immigration issues: Federal, provincial and territorial ministers were meeting in Winnipeg to discuss immigration issues when Hussen was asked about Ontario Premier Doug Ford demanding that federal government pay millions to provide supports for asylum seekers, according to CTV. Ford has said the federal government is ushering people across the border and asylum seekers, whom he calls illegal border crossers, have caused a housing crisis in Ontario. Maybe the minister should sit down and have a nice cup of tea, calm down a little bit and maybe phone me and apologize for calling me un Canadian, Lisa Mac Leod said Friday. Hussen said the new premier's messaging is irresponsible. It's fear-mongering and it's not Canadian. It's divisive. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigrant children: The agency is also reviewing a new round of proposals amid a growing effort by the White House to keep immigrant children in government custody, according to The Chronicle Herald. Currently, more than 11,800 children, from a few months old to 17, are housed in nearly 90 facilities in 15 states Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Health and Human Services grants for shelters, foster care and other child welfare services for detained unaccompanied and separated children soared from 74.5 million in 2007 to US 958 million in 2017. They are being held while their parents await immigration proceedings or, if the children arrived unaccompanied, are reviewed for possible asylum themselves. More contracts are expected to come up for bids in October. In May, the agency issued requests for bids for five projects that could total more than US 500 million for beds, foster and therapeutic care, and secure care, which means employing guards. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

management targets: To meet management targets, people stop being people and start becoming numbers, said Crystal Warner, centre, national executive vice-president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, which represents 550 Immigration and Refugee Board employees, according to Toronto Star. Nathan Graham / Canada Employment and Immigration Union They fear changes recently recommended in a government report could make things worse. Immigration and Refugee Board employees told the Star they are overworked and frustrated by organizational challenges. To meet management targets, people stop being people and start becoming numbers, said Crystal Warner, national executive vice-president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, which represents 550 of the board's 1,000 employees. There is only so much you can do when you don't have enough resources to go around. The morale is really low at the moment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trump backtracked: But he reiterated his belief that Europe's decision to accept migrants from Middle Eastern and African countries is a very negative thing for Europe, according to CTV. Standing next to May at Chequers, the prime minister's official country estate, Trump acknowledged that his remarks were politically not necessarily correct. During a news conference with British Prime Minster Theresa May, Trump backtracked on the criticism of May that he made in an explosive interview released as he began his visit to the country. But he said European countries need to watch themselves. Trump was reiterating a position he articulated in an interview released Thursday by The Sun, in which he also criticized May's handling of Brexit negotiations and said I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad. You are changing culture, you are changing a lot of things, he said, adding, You see the same terror attacks that I do. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

world cup: An oasis from the madness, you'd hope it's been busy these past few weeks as the world descended upon the city, according to Toronto Star. The stage is set for Sunday's World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, a match that will have repercussions for soccer worldwide no matter who wins. Leo Tolstoy's house sits perfectly preserved just one stop from Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow's Khamovniki district, encircled by linden trees and assorted greenery. Laurence Griffiths / GETTY IMAGES It really has been a hell of a month for the dreamers here in Russia. Read more France-Croatia World Cup final invokes memories of infamous dive in 1998 Article Continued Below Croatia makes it to the World Cup finals, surpassing the great Yugoslav teams of the past England may be out of the World Cup, but it found an unlikely hero in coach Gareth Southgate There've been nightmares too. A World Cup that has rolled from one reverie to the next at a relentless clip has wrapped the blow-ins and the locals up and around it in a haze of blurringly brilliant soccer, mind-bending twists of fate and faith too, names and games decided and then undecided as a new narrative interjected without invitation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ontario language: MacLeod stood in the back of the room, declining an invitation to join a panel that included Hussen and seven other provincial and territorial ministers, according to National Observer. Canada's immigration minister Hon Ahmed Hussen slams Ontario government's language on immigration for being irresponsible, divisive, fear-mongering and not Canadian. The federal minister was speaking to media after a meeting of the Forum of Ministers responsible for Immigration in Winnipeg. His Ontario counterpart Mac Leod Lisa demands apology. cdnpoli onpoli Hussen accused the Ford government of regurgitating the fear and mongering the Harper Conservatives peddled. MacLeod is the new Ontario minister responsible for immigration as well as children, community and social services, and women's issues. ; Our presence in front of you indicates we are a team working together to ensure a better future for all our citizens, Hussen said. Hussen also accused the Ford government of refusing to join the table in furthering national immigration and refugee efforts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ontario hussen: Ford has said the federal government is ushering people across the border and asylum seekers, whom he calls illegal border crossers, have caused a housing crisis in Ontario, according to Vancouver Courier. Hussen said the new premier's messaging is irresponsible. Maybe the minister should sit down and have a nice cup of tea, calm down a little bit and maybe phone me and apologize for calling me un Canadian, Lisa Mac Leod said Friday.article continues below Trending Stories Stroke ends Patrick Condon's Vancouver mayoral run with COPERemembering Megan Scraper adventurer was gifted athlete, social media maven Have your say Do you want a direct train line to UBC Northeast Vancouver may be getting a little greenway love Federal, provincial and territorial ministers were meeting in Winnipeg to discuss immigration issues when Hussen was asked about Ontario Premier Doug Ford demanding that federal government pay millions to provide supports for asylum seekers. It's divisive. It's very dangerous, Hussen said. It's fear-mongering and it's not Canadian. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

train line: The accounts exploded in late June when Twitter shut down one that veered too close to impersonating Environment Minister Catherine McKenna.article continues below Trending Stories Stroke ends Patrick Condon's Vancouver mayoral run with COPERemembering Megan Scraper adventurer was gifted athlete, social media maven Have your say Do you want a direct train line to UBC Northeast Vancouver may be getting a little greenway love While some of the accounts criticize government policy or poke fun at various ministers, the Khalid account points out her Muslim heritage and accuses her of supporting Islamic State militants or Sharia law, according to Vancouver Courier. At least one parody account of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, who is also Muslim, features similar sentiments. The Iqra Khalid account is one of more than 50 parody accounts created by what appear to be critics of the Liberal government, linked online under the hashtag parodycabinet. Khalid, who represents a riding in Mississauga, Ont., said she didn't think she would merit a parody account, since she's not in cabinet. Everybody has the right to speak their mind, but freedoms come with responsibility and when we have the power to speak we should do it with care, she said in an interview. She'd be fine with it, she said except for the fact this particular account goes too far. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

twitter: The account vanished briefly from Twitter altogether, then resurfaced a few hours later, its earlier tweets deleted, according to Vancouver Courier. The anonymous user posted a note urging Khalid and mainstream media outlets to spend the same energy attacking white privilege hatefests that they do going after parody Twitter accounts. Khalid, who was targeted with hate mail and death threats last year over her controversial motion to condemn Islamophobia and systemic racism, had asked Twitter to investigate the account.article continues below Trending Stories Stroke ends Patrick Condon's Vancouver mayoral run with COPENortheast Vancouver may be getting a little greenway love Remembering Megan Scraper adventurer was gifted athlete, social media maven Minimum wage increases go into effect June 1 across B.C. On Thursday, the account's owner acknowledged a warning from Twitter, after which the username, Twitter handle, photo and biography were all altered in an apparent attempt to hew more closely to the platform's rules for parody accounts. More than 50 parody accounts of Liberal cabinet ministers and MPs have sprouted up in the last few weeks, all of them linked online under the hashtag parodycabinet. Khalid, who represents a riding in Mississauga, Ont., said she didn't think she would merit a parody account, since she's not in cabinet. The number of accounts targeting government members exploded last month when Twitter shut down one that veered too close to impersonating Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

visit copenhagen: And it has set a goal to become the greenest city in the world, according to National Observer. However, I feel Vancouver is not truly environmentally sustainable compared to some other major cities in the world. Vancouver boasts that 10 per cent of commutes are made by bicycle, the highest rate of any major city in North America. It is not a single initiative that makes Visit Copenhagen sustainable, but a culture of sustainability a paradigm of self sufficiency and internalizing environmental costs, among both citizens and governments. This matters because transportation traditionally makes up around a third of carbon emissions in the world. It permeates every level of society.A true leader in sustainability is Copenhagen where 41 per cent of all commutes are made by bicycle. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

community groups: Now, we're hearing talk of an asylum crisis in which illegal border crossers are flowing across supposedly undefended frontiers, overwhelming public services and creating the potential for massive social disruption, according to The Chronicle Herald. What changed Is Canada now suddenly incapable of absorbing another 20,000 hard-pressed people Admittedly, the two cases are substantively different. The federal government and community groups responded, welcoming some 50,000 Syrians, including 1,500 to Nova Scotia. The Syrians came to Canada under government supervision and were sponsored by community volunteers. But are the borders really in crisis, as suggested by Ontario Premier Doug Ford Blaming the surge on the Trudeau government, Ford demands that Ottawa pay all the costs of sheltering the new arrivals. The new asylum seekers are arriving with no sponsors, crossing the border anywhere they can. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

pc policies: While Ontarians were gearing up to fight the good fight, rabble.ca's Activist Toolkit launched the Ontario Fightback series to amplify the efforts of activists standing up against destructive PC policies and to help connect us to progressive MPPs who will fight with us, according to Rabble. The first part of the Ontario Fightback series involved reaching out to the new progressive MPPs with three main questions why they ran, what they heard at the doors, and how we can help them stand up for us. But we were also heartened by the fact that an amazing set of progressive MPPs were headed to Queen's Park. Right before the new government took power, on June 29, we published part one with the first set of responses from France G linas Nickel Belt Peter Tabuns Toronto Danforth Laura Mae Lindo Kitchener Centre Terence Kernaghan London North Centre Mike Schreiner Guelph and Chris Glover Spadina Fort-York . We continued to receive amazing responses from progressive MPPs -- so many that we had to publish a second part! Thank you to Jamie West Sudbury Doly Begum Scarborough Southwest Judith Monteith-Farrell Thunder Bay-Atikokan and Marit Stiles Davenport for your responses which are below And don't forget One of the first tools shared Activist Toolkit is a crowdsourced list of Ford government cuts and changes which was developed by Scott Neigh and Greg Mac Dougall. Meet the MPPsActivist Toolkit What made you run in your riding What are some of the issues that you really care about Judith Monteith-Farrell I ran because I was alarmed at the disparity and negative attitudes taking things backwards in so many areas of our region and our province. Please keep it updated and continue to send things you are working on to maya at rabble.ca. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

signature song: They built a musical empire with a string of successes, including their signature song, Conga, according to The Chronicle Herald. The show officially opened in Los Angles Tuesday, its latest stop after debuting on Broadway in summer 2015. On Your Feet! tells the story of the Estefans, who fled Cuba, settled in Miami and eventually attained the American dream. It was in the middle of its 780-performance run when Trump was elected president and has turned hardline immigration reform into one of his signature policies. I think it's actually what is happening now, Emilio Estefan said. This was written, like, six years ago. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

states: These comparisons do not make America look great, according to Rabble. Since 2015, Yemen has been subjected to unrelenting airstrikes by Saudi Arabia, with critical support and arms from the United States, slaughtering the civilian population. Juxtapose this outpouring of compassion and solidarity with the catastrophe facing millions of children in Yemen, and the ongoing debacle created here in the United States by President Donald Trump with the forced separation of migrant children from their parents. The recent siege of the port city of Hodeida has forced at least 121,000 civilians to flee. More than 8 million are on the verge of starvation, and another 22 million people, 80 per cent of the population, are relying on humanitarian aid that is coming in through this port. Shireen Al-Adeimi, a Yemeni scholar and activist based in the U.S., told the Democracy Now! news hour Any kind of disruption to the aid that's coming in through the port of Hodeidah means the starvation of millions of Yemenis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

effect june: There are times I'm looking down the barrel of the exact same stereotypical role that I got 20 years ago. article continues below Trending Stories Remembering Megan Scraper adventurer was gifted athlete, social media maven Minimum wage increases go into effect June 1 across B.C.UBC biologist killed during research trip was a leading authority in his field Police investigating female Kitsilano secondary teacher for unspecified allegations Turning down work is not something that Sabongui whose credits include Homeland, The Flash, and a Leo Award-nominated turn in the 2017 feature film Drone, in which he played a Pakistani father whose family is killed in a hellfire missile attack does lightly, according to Vancouver Courier. This is my career, and it often comes down to pay the bills or sleep at night, says Sabongui. I face the same issues today that I faced 23 years ago when I started in this industry, says the Vancouver-based, Egyptian-Canadian actor and producer. The choice becomes, Accept this role that's going to make a huge financial difference, or pass on it and make nothing, or take a smaller role and have enough for next month's rent.' I'm still caught in that loop. But Sabongui's story is not unique in Vancouver, a city that is statistically culturally diverse but whose culturally diverse actors face stereotypical roles and fewer opportunities than their Caucasian colleagues. Sabongui's experiences navigating the industry as an actor of colour were the inspiration for Kyra Zagorsky's award-winning short film, The Prince, about an actor of Middle Eastern descent played by Lee Majdoub who turns down the opportunity to play a terrorist in a blockbuster film. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

success story: The show officially opened in Los Angles Tuesday, its latest stop after debuting on Broadway in summer 2015, according to Vancouver Courier. It was in the middle of its 780-performance run when Trump was elected president and has turned hardline immigration reform into one of his signature policies. They built a musical empire with a string of successes, including their signature song, Conga. This was written, like, six years ago. In addition to being a love story and a success story, On Your Feet! also portrays challenges faced the Estefans, and many immigrants For example, how does one make a new home in a place where many say they want you to Go home. I think it's actually what is happening now, Emilio Estefan said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

minister: Once Trudeau returns later today from the annual NATO leaders' summit in Brussels, his focus will shift to putting the final touches on a Liberal cabinet that will carry his government through to the 2019 election, according to National Observer. Splitting Duncan's duties back into two jobs is expected to be one of the moves, since Trudeau is believed to be planning his first expansion cabinet since taking office, and he needs jobs to give the new faces. Now Kirsty Duncan, minister of science and minister of sport and persons with disabilities, finds herself at the centre of speculation as talk heats up about a cabinet shuffle. ; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau will shuffle his cabinet sometime in the next week, sources tell The Canadian Press. Duncan has been the minister of science since the beginning of the Trudeau government. Trudeau never said how long he expected his science minister to juggle two departments, including two entirely different sets of staff, Duncan said. In January, she was sworn in as minister of sport and persons with disabilities just days after Kent Hehr, her predecessor in that post, was forced to resign from cabinet over harassment allegations from his time as a member of the Alberta legislature. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

star roseanne: It will face newcomers including The Marvelous Mrs, according to Vancouver Courier. Maisel and Barry, starring Bill Hader. Donald Glover's Atlanta is the top comedy with 16 bids. The revival of Roseanne, cancelled because of star Roseanne Barr's racist tweet, drew only one major nomination, a supporting actress nod for Laurie Metcalf. The previous high for Game of Thrones was 24 nominations in 2015. Saturday Night Live, riding high with its relentless pillorying of the Trump administration, was rewarded with 21 nods. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trade agreement: The conversation focused on trade, including efforts to revamp the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement and the ramifications for those talks of Mexico's presidential election, from which left-leaning populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador emerged victorious, according to National Observer. The conversation was positive, one official said. But for anyone hoping to see sparks fly at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the U.S. president did not disappoint, complaining anew about defence spending even as he endorsed a joint communique supporting current commitments, and pointedly slamming a German natural gas pipeline deal he says has left the country totally controlled and captive to Russia. ; Trudeau did not have an official bilateral meeting with Trump on Wednesday, but did have a conversation with the U.S. president on the margins of the NATO summit, said a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office. But Trudeau appeared to be far from Trump's orbit during the traditional gathering of leaders for the NATO family photo op and ceremony, standing quietly to the side as Trump chatted with Britain's Theresa May, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. There, he announced that Canada will assume command of a new NATO training mission in Iraq a deployment of 250 Canadian Armed Forces personnel, aimed in part at staving off Trump's complaints that Canada and other NATO allies are not doing enough to contribute to their NATO defence commitments. Trump held several official bilateral meetings, some 2,000 journalists following his every move, while Trudeau held only one a talk with the prime minister of Sweden, Stefan Lofven, whose country is a partner nation to NATO. The only time the Canadian prime minister pulled focus was during an early question-and-answer session with NATO delegates. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

animal abuse: A few protesters bang on bongos, others chant, There's no excuse for animal abuse, and hand out animal-rights leaflets to passersby, according to NOW Magazine. Since last fall, members of the group Grassroots Anti-Speciesism Shift GRASS have staged protests outside the Dundas West restaurant every week. On a Saturday evening in late June, around 20 protesters hoisting signs with slogans like Peace Begins On Your Plate and Don't Buy While They Die! are staked outside Antler Kitchen & Bar. Antler's chalkboard sidewalk sign had read Venison is the new kale, which caught the attention of GRASS founder and local resident Marni Ugar. Meanwhile in nearby Parkdale, another group is taking a different approach, spreading the gospel via vegan Big Macs, chickpea steaks and tempeh fish and chips. Ugar says the goal of the protest is to dispel the myth of humane meat Antler's menu focuses on Ontario game meats and to force Antler to put a pro-animal-rights sign in its window. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

chicago: Baer is based in Chicago, where he works for the local public television station WTTW and also gives tours for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, according to The Chronicle Herald. He spoke about the show and the backstory of some of the monuments featured in the episode airing July 17 in an interview with AP Travel's weekly podcast Get Outta Here ! Here are some excerpts from the podcast, edited for brevity and clarity. In addition to famous monuments, other episodes focus on streets that changed America like New York's Broadway and on modern marvels like the Hoover Dam. MOUNT RUSHMORE When cars were a new form of transportation, a state official in South Dakota really didn't think in the early days of the road trip that scenery was going to be enough to lure people to drive all the way there, Baer said. Originally the carvings were going to depict heroes of the American West, but that wasn't deemed a big enough draw, so the concept was changed to presidents. So he decided to create the world's biggest roadside attraction. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

coach tuesday: An undated handout photo released by the Royal Thai Navy on June 30 shows a group of Thai Navy divers in the Tham Luang cave during rescue operations in Chiang Rai, Thailand, according to Toronto Star. A team of cave divers rescued the last of the boys and their coach Tuesday from deep inside the warren of underground passages near Thailand's border with Burma, one of Southeast Asia's more remote regions. It turned into a nearly three-week-long story of survival, international collaboration and triumph over the impossible one that was avidly embraced and followed live across the world. Thai Navy SEAL via GETTY IMAGES A team of cave divers rescued the last of the boys and their coach Tuesday from deep inside the warren of underground passages near Thailand's border with Burma, one of Southeast Asia's more remote regions. How they did it was a mix of trial and error, improvisation, skill, massive water pumps, kilometres of guide rope and strategically placed air tanks along the three-kilometre-long escape route, much of it submerged. One by one, the divers brought the final four members of the Wild Boars team and their coach out of the flooded Tham Luang Cave. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

donor egg: The couple does not want to know whose genetic material was passed on to the child, according to CTV. We never want to know, O'Callaghan told CTV News Channel on Wednesday. Jay O'Callaghan and Aaron O'Bryan both provided sperm to fertilize the donor egg that was implanted in the surrogate who gave birth to their son Jake in Toronto. We're his dads. They want Jake to be a dual citizen, but claim they were met with silence from the Irish government when they started inquiring about an Irish passport for the toddler. Both men are permanent residents in Canada, and are awaiting Canadian passports. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

munich court: The group's name, often shortened to NSU, alludes to Adolf Hitler's Nazi party, according to CTV. Zschaepe was also found guilty of membership in a terrorist organization, bomb attacks that injured dozens and several lesser crimes including a string of robberies. The Munich court sentenced Beate Zschaepe, the only known survivor of the National Socialist Underground group, to life in prison in the killings of 10 people -- most of them migrants -- who were gunned down between 2000 and 2007. Four men were also found guilty of supporting the group in various ways and given prison terms of between 2 1/2 and 10 years. The verdict is a first and very important step, said Gamze Kubasik, the daughter of Mehmet Kubasik, who was shot dead by Zschaepe's two accomplices in the western city of Dortmund on April 4, 2006. While the verdict was widely welcomed by victims' families as well as anti-racism campaigners and mainstream political parties, the court's failure to investigate the secretive wider network of people sympathetic to the National Socialist Undergound group's cause drew criticism. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

prison terms: Four men were found guilty of supporting the group in various ways and sentenced to prison terms of between 2 1/2 and 10 years, according to Toronto Star. Defendant Beate Zschaepe arrives in a courtroom before the proclamation of sentence in her trial as the only surviving member of neo-Nazi cell National Socialist Underground NSU behind a string of racist murders, in Munich on Wednesday. Judges sentenced Beate Zschaepe to life in prison for murder, membership of a terrorist organization, bomb attacks that injured dozens and several lesser crimes including a string of robberies. Zschaepe, 43, was found guilty of complicity in 10 deadly shootings of mostly Turkish immigrants carried out by clandestine trio the National Socialist Underground NSU . MICHAELA REHLE / AFP/GETTY IMAGES Presiding judge Manfred Goetzl told a packed Munich courtroom that Zschaepe's guilt weighed particularly heavily, meaning she is likely to serve at least a 15-year sentence. The 43-year-old showed no emotion as Goetzl read out her sentence. Her lawyers plan to appeal the verdict. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

release children: They said their hands were tied by dueling requirements to release children from detention after 20 days and also keep them with their parents or other adult relatives, according to Toronto Star. Milka Pablo wears a monitoring bracelet on her ankle while holding her daughter Darly Coronado, 3, as they wait for a bus soon after being reunited after months apart, at the bus station in Phoenix, Ariz., July 10, 2018. Faced with a pair of court orders restricting immigration detentions, federal officials said they could not hold all of the migrant families who were apprehended at the southwestern border. The government was scrambling Tuesday to carry out the first court-ordered reunifications of young migrant children with their families, but thousands remain in custody. Parents with children under the age of 5 are being reunited with their children and then released and enrolled into an alternative detention program, Matthew Albence, executive associate director of ICE's enforcement and removal operations, told reporters Tuesday. VICTOR J. BLUE / the New York Times Confronted by audio of crying children that drew widespread outrage, Trump administration officials also said they had stopped referring migrant adults who enter the United States with children for prosecution. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.