bob rae: Rae's report listed 17 recommendations for the Canadian government, including a larger humanitarian effort that would cost around 150 million a year and an willingness to welcome refugees, according to Vancouver Courier. Roughly 700,000 ethnic Rohingya people have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar since last year to escape what the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing. Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says the trip is also giving her a chance to hear first-hand what people in refugee camps have to say.article continues below Trending Stories Parents of missing man mark painful five-year anniversary Jesse Johl quits Hillcrest Those are two of the recommendations laid out in a report on the ongoing Rohingya crisis by Bob Rae, Canada's special envoy to Myanmar. Freeland made her comments Saturday from Dhaka, Bangladesh, where she has been meeting with government officials, aid groups and refugees on a four-day trip. A number of recommendations we are already implementing, and my trip here ... is one example of acting on Bob's recommendation that Canada should be taking a leadership role. We shared Rae's report with many people here, and we plan to translate it both into Bengali and Rohingya so that people in Bangladesh and the Rohingya can read it in their own languages, said Freeland. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canada: On days off, Hasan will phone Guss when he just needs to chat, and Guss said he cares for Hasan's family as much as his own, buying vitamins to give to his children when his friend is too busy. ; The two attribute their bond to respect and understanding, underscoring that respect is the most important thing, according to National Observer. It's also what they like most about living in Canada. A few years later, the two are not only business partners, they consider each other brothers. You know, respect, you cannot find everywhere, explains Guss. This respect is what makes Canada feel like home for both of them. But in Canada he said, the people are respectful wherever you go. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

idi amin: We grew up with little but my parents ensured we had a lot of the Aga Khan's teachings in everything we did, according to Vancouver Courier. The Aga Khan is never far from anything we do as a family, said Lalani, who lives in North Vancouver with his wife Alison and their sons Cairo and Xavier. His family's forced exodus from Idi Amin's Uganda in the 1970s brought them to an inviting Canada along with thousands of others, whose homes, businesses and properties were seized by a brutal regime.article continues below Trending Stories Parents of missing man mark painful five-year anniversary First look at Parq Vancouver casino resort New Vancouver non-profit offering free baby gear for needy families Downtown assault victim in hospital with serious injury Here, they started again from scratch to rebuild their lives armed with a simple message from their spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, who told his displaced following to grow and give back to Canada. This weekend, Lalani, the CEO of Market One Media Group, one of Canada's top financial media companies, will be among the thousands of Ismailis who will be at BC Place to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Aga Khan. They're a global, multi-ethnic community whose members comprising a wide diversity of cultures, languages and nationalities live in Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North America. The Aga Khan, a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, is the spiritual leader of 15 million people around the world, including 120,000 in Canada, who belong to the Ismaili faith. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cabinet minister: He joins fellow Liberal cabinet ministers Martin Coiteux, Stephanie Vallee and Jean-Marc Fournier in deciding to pack it in, according to The Chronicle Herald. At least one other cabinet minister is reportedly contemplating his future, while about 10 Liberal backbenchers have also said they won't run again in the Oct. 1 vote. Heurtel confirmed the news on his Facebook page Friday and said illness in his family makes it impossible for him to continue his political career. Heurtel, 45, was first elected in a December 2013 byelection and was re-elected in his Montreal riding the following year. In Montreal, Couillard paid tribute to Heurtel. He served as environment minister between 2014 and 2017 before moving to the immigration portfolio. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

countries face: Hondurans will have until Jan. 5, 2020, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said, according to Toronto Star. President Donald Trump, who wants to curtail legal immigration and has been cracking down broadly on illegal immigration, and his supporters note that the protections were never meant to be permanent. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's widely anticipated decision not to renew temporary protected status for Hondurans means an estimated 428,000 people from several countries face rolling deadlines beginning late this year to leave or obtain legal residency in other ways. Immigrant advocates decried the move and contend that ending the status will drive people underground who have been establishing roots in the U.S. for years or decades, including having American-born children. The administration says conditions in Honduras have improved, while advocates argue that it still hasn't fully recovered from the hurricane and is now plagued by rampant violence. Article Continued Below For Hondurans, the program known as TPS has been in place since 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated in the Central American nation the year before. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

olympic: Before being first elected in a by-election in 2013 as a Liberal MNA for the Viau riding, Heurtel worked as a political attach for Parti Quebecois Premier Bernard Landry, according to CTV. He also served as the general manager for the Olympic Installations Board in Montreal. Heurtel issued a statement Friday saying there is an illness in his family which has made it impossible for him to contend with the demands of a political life. Heurtel said a key factor in his joining the Liberal Party was the discomfort he felt as the PQ championed its discriminatory Charter of Values, which would have banned the wearing of religious symbols. After becoming immigration minister last October, Heurtel has been praised for how he has handled the influx of asylum seekers entering the province. Heurtel spent two and a half years as environment minister and during that time he was criticized for Flushgate' permitting Montreal's request for a short-term dump of raw sewage into waterways, even though that is a common practice in Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

i loathe: In Fiji, it was colourful sarongs, unisexual, according to Toronto Star. In Beijing, beautiful silk cheongsams. They still serve me well. And in Afghanistan, resisting the culturally ordained head covering for females, I deliberately adopted the versatile shemagh or kaffiyeh widely worn by males, tying it as a man would, end pieces crossed over the crown and knotted at the nape of the neck, hanging loose down the back or over a shoulder. Vote now Article Continued Below Also, a shemagh goes better with khakis than a burka. To my mind that satisfied the proscriptions against women baring their head but was also a statement, gender-neutral I'm not acquiescing to cultural practices, imposed on females, that I loathe. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

iron mills: Back home for Kharfan is Lebanon, according to Toronto Star. He's lived most of his life in Calgary and invested in commercial real estate before, but this is his first chance to own a piece of a shopping mall. This is like the bazaars of back home, but, of course, in a much more modern fashion, he said. Reporters were given a tour of the 320,000-square-foot building located just off the QEII Highway, across from the Cross Iron Mills mall, on Thursday. Article Continued Below The facility was able to hit that mark by making the retail spaces incredibly tiny by mall standards. Although smaller than Cross Iron Mills, the mall will boast the most retailers under a single roof in Western Canada, with just over 500 stores. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

prize money: The foundation said it wants to create an award program with a more B.C.-focused lens, according to The Chronicle Herald. Now in its 14th year, the non-fiction award was billed as one of Canada's major national book prizes and the only one to originate in B.C. Veteran journalist Carol Off won this year's 40,000 prize, for All We Leave Behind A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others Random House Canada . During its run, the non-fiction award recognized 56 writers and invested over 500,000 in prize money. The British Columbia Achievement Foundation made the announcement Friday, noting the award's goals are being met. The British Columbia Achievement Foundation said it will continue to offer several other awards. The foundation added that it remains focused on its core mandate to celebrate excellence in art, culture, citizenship and enterprise throughout British Columbia. They are the B.C. Community Achievement Award; the B.C. Creative Achievement Award for Applied Art and Design; the B.C. Creative Achievement Award for First Nations Art; and the B.C. Indigenous Business Award. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rcmp interceptions: There are concerns some of them they may look northward for refuge, according to The Chronicle Herald. Public Works and the Canada Border Services Agency say in a notice that the housing units are for Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle the municipality where the majority of RCMP interceptions of irregular migrants in Quebec take place. The move comes as tens of thousands of Hondurans lost temporary protected immigration status in the United States. The Opposition says the Liberal government is effectively setting up a refugee camp at the Canada-U.S. border. Rempel said there is a frustrating lack of information from the government about the makeup and needs of asylum seekers How can I say how much money they should be needing when we don't even know what their needs are And that is the result of having no plan for immigration. I'm not sure any Canadian would think that this is an acceptable response, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel said Friday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

refugee camp: There are concerns some of them they may look northward for refuge.article continues below Trending Stories Beautiful routes and road closures the pros and cons of Sunday's BMO Vancouver Marathon Aga Khan's visit to Vancouver this weekend expected to draw 20,000 people Richmond man injured in targeted shooting Vancouver's most haunted locations Public Works and the Canada Border Services Agency say in a notice that the housing units are for Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle the municipality where the majority of RCMP interceptions of irregular migrants in Quebec take place, according to Vancouver Courier. The Opposition says the Liberal government is effectively setting up a refugee camp at the Canada-U.S. border. The move comes as tens of thousands of Hondurans lost temporary protected immigration status in the United States. I'm not sure any Canadian would think that this is an acceptable response, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel said Friday. It's bananas. Rempel said there is a frustrating lack of information from the government about the makeup and needs of asylum seekers How can I say how much money they should be needing when we don't even know what their needs are And that is the result of having no plan for immigration. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

december byelection: At least one other cabinet minister is reportedly contemplating his future, while about 10 Liberal backbenchers have also said they won't run again in the Oct. 1 vote, according to Vancouver Courier. Heurtel, 45, was first elected in a December 2013 byelection and was re-elected in his Montreal riding the following year. Heurtel confirmed the news on his Facebook page Friday and said illness in his family makes it impossible for him to continue his political career.article continues below Trending Stories Beautiful routes and road closures the pros and cons of Sunday's BMO Vancouver Marathon Aga Khan's visit to Vancouver this weekend expected to draw 20,000 people How to photograph people having sex without it becoming porn More than 1,000 affordable housing units to be built in Vancouver He joins fellow Liberal cabinet ministers Martin Coiteux, Stephanie Vallee and Jean-Marc Fournier in deciding to pack it in. He served as environment minister between 2014 and 2017 before moving to the immigration portfolio. As environment minister, he played an important role in boosting Quebec's stature on the international stage and in the fight against climate change, the premier said. In Montreal, Couillard paid tribute to Heurtel. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

n.s .,: She ultimately took a job in Manitoba that doesn't allow her to use her Gaelic skills, according to Vancouver Courier. It's frustrating because you got kids with no teacher, Halfpenny said in a phone interview. Sine Halfpenny of Antigonish, N.S., was the only applicant for a Gaelic-language teaching job at Bunessan Primary School in Isle of Mull, Scotland.article continues below Trending Stories Aga Khan's visit to Vancouver this weekend expected to draw 20,000 people But she encountered visa issues, and couldn't get approval to immigrate. The kids are going into year two and they still don't have a teacher. Now, Michael Russell, the local member in the Scottish parliament as well as the minister for U.K. Negotiations on Scotland's Place in Europe, has written to the new British home secretary, Sajid Javid, urging him to reconsider Halfpenny's case. Her story garnered the attention of British newspapers, with articles in The Telegraph and Scotland's The Herald last fall. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

school i: Looking back now, two years later, her favourite class is English, and she hopes to keep studying after graduating high school, according to National Observer. I'm planning to study social work, and I wish to be like the ISSofBC, to help other immigrants and refugees, she told National Observer. At first, she hated school and had difficulty understanding classes and making friends. She was referring to the Immigration Services Society of British Columbia ISSofBC which played a major role in supporting the Canadian government's efforts to resettle and integrate 3,600 Syrian refugees in B.C. in 2016. The number of employed refugees doubled since last year, and 97 per cent of families said they were seeing their school-aged children succeed. Over 40,000 refugees resettled Canada in that time, the largest resettlement in Canadian history. ; The group released a report today that highlighted trends of the past two years' worth of challenges and successes. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

audit gangs: He said after five rounds of talks no prospective of a government majority has emerged. article continues below Trending StoriesB.C. man records close encounter with 'monster' cougar VIDEO City works yard hiring, contracting process flawed audit Gangs of Vancouver Attention drivers East First Avenue partial lane closures begin soon Reports have suggested that Mattarella could resort to appointing a truce government to lead Italy through 2018 to pass the budget, and hold a new election in 2019.A centre-right coalition won 37 per cent of Italy's March 4 vote and the anti-establishment, populist 5-Stars nabbed 32 per cent, according to Vancouver Courier. But the 5-Stars have refused to govern with ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, a key member of the centre-right coalition. President Sergio Mattarella's office said Thursday that the latest round of talks to develop a government coalition between the populist 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party had faded. The other main centre-right force, the anti-immigrant, populist League party, had entertained a possible alliance with the 5-Stars. The Democratic Party, for its part, has fractured between forces willing to negotiate with the 5-Stars and those loyal to ex-Premier Matteo Renzi, who has ruled out any deal. But League leader Matteo Salvini refused to break with Berlusconi, and of late has been locked in a war of words with 5-Star leader Luigi di Maio. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

british trivia: Kensington Palace says the California-born Markle intends to take U.K. citizenship after she marries Harry on May 19 at Windsor Castle, according to The Chronicle Herald. But Markle will soon discover that it takes more than marrying a prince to become British. All three are potential questions on a test given to those who like Prince Harry's fiancee want to become British citizens. It also requires time, money, a good memory for obscure British trivia and the ability to untangle red tape. It's very easy to make mistakes because the requirements are so very precise, he said. Immigration lawyer Colin Yeo says some of the rules prospective immigrants must comply with are insanely complex. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration raid: Chris Ramsaroop is calling this week's immigration raid a type of scare tactic, according to CTV. This is concerning because this continues a trend where workers who are non-status are being criminalized for the mere fact of working. Canada Border Services Agency has confirmed the arrest of several people on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the Leamington area for possible Immigration and Refugee Protection Act violations. Ramsaroop says Justice For Migrant Workers is working through legal options for those affected and looking to pressure the federal government to back off mass immigration raids. It's about relaxing these rules. He says 18 people were detained in the action this week and feels they're victim of the immigration system. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

neighbouring bangladesh: They have fled Myanmar, their homeland, to find shelter in sprawling refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, according to The Chronicle Herald. Now there's a new danger rain. They have escaped mobs that stormed through their villages, killing and raping and burning. The annual monsoon will soon sweep through the immense camps where some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have lived since last year, when they poured across the border in search of safety. I will not be able to light a fire. The clusters of bamboo and plastic huts, built along endless waves of steep hills, are now facing a deluge that, in an average year, dumps anywhere from 40 to 60 centimetres 16 to 24 inches of rain per month. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

pilot program: So far in 2018, 247 new candidates have been endorsed, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Chronicle Herald took a look at the province's numbers back in November. According to data provided by the Nova Scotia Department of Immigration, as of April 30 the province had designated 406 employers and endorsed 448 candidates through the pilot program since it launched in March 2017. At the time, 253 employers had been designated but only 170 endorsement applications had been approved, compared to New Brunswick's 338, and only a fraction of Nova Scotia's total 2017 allocation of around 800 slots had been utilized. I think, with anything, this is a new immigration pathway and it takes time for employers and businesses to realize that they can actually use it and to make that determination and decide to use it, Diab said. Nova Scotia's Immigration Minister Lena Diab said word is spreading among employers and the province is on target to meet its 2018 allocation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

syrian adults: Refugee settlement organizations across the country have reported similar challenges and successes for the nearly 52,000 Syrian refugees who arrived in Canada between October 2015 and February 2018, according to CTV. More than half of those surveyed depend on food banks at least once a week, although that figure dropped to 56 per cent from 66 per cent over the last year, according to the report by Immigrant Services Society of B.C. The full-time employment rate has doubled in the past year to 27 per cent, it said. That's the picture painted by a small survey of 241 Syrian adults who arrived in British Columbia with government assistance over the past two years. At the same time, 87 per cent say their English has improved and 97 per cent say their children are doing well in school, the report said. Government-assisted refugees are selected based on vulnerability, he said. Director of settlement services Chris Friesen said given the huge obstacles government-assisted refugees have to overcome to get to Canada, full integration will take longer than two years, so the figures paint an optimistic picture. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

turkish-syrian border: Turkey began its offensive against the northern Syrian city in January, taking full control from the Kurds in March, according to Toronto Star. Against the backdrop of Syria's long-standing civil war, an autonomous Kurdish region at the Turkish-Syrian border was perceived as a threat by Turkey, which has had its own share of Kurdish insurgency movements. The hairstylist, who came from Syria to join her sister here in 2012, has waved protest signs and shouted anti-war slogans at Yonge-Dundas Square every weekend in opposition to Turkey's military action in Afrin. I don't book any client on Saturday after 4 p.m. because I have to be here, said Polo, 32. We need to be their voice so they can be heard and Canada will do something to stop the killing and suffering. My people in Afrin don't have a voice. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

post-doctoral student: He's looking elsewhere because his future here is unclear Karimi has been waiting a year for Canada to grant his security clearance, according to Toronto Star. Without it, he is unable to apply for permanent resident status. Six years after being on successive work permits as a professor and researcher at the University of Ottawa, the Iranian academic is pondering a move to Germany where a three-year, 5.4 million research grant is on offer. The post-doctoral student from China I supervised got his permanent status in seven months. We need to do proper security screening, but not being able to set down roots here is killing other opportunities for me. Here I'm still waiting, said Karimi whose current work permit expires in August. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

syrian refugees: Read the full report from the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. Refugee settlement organizations across the country have reported similar challenges and successes for the nearly 52,000 Syrian refugees who arrived in Canada between October 2015 and February 2018, according to CTV. More than half of those surveyed depend on food banks at least once a week, although that figure dropped to 56 per cent from 66 per cent over the last year, according to the report by Immigrant Services Society of B.C. The full-time employment rate has doubled in the past year to 27 per cent, it said. That's the picture painted by a small survey of 241 Syrian adults who arrived in British Columbia with government assistance over the past two years. At the same time, 87 per cent say their English has improved and 97 per cent say their children are doing well in school, the report said. Government-assisted refugees are selected based on vulnerability, he said. Director of settlement services Chris Friesen said given the huge obstacles government-assisted refugees have to overcome to get to Canada, full integration will take longer than two years, so the figures paint an optimistic picture. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

wantaqo 'ti: Nothing is nobler than spreading our message in the mother tongue of this land we are on and we call home, founder Tareq Hadhad said via email, according to Toronto Star. He said it is his company's mission to translate the family's concept of peace to all Canadians, starting with the Mi'kmaq of his home province. Peace by Chocolate of Antigonish, N.S., revealed Wednesday its new milk chocolate and hazelnut bar is to be called Wantaqo'ti pronounced Wan-tahk-oo-di the Mi'kmaq word for peace. He said he and his company felt the need to be part of the noble process of truth and reconciliation so they reached out to Mi'kmaq leaders to help translate and guide them during the process. Peace is beautiful in every language, Hadhad said. Article Continued Below Hadhad said other versions of the bar will be sold using the Arabic, French and Mandarin words for peace. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

michael coteau: And he looked good to have some traction when he was recruited by the now not so dearly departed PC leader Patrick Brown to run here, according to NOW Magazine. With the more right-wing Doug Ford as leader, the dynamic changes for the worse for Minnan-Wong in a riding that's solidly ethnic and Liberal red for two decades, and has been held since 2011 by locally popular incumbent Michael Coteau, who is not only one of Kathleen Wynne's most trusted cabinet ministers, but a respected conduit to the Black community.2. Don Valley East Who's running Michael Coteau Liberal Denzil Minnan-Wong PC Khalid Ahmed NDP Justin Robinson Libertarian Mark Wong Green The vote last time 2014 Liberal 56 per cent, Conservative 27 per cent, NDP 13 per cent, Green 4 per cent Toronto city councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong has been jonesing to make the leap to provincial politics since forever. Don Valley West Who's running Kathleen Wynne Liberal Jon Kieran PC Morgan Bailey Green John -Kittredge Libertarian The vote last time 2014 Liberal 57 per cent, PC 31 per cent, NDP 8 per cent, Green 3 per cent. Difficult to fathom given that she has held the riding since 2003 and won when no one believed she could in 2007 against then PC leader John Tory. If you believe conservative polling firm Forum Research, Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne is so unpopular that she's in line to lose in her own backyard, where there was some backlash over the Liberals' sex-ed curriculum among ethnic communities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ez: Display Ad zoneid 504811, containerid 'crt-21', passbackcode ezoflbf 21 ; var ezfl sss 1122 function set Timeout function var ezflaun if typeof ezflaun ! 'undefined' && ezflaun.length 0 if typeof ez ad units ! undefined for i 0; i ez ad units.length; i if 0 return false; 47, 0.10 ; 8000 ; ; ' ezfl sss 1122', null, false, 'banger.js' false, false, false, true ; Joe Dickson Liberal Rod Phillips PC Paul Taalman Trillium Marsha Haynes Libertarian The vote last time 2014 Formerly Ajax-Pickering Liberal 51 per cent, PC 29 per cent, NDP 16 per cent, Green 3 per cent Incumbent Joe Dickson, a former Catholic school board trustee, has held this Liberal seat since 2007 and won with more than 50 per cent of the vote in 2014 against his closest PC challenger, according to NOW Magazine. This time he's up against Rod Phillips, the former Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation CEO, Postmedia exec and Paul Godfrey sidekick recruited as a star candidate for the PCs by Patrick Brown. Ajax Who's running var ezzns21 ezoflbf 2 21 function 1122, false, 'banger.js' false, false, false, true ; ; var ezoflbf 21 function ;Criteo. How Phillips's decidedly corporate Toronto air plays here against Dickson's small-town appeal will be interesting to watch.2. It's been a schmozzle for the PCs trying to figure out who to field in this newly created, multi-ethnic riding. Brampton Centre Who's running Safdar Hussain Liberal Harjit Jaswal PC Sara Singh NDP William Oprel Trillium Andrew Hosie Libertarian The vote last time This riding is being contested for the first time provincially. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.