett paid for by the pro-Israeli lobby group, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Winners: Intimidation factor: High. I am schlepping a Winners plastic tote bag and feel like I should have come bearing a Vuitton tote and a latte from Starbucks. I could be taken for a prospective shoplifter though I would be hard-pressed to physically lift most of the merchandise, according to The Star. Response time: 15 minutes. I am conspicuously ignored see Winners plastic tote above until a staffer who is a ringer for Adam Levine appears and asks if I need assistance and Restoration Hardware, 2434 Yonge St. Number of salespeople on floor: Indeterminable, they pop up intermittently armed with headphones and iPads. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Serhat Seyhoglu: Serhat Seyhoglu, president of Construction Ltd., appeared in provincial court Monday to face charges of breaching the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by employing two foreign nationals without proper authorization. , according to CBC. The raid was captured by a camera crew for Border Security: Canada Front Line , a reality television show that had the blessing of the to film its officers and staff on the job. Charges have been laid against a Vancouver contractor in connection with a controversial raid by Canada Border Services Agency last year. Eight of Seyhoglu employees were arrested and several deported after a sweep of a Vancouver condominium construction site in March 2013, where Seyhoglu and his company had been hired as a subcontractor. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Bell Aliant: Opposition parties are taking the premier to task for not organizing a meeting to discuss potential job losses at Bell Aliant, while the union representing those workers says government action may be premature, according to The Chronicle Herald. On Monday, deputy planning and priorities minister Bernie Miller wrote to Baillie and MacDonald to say the coalition is already engaged in work focused on startups, immigration and exports. Discussing the Bell Aliant matter appears to be outside the intended scope of the coalitions mandate and may not be consistent with the coalitions desire to stay focused on its identified priorities, Miller said and Bell Canada Enterprises BCE announced in July its intention to privatize Bell Aliant Inc., a move expected to save the telecom giant $100 million a year in capital and operating costs. Earlier this month, Tory Leader Jamie Baillie and acting New Democrat leader Maureen MacDonald wrote to Stephen McNeil asking that he bring the issue before the oneNS Coalition, the group of political and business leaders established in the wake of the Ivany report. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Michael Chan: Michael Chan says in a statement that he is disgusted by the flyers in the city northwest of Toronto and that there is no room in our province for intolerance, hatred or division on cultural or racial lines. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Police investigating anti-immigration flyers distributed in Brampton Ontarios Citizenship and Immigration minister is denouncing what he calls hateful flyers that police say have been distributed in Brampton the second time this year anti-immigration flyers have emerged there. Wynne condemns anti-immigration flyers being distributed in Brampton (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Kien Le: The 100,000-strong community in the GTA envisions, along a tree-lined side road in Vaughan, a not-for-profit elderly care facility with three wings that can meet the linguistic, cultural and dietary needs of Vietnamese-speaking seniors, according to The Star. Most of these seniors in their 60s and 70s do not speak English. Their second language is French, said Kien Le, vice chair of the board, whose family came to Canada as refugees in July 1975 via the Philippines and If founding an ethnocultural-specific senior home is a reflection of an immigrant communitys coming of age, Vietnamese Canadians have just reached a milestone. The recent purchase of a 5.6-acre, $2.8-million property on Pine Valley Dr. is a major step toward realizing that dream. Its hoped the 200-bed Golden Age Village for the Elderly can be erected there in five years, to serve the generation that arrived here largely in the late 1970s-80s boat people migration, after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Tarek Loubani: In an interview with The Globe from Europe, Dr. Tarek Loubani said he flew to Tel Aviv on Aug. 6 with the intention of entering Gaza to help provide emergency medical assistance to those injured in the latest conflict. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. AND Only the PM got us out of Egyptian prison. He must act now The Canadian doctor who spent 53 days in an Egyptian prison was recently detained again, this time at an immigration jail in Israel while he appealed the decision to deny his entry there. Globe editorial Ottawa must raise its volume in defence of Mohamed Fahmy (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

unaccompanied children: The scale and pace of the displacement crisis is staggering. This year, U.S. custom officials picked up 17,500 unaccompanied children from Honduras, 15,700 from Guatemala and 14,500 from El Salvador. , according to CBC. Most of these kids are currently in limbo, interned in the roughly 100 shelters scattered along the U.S.-Mexico border. This past year alone, more than 62,000 children and adolescents made the perilous trek from the northern triangle El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to what they hoped would be safe refuge in the U.S. Five years ago, there were just over 3,000 from all three countries combined. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Fashion industry companies: Fashion industry companies that hire foreign models say they have been lumped into the same category as employers who hire low-skilled workers in the fast-food industry. , according to CBC. Canadian retailers, modelling agencies, photographers and hundreds of other members of the fashion industry are calling on the federal government to expedite applications to bring in foreign models and eliminate the $1,000 fee employers must pay for every foreign worker they hire. Canada fashion industry appears to be the latest sector of the economy side-swiped by changes announced earlier this summer to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Businesses needing skilled workers sideswiped by changes (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

healthy food: Joel MacCharles , co-founder of WellPreserved.ca, writer, cook 2013 TEDxToronto speaker, according to The Star. Transforming our food policy has the potential to reduce congestion on roads with less need to transport food , lower cost of healthy food by building infrastructure, reduce waste, decrease health costs, lower hunger, increase food security, lower cost of living, lower the environmental impact of our food system, increase employment and enhance community. Every one of us needs to eat. By improving food policy we are improving the quality of life for every individual, and this is why it has my vote and As we close in on a transformative list of Big Ideas to transform Toronto , some of TEDxTorontos biggest thinkers have jumped into the citywide brainstorming session. Past and upcoming speakers and performers from TEDx , whose mission is Ideas worth spreading, have chosen their favourite proposals from the top 20 ideas unveiled earlier this month: Big Idea: Adopt a bold food strategy (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Islamic State: U.S. ready to help new Iraq leader, Iran welcomes choice, according to Globe and Mail. Iraq s Yazidis and the escape from Mount Sinjar Once again, the Middle East is in flames. The Islamic State formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is overrunning cities across Iraq and Syria. Last week, IS was on the outskirts of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and its militants were circling Iraqs Yazidi minority, threatening them with genocide. At this point, the United States belatedly decided to intervene and is currently bombing IS outposts. More Related to this Story U.S. to consider more support for Iraq once new government formed: Kerry (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

President Barack Obama: Stephen Harper expressed strong support for U.S. airstrikes in Iraq during a telephone conversation Tuesday with President Barack Obama, according to The Chronicle Herald. The pair agreed on the need to confront the terrorist threat posed by the al-Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, MacDonald noted and The two leaders talked about the latest developments in the unfolding crisis, and during the conversation Harper expressed Canadas willingness to do more on the humanitarian aid front, said spokesman Jason MacDonald. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

initial reaction: I will not go to Canada, the 25-year-old said from Argentina of his initial reaction. Twenty degrees below zero, are you crazy? More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Social media: The Wild West of behavioural data collection Software engineer Pablo Guana nearly refused a job with Facebook when the company redirected him to Vancouver from Silicon Valley because his United States visa application was rejected. Jason Kenney wants to exploit dysfunctional U.S. immigration system to lure high-tech workers (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Iraq: The Islamic State insurgents, who are also making rapid advances in Iraq, are tightening their grip in Syria, of which they now controls roughly a third, mostly rural areas in the north and east. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Canada Ottawa sending $5-million in humanitarian aid to Iraq Islamist militants crushed a pocket of resistance to its control in eastern Syria, crucifying two people and executing 23 others in the past five days, a monitoring group said on Monday. Iraq Power struggle on Baghdad streets as Maliki refuses to step down (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney: The minister said Wednesday the U.S. failure to reform its immigration system is keeping an opportunity open for Canada and there are plans to make it easier for prospects to come to Canada with program changes this January. Mr. Kenney did not provide details of the specific changes. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Ottawa unveils sweeping changes to foreign-workers program Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney says he wants to exploit a dysfunctional American immigration system to lure high-tech workers to Canada when they cant get permanent residency in the United States. Ottawa working to free couple detained in China, Kenney says (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Susan Fennell: An expense scandal had been simmering since last fall, but it wasnt until a four-month audit was completed this week by Deloitte Canada that the extent of the mayors breaches of the citys spending policy were revealed, highlighting a high level of dysfunction in Canadas ninth-largest city. More Related to this Story, according to Globe and Mail. Forensic audit renews controversy over Brampton mayors spending media PDF: Forensic examination of expenses of Mayor and Councillors Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell is shown in May, 2013. Her expenses are under the microscope in the wake of a forensic audit. The Multimedia Chart: Examining Brampton mayor s flight spending A council meeting in Brampton, Ont., descended into a raucous session of finger-pointing Wednesday after a scathing audit report revealed Mayor Susan Fennell had broken city spending rules 266 times and could not provide auditors with key documents on another 72 occasions. City hall Fennell skips Brampton council as critics plan grilling over her secret pay cut (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Wesam Abuzaiter: The girl travelled to Gaza in the beginning of June with her father, before any of the fighting began, according to CTV. It is hard for me as a mom, it is very hard, said Wesam Abuzaiter and She calls Brantford home, but the family of an eight-year-old girl says she is trapped in Gaza with few options to get out. Her mother is now calling on the Canadian government help for her safe return. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

tea party activist: She obviously wasn't born a tea party activist, either, according to CTV. The demise of her business and the birth of her political activism offers a solitary snapshot of the tea party movement, the populist rebellion rattling American politics and - Tamyra Murray didn't always organize protests against illegal immigrants. What she was, until a few years ago, was the owner of a plastering business. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

John Bentley Mays Garden suburbs: John Bentley Mays Garden suburbs: a medicine for ailing cities?, according to Globe and Mail and Museum exhibit extols Niagara Falls Motel Modernism See how this hidden Toronto home has become a playground for creativity Topics: Aga Khan Don Mills Toronto, Ontario Comments A A (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.