vision vancouver: They said the fire was extinguished quickly and no one was injured.article continues below Trending Stories One fall foliage spot in Metro Vancouver you need to see Vision Vancouver will not run a mayoral candidate for first time in party's history Here's who's running for mayor in Vancouver this election Has Vancouver become a better place under Mayor Gregor Robertson They said they believe the fire was started intentionally, but they have not spelled out a possible motive, according to Vancouver Courier. There is no indication at this time that the arson is an attack on the refugees staying at the hotel, police said in an emailed statement. Police said they are looking for a suspect after a fire was started on the third floor of the Radisson Hotel Toronto East on the night of Oct. 2. But Mario Calla, the executive director of COSTI Immigrant Services, which has been connecting refugee claimants with services in Toronto, said he believes the fire targeted the asylum seekers. We have to wait for police to hear for sure what the motive was, but it's hard to think there was any other reason, said Calla, adding that in the days before the fire, people were filming in the hotel and there were videos posted maligning the refugee claimants. He said he's worried the arson could be linked to misinformation spreading about the refugee claimants on the hotel's Trip Advisor page, along with videos that have been posted online. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian funds: Israel has accused the agency of being biased, fuelling its conflict with the Palestinians and promoting hatred against the Jewish state, according to CTV. Canada's foreign ministry says the new funds will help bring stability to the region by helping Palestinians cope with poverty, unemployment and food insecurity. The new Canadian funds announced today will be allocated over two years to assist the health and education efforts of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA. The Trump administration decided in August to withdraw US 300 million in support, ending the United States' status as the largest donor for an organization that had been trying to help more than five million Palestinian refugees. But it also says the money will assist UNRWA with its ongoing efforts to improve neutrality within the agency and its operations. Canada is earmarking 40 million towards the basic education, health and livelihood needs of millions of Palestinian refugees, especially women and children. This assistance demonstrates how Canada and UNRWA are working together to ensure respect for the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, operational independence and impartiality, said a statement from Global Affairs Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

english proficiency: Syrian refugee Mohammed Hakmi has been offered an IT job with Kitchener-based tech firm Bonfire Interactive, according to Toronto Star. SUPPLIED PHOTO Kris Braun, director of engineering for Kitchener-based Bonfire Interactive, called the pilot project a win-win for everyone involved. Not only does it help pull displaced migrants out of poverty, it alleviates labour shortages in western countries by providing them with skilled workers. SUPPLIED PHOTO Since its 2016 inception, Talent Beyond Boundaries TBB has vetted and developed skill profiles for more than 10,000 refugees now in Lebanon and Jordan 30 per cent of them with an undergrad degree or above and half with intermediate to full English proficiency. We need to change the narrative of the way we view refugees as unskilled and uneducated, said Bruce Cohen, a former counsel in the U.S. Senate, who co-founded the organization with his wife Mary Louise Cohen, also a lawyer. The talent pool includes people from 200 professions, the majority with a background in engineering, health care, IT, teaching, accounting and university education. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gasoline container: Community advocates have raised concern over right-wing radicalism after an attempted arson at a Toronto hotel where hundreds of recent irregular migrants are being housed, according to Toronto Star. Steve Russell / Toronto Star Toronto police say the fire was started in the third-floor hallway after a gasoline container was allegedly set alight. The Radisson Hotel in the city's north-east, which is the temporary home to 570-plus so-called irregular migrants from the United States, was the scene of a blaze that sent all guests out onto the streets at around 10 30 p.m. on Oct. 2. Police released a photograph Friday of a woman they are seeking in connection to the blaze, which is being investigated as arson. The fire follows an online anti-refugee campaign involving postings on right-wing websites and included a video taken by trespassers showing what they claimed was vandalism by refugees staying at the hotel. No injuries were reported. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

quebec: Since arriving in Canada and living in Montreal in the early 1990s, I found that during provincial and even federal elections, the question of Quebec independence occupied a big portion of the political debate, according to Rabble. Usually Quebec independence came as a final threat launched by the federalist Parti Lib ral du Qu bec PLQ to dissuade the last batch of hesitant voters from siding with the sovereigntist Parti Qu b cois PQ . And this polarization worked relatively well, at least to a certain extent, for the PLQ. But over the last two decades, the referendum on Quebec independence has been losing ground, especially among younger voters, but even baby boomers, usually supporters of the idea, have been showing signs of tiredness. I followed it from afar but with a lot of interest and a certain dose of skepticism. Over the years, the focus of polarization in Quebec politics has shifted from independence to identity. Political fear-mongering stopped targeting federalist Anglos, who supposedly threatened French culture with their imperialistic language, songs, movies and powerful economic institutions. It was Mario Dumont, forefather of today's Coalition Avenir Qu bec CAQ who was instrumental in bringing the inflated reasonable accommodation debate to Quebec political affairs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

hotel staff: Hotel staff evacuated the building while firefighters extinguished the blaze and contained the smoke, according to CTV. No one was injured as a result. Emergency crews were called to the Radisson Hotel Toronto East at 55 Hallcrown Place, near Highway 401 and Victoria Park Avenue, at around 10 30 p.m. for reports of a fire. Following an investigation, police determined that the fire was started intentionally on the third floor of the building. Mario Calla, the executive director of COSTI, an organization that helps settle refugees in Canada, said he believes that asylum-seekers living inside the hotel were targeted by the arsonist. A can of gasoline had been lit on fire, they said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

nomination: Finally, late yesterday morning, the UCP -- oh, so reluctantly -- instructed Coulter to take a hike, according to Rabble. The former assistant to the Edmonton Griesbach Conservative member of Parliament Kerry Diotte was one of three nomination candidates in the Henday electoral district who invited members of Soldiers of Odin anti-immigrant vigilante group to a constituency association beer night and then posed for selfies with them. Leastways, the United Conservative Party nomination candidate in the Edmonton-Henday West Riding certainly had to work extremely hard to get himself kicked out of the party's nomination process. But he was the only one of the three who wouldn't immediately disavow the Soldiers -- who turned up in their biker-style colours with S.O.O. emblazoned on their jackets, hats and T-shirts. He made a series of increasingly eye-popping comments that, if he's not a Soldiers of Odin sympathizer, sure as heck made him sound like one. Instead, Coulter hunkered down for a spell, then came out swinging, defending the Soldiers' fundamental right to free selfies and his prominent role in it. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

obama years: The anti-war faction that mobilized against the Iraq war shrunk precipitously during the Obama years, observed The Atlantic writer Conor Friederdorf in May 2017, and is less noisy as Trump takes office than anti-pipeline protesters, according to Rabble. After a year with Trump in the Oval Office, however, peace is a high political priority again. Peace organizations haven't been in the news much for a decade or so, even though the U.S. is entering its 18th year of war in Afghanistan. There's another major peace event scheduled for Washington, D.C. on October 21. Sixteen million South Koreans -- one in three -- took to the streets in the fall and winter of 2016, she said. At NoWar2018, Christine Ahn argued that reconciliation of North and South Koreas signals a window, a moment in time when peace is possible. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sheila thompson: The unveiled monument for Constable Frank Beevers, according to Toronto Star. Kashmala Fida / Star Metro Two officers dressed in 1918 era uniforms unveiled the granite marker Thursday, with Beevers' name, year of birth and death engraved at the Edmonton Cemetery in the neighbourhood of Queen Mary Park. An immigrant from the U.K., Beevers was shot and killed in the fall of 1918 while trying to apprehend a man wanted for robbery and murder. Although it's believed his grave was initially marked with a wooden cross, police believe it deteriorated over time until his final resting place was forgotten. Article Continued Below Sheila Thompson spent a lot of her time at the city and provincial archives, digging for the history of the city. For the longest time, the constable's grave remained unmarked until a curious history enthusiast went looking for him. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian funds: Israel has accused the agency of being biased, fuelling its conflict with the Palestinians and promoting hatred against the Jewish state, according to Vancouver Courier. Canada's foreign ministry says the new funds will help bring stability to the region by helping Palestinians cope with poverty, unemployment and food insecurity. The new Canadian funds announced today will be allocated over two years to assist the health and education efforts of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA.article continues below Trending Stories One fall foliage spot in Metro Vancouver you need to see Has Vancouver become a better place under Mayor Gregor Robertson The top Instagram fall photo spots in Vancouver Minimum wage increases go into effect June 1 across B.C. The Trump administration decided in August to withdraw US 300 million in support, ending the United States' status as the largest donor for an organization that had been trying to help more than five million Palestinian refugees. But it also says the money will assist UNRWA with its ongoing efforts to improve neutrality within the agency and its operations. Canada is earmarking 40 million towards the basic education, health and livelihood needs of millions of Palestinian refugees, especially women and children. This assistance demonstrates how Canada and UNRWA are working together to ensure respect for the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, operational independence and impartiality, said a statement from Global Affairs Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

u.s: An earlier charge of espionage was dropped.article continues below Trending Stories One fall foliage spot in Metro Vancouver you need to see Amanda Tapping on coping with miscarriage Tattoo artist slaps lawsuit on ink event Man shot in botched robbery may have had run-in with police in China Hours later, Brunson was transported to Izmir's airport and was flown out of Turkey, where he had lived for more than two decades, according to Vancouver Courier. He was to be flown to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, then on to Washington, where he was to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday. The court near the western city of Izmir sentenced North Carolina native Andrew Brunson to just over three years in prison for allegedly helping terror groups, but let him go because the 50-year-old evangelical pastor had already spent nearly two years in detention. I love Jesus. He tearfully hugged his wife Norine Lyn as he awaited the court decision. I love Turkey, an emotional Brunson, who had maintained he was innocent of all charges, told the court during Friday's hearing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

business: This legislation is out of date, according to Vancouver Courier. One of the suggestions includes permitting realtors to disclose details about a competing offer to another bidder, if all sides involved agree. In a report Thursday, the group says the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act REBBA which was put in place in 2002, is in need of a revamp.article continues below Trending Stories The top Instagram fall photo spots in Vancouver Has Vancouver become a better place under Mayor Gregor Robertson UBC is on the World's Most Innovative Universities list Here's 11 Vancouver happy hours to check out in fall The average price of a home in 2002 was 275,000 in Toronto and most deals were closed by a fax machine, said Tim Hudak, chief executive of OREA, which has more than 70,000 members. This would include offer price, closing dates and any conditions. Currently, most buyers and sellers participate in a blind bidding process where buyers go in with an offer, in the hopes that they are not outbid. The group says doing so would result in a more transparent multi-offer process that would give buyers more information to make their best offer, and sellers the knowledge that they have received the best offer for a property. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

doctor: Where is the equity Where is the humanity Dr, according to Rabble. Michael Klein rejects the notion of the dispassionate doctor. It offers us access to a great deal of thoughtful, reliable and modern medicine and approaches and yet many would also agree that sometimes the person is not validated in a meaningful, helpful and healthy way within our current system. Face2Face host David Peck and Dr. They touch on role models, mentorship, healthcare, ambiguity and equity and why listening is the essence of family practice. Klein talk about his new book Dissident Doctor and why he has sometimes been called a lifelong gadfly. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ethnic-minority employees: She says too often ethnic minority employees feel they're hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression, according to CTV. Last year the government told companies with 250 or more employees to disclose the difference in median wages between men and women. Prime Minister Theresa May says revealing the figures might uncover some uncomfortable truths. The government said Thursday that businesses including accountants KPMG, advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi and the civil service had signed up to a Race at Work Charter, promising to recruit more ethnic-minority employees and help their careers advance. The government will decide on mandatory reporting after a consultation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

francois legault: I know Mr, according to CTV. Trudeau disagrees with our proposal, but I think it's reasonable to say that we ban the wearing of religious signs but only by people in an authority position, said Francois Legault. The major sticking point will be the Coalition Avenir Quebec's proposal to ban the wearing of religious symbols by people in positions of authority. He said that the move is about imposing a secular state, although many critics have said it violates the Constitutional right for freedom of religion. Marine Le Pen or Mr. I think it's fair, and at the same time we make sure we don't have problems like Mrs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

progress: Zinn says it's always one step forward, two back, according to Toronto Star. So does progress happen For native peoples, it's been pretty retrograde during the 500 years since Columbus. A neighbour passing the porch said she'd been reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. But as someone else said, they tend to have a less linear notion of time than we newcomers. As Peter Capaldi said in his final episode as the Doctor, just before regenerating into Jodi Whitaker which counts as progress in the conventional sense Silly old universe. If you relax the grid, you can go backward and forward simultaneously, or weave around. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

home province: Her vice-regal performance, despite a few hiccups, lived up to the hype - particularly when she was called upon to save the Stephen Harper government from a Liberal-led coalition by granting him a vote-dodging prorogation, according to CTV. What happened to that Michaelle Jean is now a major international mystery. Incredibly bright and charismatic with an instant connection to average Canadians, Michaelle Jean checked every box on a list to shake up the staid image of a Canadian Governor General. Abandoned by her country and her home province of Quebec, she is about to be cast adrift as one-term secretary general of La Francophonie, a coalition of 54 countries with a loose French-language connection. That the heir apparent has connections to the Rwandan genocide is apparently of little concern. Officially, she's the wrong citizenship for an organization that is determined to elevate an African member's representative to the top job. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

minority employees: It comes after the government began requiring large companies to report pay disparities between men and women, according to Toronto Star. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May said that too often ethnic minority employees feel they're hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression. The idea is a response to a study published last year that showed significant pay disparities between ethnic minorities and their white counterparts in Britain. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP/GETTY IMAGES Too often ethnic minority employees feel they're hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression, May said in a statement. The audit found that the unemployment rate for Black, Asian and other ethnic-minority people, at 8 per cent, was nearly double that of white British adults, at 4.6 per cent. The Race Disparity Audit, a survey of 24,000 workers last year, found that white British adults were much more likely to be employed and to own their own homes than people from ethnic minorities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

program areas: Even though they're the ones creating the crisis US of A, we're looking at you . Today's rabble radio features an interview with Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director of Project Ploughshares, based in Waterloo, according to Rabble. It was done by David Kattenburg of The Green Blues Show, a production of The Green Planet Monitor, a social website and radio program based in Winnipeg. The same countries that are 'up in arms' about refugees are also the ones which are working the hardest to discourage refugees from coming to their country. Cesar Jaramillo's work has focused on such program areas as nuclear disarmament, outer space security and conventional weapons control. Prior to joining Project Ploughshares, Cesar held a fellowship at the Centre for International Governance Innovation CIGI . Image Pixabay - Alexas Fotos - Child Refugee photo. As an international civil society representative, he has addressed, among others, the UN General Assembly First Committee Disarmament and International Security and the UN Conference on Disarmament, and the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space COPUOS . He's an occasional columnist on matters of disarmament and international security, and graduated from the University of Waterloo with an MA in global governance and has bachelor's degrees in honours political science and in journalism. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

vote: Vote for your preferred candidate and risk splitting the vote, according to Rabble. However, if you shift your vote and lose, you've now removed your support and the symbolic value it carries from a progressive candidate whose ideas could help the city move forward. Our flawed electoral system leads progressives to face this decision regularly at all levels of government. It's a difficult calculation. The result, as James writes, has been mediocrity, at best. In a recent Toronto Star op-ed under the headline Toronto deserves better than timid, lukewarm Tory, Royson James observes that strategic voting brought Toronto Mayor John Tory to power four years ago Many voters abandoned their preferred candidate in Olivia Chow because of the credible fear that votes split between Chow and Tory would dilute the opposition to madcap Ford. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

fall: The Army began booting out those enlistees last year without explanation .article continues below Trending Stories The top Instagram fall photo spots in Vancouver Has Vancouver become a better place under Mayor Gregor Robertson UBC is on the World's Most Innovative Universities list Here's 11 Vancouver happy hours to check out in fall The AP has interviewed more than a dozen recruits from countries such as Brazil, Pakistan, Iran, China and Mongolia who all said they were devastated by their unexpected discharges or cancelled contracts, according to Vancouver Courier. Until now, it's been unclear how many were discharged and for what reason because the Army has refused to discuss specific cases. The decade-old Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest recruiting program was put on hold in 2016 amid concerns that immigrant recruits were not being screened sufficiently. But the Army's own list, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last month, says 502 service members who enlisted under MAVNI were discharged between July 2017 and July 2018. That is the reason given for 35 per cent of enlistee discharges Army-wide, according to a research study posted on a Defence Department website. The list, which was unsealed this week after a request from the AP, offers refuse to enlist as the reason for expelling two-thirds of the recruits. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

january: She replaces Albert Schultz, who resigned in January after four female company members came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment, according to NOW Magazine. The women's civil cases against Soulpepper and Schultz were settled out of court in the summer. Gifted director Weyni Mengesha is the new artistic director of the city's largest not-for-profit theatre company. Mengesha's hiring comes a month and a half after the company brought on a new executive director, Emma Stenning, who replaced Leslie Lester who also resigned in January, and is Schultz's wife . Mengesha, who takes on her new role in January 2019, has a long history with the company. This means a lot to me, since it's like a homecoming, and I think Soulpepper is really well positioned for growth, said Mengesha in an interview earlier this week. She was part of its inaugural Soulpepper Academy, in 2006, and has directed some of its most acclaimed productions, including Kim's Convenience, A Raisin In The Sun and Father Comes Home From The Wars Parts I, II, III which won a Dora last year for best production. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

peacekeepers: That is reflected in the fact that while the Canadian military's primary task in Mali is to evacuate injured UN peacekeepers by helicopter, they have so far only conducted two such missions, both on Sept. 11, according to National Observer. Guterres nonetheless painted a picture of a country at war with itself as various ethnic and extremist groups targeted each other as well as the Malian military, international forces and even civilians. The assessment by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres coincides with the presence of Canadian peacekeepers in Mali, and suggests the country is in many ways worse off now than when they first arrived in June. ; Not that there haven't been some hopeful signs, including successful presidential elections in July and August and a marked decline in the number of peacekeepers killed or wounded despite continuing attacks by armed groups. The result was the largest number of civilians killed 287 in one three-month period since UN peacekeepers first arrived in the country in 2013, while thousands more have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence. Intercommunal conflict, exacerbated by violent extremist groups, is fraying an already fragile social fabric and is deeply concerning, Guterres wrote. Much of the fighting was between members of two different ethnic communities in the centre of the country, while groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State were also responsible for a great deal of violence. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

technology sector: Toronto is a global technology powerhouse, according to NOW Magazine. Toronto has created more jobs in tech in the last year than New York City and San Francisco's Silicon Valley combined. Toronto is having a special moment. These are phrases familiar to anyone in this city's technology sector, which came together for a massive celebration and marketing bonanza at the recent Elevate Tech Fest, billed by organizers as Canada's Tech Week. But as excited industry types in hoodies and suits took selfies and exchanged Linked In profiles, I couldn't help but think about some of the other ways Toronto is having a special moment. The event, which featured the theatre of a choreographed stock market countdown, provided a space for the tech sector to demonstrate its contributions to the city. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

alliance isa: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, attends the inaugural General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance ISA and the Global Re-investment summit on renewable energy in New Delhi, India, Oct. 2, according to Toronto Star. Guterres says the security situation in Mali has sharply deteriorated over the past three months while the need for more foreign aid to help provide food and other urgent humanitarian assistance has skyrocketed. The time period covered by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's assessment coincides with the first three months of Canada's year-long peacekeeping mission in Mali, though the report notes that the actual number of peacekeepers killed or wounded in attacks had markedly declined. The Associated Press Guterres nonetheless paints a picture of a Mali at war with itself, particularly in the centre of the country, as various ethnic groups and extremist groups targeted each other as well as the Malian military, international forces and civilians leaving hundreds dead and thousands displaced. Making matters even worse were severe floods in some areas and drought in others that, when combined with the fighting, had doubled the number of internally displaced people and left one in four Malians needing humanitarian aid the largest number in years. The human rights situation was similarly worse due to hundreds of reported extrajudicial killings, disappearances, tortures and rapes across different parts of the country with the Malian military itself implicated in at least one mass killing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

beams pasini: Gianpaolo Pasini is happy to finally be a Canadian citizen after living here for six years, according to CTV. Very thankful to the country for granting me this beautiful thing to become a Canadian so thank you Canada, beams Pasini. The event was part of Citizenship Week celebrations being held across the country. Ryan Mohamed Mohamed Ahmed moved to Canada from Egypt. It's multicultural and I'm really happy to be here, says Ahmed. This is like the most peaceful country in the world. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.