March 2008

March 5, 2008 ─Vancouver Sun
Refugees and immigrants crowded out; North Mount Pleasant, a secret stash of low-cost homes, at risk of gentrification
Vancouver - The city's secret reservoir of low-cost housing is being taken over by young Canadian-born economic refugees from Kitsilano and Fairview, who are pushing out poor refugees and immigrants from Vietnam, China and Latin America. A report being released today says North Mount Pleasant is potentially at risk of "uncontrolled gentrification."


March 5, 2008 ─Vancouver Sun
Canada tops G7 in jobs growth rate, according to census; Employment in oil, gas, construction and retail sectors is on the rise, but country is losing manufacturing work
Ottawa -- Canadians have seen better job prospects in recent years and the country boasts the fastest-growing employment rate of any G7 nation, the Canadian census shows. But the latest figures reveal that some industries are thriving while others struggle: manufacturing jobs are disappearing while those in the oil and gas, construction and retail sectors are on the rise.


March 6, 2008 ─Ottawa Citizen
A thaw in relations; There is room to negotiate between the U.S. and Canadian positions on the Northwest Passage
Canadians have long assumed that the U.S. position on the Northwest Passage -- that the waterway constitutes an "international strait" open to foreign ships almost without restraint -- was fixed and unchangeable. But recent developments suggest that this may not be the case.


March 6, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
The brain drain of anglos from Quebec is getting serious; Just when Quebec needs all the talent it can get, the exodus is continuing
Everyone knows that a serious brain drain is weakening Quebec's anglophone community. But a sobering new study shows that this exodus is more serious than widely understood. Among adults born in Quebec whose mother tongue is English, an astonishing 61 per cent of those whose top university degree was a bachelor's had moved to other parts of Canada as of 2001, the latest census year for which this mobility data are available.


March 7, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
Garment sector hanging by a thread; Thousands jobless. Industry out $100M in receivable assets since November
 Canada's garment business is experiencing a shocking round of insolvency at all levels, according to an industry credit official, resulting in considerable job losses. In 2000, Quebec's textile and clothing manufacturing sectors employed a total of 79,200 people. Statistics Canada reported the number in manufacturing alone was down to slightly more than 22,000 by December.


March 7, 2008 ─National Post
Quebe language office accused of paranoia; Advisor Resigns
Quebec - The head of an academic committee that worked on a sensitive report about the situation of the French language in Quebec has resigned in protest, calling the way 18 key studies were handled "a disaster."


March 8, 2008 ─Regina LeaderPost
Many Sask. jobs unfilled
There were 499,800 people working in Saskatchewan in February, an increase of 7,300 from February 2007, and a significant jump from the 2,600 jobs added in January, according to Statistics Canada. The Saskatchewan Party government touted the job numbers as proof of the province's economic strength, but a recent report suggests Saskatchewan's labourforce is failing to keep pace with economic growth, leaving thousands of jobs unfilled.


March 13, 2008 ─Regina LeaderPost
Labour limiting economy
Regina's economy is strong, but a shortage of workers poses a serious challenge to the business community, according to John Hopkins, CEO of Regina & District Chamber of Commerce.


March 13, 2008 ─Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Filipino nurses a big win for Sask.
It's hard to overestimate the effect of adding almost 300 nurses to the health system in a matter of months. In one stroke, the provincial government and the health regions have made it more than one-third of the way to the goal of hiring 800 nurses over four years. One recruiting trip to the Philippines has netted the province 297 nurses, who will begin moving to Canada over the next six months.


March 13, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
Make babies, limit immigrants, ADQ says; Party suggests $5,000 bonus for third baby and perks for families to boost population
Quebec -- Immigration is not the answer to Quebec's low birth rate and labour shortages, an Action democratique du Quebec panel has concluded in calling for a massive injection of public cash into family-friendly incentives like baby bonuses.


March 15, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
Ottawa targets immigrant labour
 The federal government has announced $16.5 million in funding to help local organizations settle new immigrants in the Calgary region. The money, which is expected to help about 5,000 newcomers, is part of a tripling of settlement funding for Alberta since 2005-06.


March 16, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
1,400 foreign nurses courted; Job offers part of campaign to meet huge Alberta need
In the midst of a critical staffing crunch at Calgary and Edmonton hospitals, Alberta's two major health regions have extended nearly 1,400 job offers to international nurses as part of their biggest overseas recruitment drive.


March 17, 2008 ─Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Sask. attractive to Filipino nurses; Profession a 'visa' for life in new country
Whether he's nursing in the Philippines, Ireland or Canada, Gary Mendoza is prepared to tackle any emergency. "Nursing is universal. Basically, the general principles are there. It's just a matter of doing it," said Mendoza, who trained as a nurse in the Philippines and moved to Saskatoon about 18 months ago.


March 20, 2008 ─National Post
Canada will take 2,000 Iraqi refugees this year, more than double 2007's total
Canada will welcome as many as 2,000 Iraqi refugees this year -- slightly more than double the 900 it accepted into the country last year. Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley said yesterday the majority of the refugees will be resettled from Syria and Jordan.


March 21, 2008 ─Ottawa Citizen
Increase bilingualism spending by 25%: report
Federal spending on promoting French and English in Canada should be increased by about 25 per cent to reach $1 billion in the next five years, a bilingualism report recommends.


March 22, 2008 ─National Post
Immigration lawyer accused in nanny hires; Manitoba Bar; Charged with breaching refugee act
Winnipeg - A Winnipeg immigration lawyer is accused of breaking the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by hiring a nanny in an unauthorized capacity. Meanwhile, David Davis is still under the microscope at the Law Society of Manitoba over a complaint from another former nanny, who claimed Mr. Davis hired her out to third parties without paying her.


March 22, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
City's catholic flock is thriving; Churchgoing immigrants swell attendance while urban sprawl gives suburbs a boost
Compared with the rest of Quebec, Montreal's churches are faring quite well - particularly Roman Catholic ones. There's a good reason for that. Immigration. Because of increasing ethnic diversity, Montreal has become a dramatically more Catholic city than it was as recently as the 1980s.


March 21, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
Temporary workers keep business rolling; Nation watching city's foreign recruiting plan
The City of Calgary's plan to hire temporary foreign workers to ease staffing woes will be monitored by cities across the country, immigration lawyers say. "In the rest of Canada, the municipalities will watch this closer than the carbon tax," Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said Thursday.


March 21, 2008 ─Vancouver Sun
Employing more women helps economy work; Investment banker's study says making it easier for women to enter paid workforce would solve many difficult social problems
There may be a magic bullet for solving some of our society's most difficult problems, such as affordable housing, immigration, productivity declines, an aging workforce or the near-crippling demands on the pension system.


March 23, 2008 ─Vancouver Province
White pride clashes with anti-racism group
Calgary -- White supremacists and anti-racist protesters clashed in a screaming match that wound its way through downtown Calgary on Friday. A strong police presence stayed close on the heels of the protesters, breaking up several angry confrontations and leading at least two people away in handcuffs. It's the latest in a string of events that some activists fear signals a rising tide of racism in Calgary.


March 23, 2008 ─Vancouver Province
Apprentices may be the answer to skills shortages Series: Top in Trades
B.C.'s skills shortage may prompt employers to take another look at the benefits of apprenticeship, industry spokesmen say. Companies that have hesitated to take on apprentices may realize the system offers one of the most effective ways to find, train and retain workers, B.C. Construction Association president Manley McLachlan says.
 

Source: CanWest Interactive. March, 2008.

February 2008

February, 2008 —Ottawa Citizen
Canada goes grey; By 2030, there will be only two workers for every retiree. Is Canada prepared to cope with the coming 'age quake'? The promises and perils of an aging nation special series starts today Series: The Age of Methuselah
It's 2030 and Canada, with its population of 100-year-olds approaching 14,000, looks like a colder version of Florida. Schools have given way to retirement communities. Condominiums and townhouses have edged out single-family homes. Falling birthrates have sapped the market for child-care workers, while rising life expectancy has pushed up demand for geriatricians.


February 3, 2008 —Ottawa Citizen
'The more education and skills you have, the more you're going to be able to dictate exactly what you want from an employer. Who's going to be at a disadvantage? The people who don't have the skills'
The Atlantic region's response to a youth shortage provides a glimpse into what the rest of Canada may face with two million fewer people in the generation following the boomers.  In New Brunswick, the government has set up a Population Growth Secretariat to devise strategies that would keep more youngbloods from leaving, repatriate New Brunswickers working elsewhere and attract more immigrants to the province. The office has just started its work and has yet to develop any programs or policies.


February 6, 2008 —Ottawa Citizen
Eldercare the Gap; With Canadians living longer into old age, there are fewer caregivers and more frail seniors needing care. Experts predict the gap could widen with an aging baby boom. Series: The Age of Methuselah
Judy Cutler is still reeling from the punishing toll of intensive caregiving. Sixteen years ago, she left her job as associate director of Montreal's Centaur Theatre to look after her terminally ill mother. When her mother died two years later, it took Ms. Cutler a year to recover from the stress. She spent another year looking for work. By the end of her four-year hiatus from the workforce, Ms. Cutler had used up all her savings.


February 7, 2008 —Vancouver Province
Program changes to ease entry for foreign workers; NDP worries 'quick fix' is unfair
Tens of thousands of foreign workers are B.C.-bound to fill jobs left by retiring baby boomers. Changes to the province's immigrant-worker visa program will bring workers to B.C. from all over the world, to fill jobs in trucking, tourism and the hospitality industry. The expanded provincial nominee program will recruit entry-level and unskilled workers, with the prize being permanent residency status for the workers and their families.


February 7, 2008 —Calgary Herald
Immigrants put skills to work; Program helps newcomers brush up on language, culture
Many new immigrants arrive in Canada with university degrees and impeccable resumes, all completely useless until they learn two things; how to speak English and how to behave in the workplace. 


February 7, 2008 —Vancouver Sun
Technology industry targeting foreign students; Companies are checking out U.S. job fairs to find up to 10,000 new workers
B.C.'s technology industry is ramping up efforts to recruit new workers with about 10,000 tech jobs up for grabs in the province this year. A primary target, at least in the short term, is international technology students at U.S. universities who can't stay in that country after they graduate, but want to live and work in North America.


February 9, 2008 —Vancouver Sun
The last thing we need are race-based schools; Plans for an 'Afrocentric' alternative for students with coloured skin run counter to Canada's history and aspirations
Toronto - It seems inconceivable that racially segregated, public schools could be contemplated in Canada in 2008. Yet 14 years after apartheid ended in South Africa and 54 years after the United States Supreme Court ordered an end to segregation, that's what Toronto is doing.


February 20, 2008 —National Post
Money to be made in the woods; B.C.'s forestry industry heads East to fill jobs
Vancouver -The story of Canadian forestry in the past year has been unflinchingly depressing, as a darkening nightmare in the market for wood has forced employers to fell thousands upon thousands of jobs.  So it may be startling to hear some of the West Coast's most promising six-figure jobs these days are in this very industry. In fact, the need for workers has grown so severe that pulps mills in British Columbia have taken to looking to displaced Ontario auto workers -- and, in at least one case, even an Alberta grocery store worker -- to fill their ranks.


February 21, 2008 —Vancouver Sun
Immigrants struggle in wealthy countries; Canada risks backlash unless immigration system improves, OECD says
Paris -- Canada and other rich countries risk a public backlash unless they do a better job ensuring new immigrants find suitable jobs, the head of an international think-tank said Wednesday.


February 22, 2008 —Saskatoon StarPhoenix  
African health-care worker recruitment viewed as a crime
Washington (Reuters) -- Rich countries are poaching so many African health workers that the practice should be viewed as a crime, a team of international disease experts said Thursday.  More than 13,000 doctors trained in sub-Saharan Africa are now practising in Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, leaving behind colleagues struggling to cope with impossible caseloads.


February 22, 2008 —Regina LeaderPost
New nurses land in Regina
Karen Pachao got off the plane in Regina eager to expand her nursing experience, but she wasn't prepared to experience the bite of Saskatchewan's winter. "My first thought was 'Oh my God, I'm going home,' " said the 27- year-old Filipino nurse. "Here it's like walking into a big, big freezer. Back home it's like walking into an oven because the temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius. It was quite a shock when we got here!"


February 23, 2008 The National Post
The nanny economy: Elena Bautista spends her days with a Rosedale family to provide for her own children 13,000 kilometres away
Toronto -- It's a bleak January morning in a Don Mills cafe when Elena Bautista explains why she left her husband and young daughters in the Philippines five years ago to look after someone else's children in Canada.


February 25, 2008 —The Gazette
Canada needs more grad students if we are to remain competitive
There is no better way to ensure economic growth than to invest in people
Advanced degree holders are the lifeblood of our knowledge-based economy. These highly skilled individuals are one of the primary ways for transferring knowledge from universities to other sectors, and their strong analytical and research abilities make them invaluable in today's labour market.


February 26, 2008 —The Ottawa Citizen
Invest in staff or crisis awaits, city told
1 in 4 employees eligible for early or full retirement in two years
The city needs to invest more in its workers or risk losing its smartest and most experienced staff, says the man in charge of Mayor Larry O'Brien's agenda to make city hall more efficient and responsive.


February 27, 2008 Leader-Post
Some face obstacles in entering workforce, conference told
REGINA -- The aboriginal and immigrant populations are often seen as possible solutions to Saskatchewan's labour shortage, but they face significant obstacles to enter the workforce, a conference was told Wednesday.


Februay 28, 2008 Canwest News Service
Internship a foot in the door
Ease transition for skilled immigrants
Vancouver -- One of the biggest problems for professionally trained immigrants is simply getting their foot in the door of Canadian companies. To help ease that transition, a program called Career Bridge, with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, helps immigrants by organizing internships in those cities.


Februay 28, 2008 Canwest News Service
Immigrants at "significantly" higher risk for postpartum depression: study
OTTAWA - Immigrants, refugees and women seeking asylum in Canada are four to five times more likely to suffer from postpartum depression than women born here, according to a study published this month in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

 

Source: CanWest Interactive. February, 2008.

January 2008

January 2, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
YouTube parody triggers controversy
Ottawa - A YouTube video parodying the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski has drawn censure from the RCMP and criticism from some in the Polish community.


January 2, 2008 ─National Post
Changing police 'face' chief's focus; More women, visible minorities recruited: Blair
Since the record-setting gun violence of 2005, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says he has concentrated much energy on neighbourhood policing and "changing the nature and the face" of Canada's largest municipal force.


January 3, 2008 ─Vancouver Province
Vancouver gears up for spring summit on immigrants, jobs
Vancouver is preparing for a spring summit on how best to use jobs to settle immigrants into the community -- and to use them to fill holes in the labour market.


January 5, 2008 ─Canwest
Immigrant visa class action gets go-ahead
Overcharging Alleged
The Federal Court of Canada has given the green light to a national class-action lawsuit alleging the Department of Citizenship and Immigration profits from its visa application fees, and has illegally raked in more than $700-million over the past decade from new immigrants.


January 7, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
New Canadians transform High River's cultural mix
High River began as many older Alberta communities did, a settlement by a river. Over the decades it evolved from a community of ranchers to an increasingly popular home for retirees fleeing the bustle of bigger cities. Today, the small town about a half-hour drive south of Calgary is evolving once again into a destination for immigrants.


January 8, 2008 ─The Vancouver Sun
Ottawa funds diversity research
Lower Mainland - The federal government will provide $7.5 million in funding for research into globalization, immigration and diversity at centres across Canada, including Metro Vancouver.


January 9, 2008 ─National Post
Visible minorities feeling excluded; Workplace Woes; Foreign-born face isolation in corporate Canada
When one in five Canadians is foreign-born, as the 2006 census figures show, it's not a big leap to realize that those visible minorities will have an impact in the workplace.


January 10, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
B.C. man fined $6,000 for spreading hatred on web
The Sarah Connor Chronicles brings the epic Hollywood saga to the small screen Ottawa - The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has fined a Kelowna B.C. man $6,000 and ordered him to stop using the Internet to disseminate material that exposes Jews, non-whites and the disabled to hatred.


January 11, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
Canada sheds 18,700 jobs in December
Ottawa - The rock solid Canadian economy showed a crack on Friday in the form of a disappointing jobs report from Statistics Canada, though it remains to seen to what extent it reflected the overall direction the economy is going.


January 12, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
Alberta bucks jobs trend
The jobs engine that is the economies of Alberta and Calgary pushed into overdrive in December, as Wild Rose Country pulled away from other provinces in job creation and forcefully bucked employment losses at the national level.


January 14, 2008 ─Ottawa Citizen
Minorities losing ground in PS; Recruitment rate drops as pool grows; critics call for penalties if government can't reach hiring goals
The federal government's multimillion-dollar plan to hire and promote visible minorities has failed and it's time to start imposing tough penalties if departments don't meet hiring goals, critics say.


January 15, 2008 ─Calgary Herald
New rules to woo foreign workers
Employers will find it easier to bring janitors, construction labourers, meat cutters and other types of temporary foreign workers into Alberta and B.C. under new rules announced by the federal government Monday.


January 15, 2008 ─Edmonton Journal
Foreign workers program expanded; Waiting time cut, new occupations added
Vancouver - Employers in British Columbia and Alberta can expect speedier approval for hiring foreign workers, and in a greater number of qualifying fields, when there are no Canadian citizens or permanent residents available to fill the positions.


January 17, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
Quebec should make better use of foreign-trained doctors; They should be given help to pass exams or be directed to other health- care jobs
Too many Quebecers bitterly complain about not being able to find a family physician or see a specialist in a timely manner. With the shortage of Quebec medical-school graduates and the flight of many of them because of the most restrictive policies in Canada for new physicians to practise, the question must be asked whether we are using our medical personnel resources effectively.


January 17, 2008 ─Ottawa Citizen
Minority report
Obviously it's desirable that the people's government reflect the people, but the fact that the federal bureaucracy does not precisely mirror the demographic makeup of Canada is not worth getting too upset over.


January 17, 2008 ─Edmonton Journal
Recruiter banned for charging foreign workers; Tradesworkers were being billed up to $18,000 for job placements in Alberta
Edmonton - An unlicensed Ontario business that charged foreign workers up to $18,000 each for the chance at a job in Alberta has been banned from the province. "What we have here is a recruiter who is operating outside Alberta legislation," Service Alberta spokesman Eoin Kenny said Wednesday. "They are no longer allowed to operate in Alberta."


January 17, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
Top court strikes down refugee deal
Ottawa - A Federal Court judge has formally struck down a controversial refugee agreement with the United States, saying Canada failed to ensure that the U.S. respects international rules governing torture and refugee rights.


January 18, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
Bigger role for nurses seen as health-care solution
Ottawa - The president of the Canadian Nurses Association says an expanded role for nurses will result in no wait times for patients, more community-based care, a greater use of "tele-health" technology and more emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention.


January 19, 2008 ─Edmonton Journal
Hospitals axe care, beds; Elective surgeries cancelled, beds closed amid nursing shortage
Edmonton - Edmonton-area patients should expect more surgery cancellations in the next few weeks and continuing bed closures that could last until April because of a severe nursing shortage, Capital Health warns.


January 20, 2008 ─Edmonton Journal
Volunteer nurses sought to ease staffing crisis
Edmonton - Capital Health is seeking volunteer nursing reinforcements because it faces an unprecedented staffing crunch, says the United Nurses of Alberta.


January 21, 2008 ─Ottawa Citizen
You can't say the public service isn't trying to hire minorities
You would think that visible minorities would win the government hiring game more often. But, according to Public Service Commission president Maria Barrados, the hiring rate of visible minorities fell more than one per cent last year, although overall hiring in the Public Service increased.


January 21, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
Marois backs down from daycare proposal
PQ leader says bid to compel immigrant kids into French CPEs not a priority
Quebec - Pauline Marois took pains yesterday to say her Parti Québécois is not seeking to extend school admission rules to the day-care level, to stream the children of immigrants into French CPEs - Centres de la petite enfance.


January 22, 2008 ─Montreal Gazette
New immigrants' earnings lag; Previous generations were paid more: study
Though Quebec's immigration policies favour newcomers from North Africa and other French-speaking regions, the Old World has a commanding head start on the wage front, a study by Universite de Montreal researchers says.


January 22, 2008 ─Regina LeaderPost
Labour shortage is challenge, opportunity: Solberg
Canada's current and looming labour shortage is both a challenge and an opportunity for employees and employers, business and governments alike, according to Human Resources and Social Development Minister Monte Solberg.


January 25, 2008 ─Windsor Star
CAW questions use of foreign workers
The union at Presteve Foods in Wheatley is calling on the federal government to investigate whether the fish processing plant should be allowed to employ foreign workers.


January 25, 2008 ─Vancouver Sun
Foreign settlers earn more in small towns and countryside, StatsCan says
Where immigrants choose to plant new roots in Canada appears to affect how much they earn, a new study on the economic integration of immigrants reveals. The Statistics Canada report, published Friday in Perspectives on Labour and Income, says that most immigrants settle in the places where economic integration is slowest - in large urban areas.


January 25, 2008 ─The Gazette
Dumont renews attack on immigration
Plays language card. Study predicting decline of French should have reduced Quebec's targets, ADQ leader argues
A study suggesting French is becoming the minority language in Montreal should have been made public before the provincial government raised the limit on how many immigrants can be allowed into Quebec, opposition leader Mario Dumont said yesterday


January 25, 2008 ─The Gazette
Skilled workers lacking
Quebec employers can't fill openings
Quebec employers are having difficulty filling certain positions because of an insufficient number of new graduates in specific fields and a lack of interest in vocational training among young people.


January 26, 2008 ─The StarPhoenix
Immigration touted as labour solution
Saskatchewan is facing a labour shortage as baby boomers retire and industry grows.
"By 2011, we're going to need 70,000 people joining our labour market," said Rob Norris, Saskatchewan's minister of advanced education, employment and labour.


January 30, 2008 ─Vancouver Sun
B.C. signs deal with Philippines to attract more workers
Joint committee will hammer out guidelines for training, certification
The province of B.C. has signed an agreement with the government of the Philippines to help attract more Filipino workers as a way of coping with labour shortages.


January 30, 2008 ─Canwest News Service
'Afrocentric' school approved in Toronto
Toronto - The Toronto District School Board narrowly approved a proposal to create the city's first Afrocentric public school during a meeting Tuesday night. Following more than two hours of public submissions, which including opposition to the motion from the mother of slain teenager Jordan Manners, the vote was recorded as 11 in favour and 9 against.

 

Source: CanWest Interactive. January, 2008.

December 2007

December 1, 2007 Calgary Herald
Recruiting in non-traditional venues; Western countries turn to India to help fill the labour shortages
The growing need for labour in Alberta is turning many business development trade shows around the world into recruitment fairs as much as investment missions for government and industry leaders, say officials.


December 4, 2007 Canwest
Immigration surge propels size of foreign-born population to 75-year high
Ottawa -- Canada is becoming a nation of immigrants again.
Canada's foreign-born population grew four times as fast as that of the Canadian-born population during the first half of this decade to reach a 75-year high of nearly one in five people living here, according to the latest analyses of data from last year's census.


December 4, 2007 Canwest
Newcomers get $4.5-M boost from Quebec; 3-year pact with Montreal. To help immigrants find jobs, learn culture
The city of Montreal will receive a cash infusion from the provincial government for programs to help immigrants find jobs and learn Quebec culture.


December 4, 2007 The Gazette
French decline bad news for Quebec, group says
The latest census figures are bad news for French both within Canada and Quebec, says a French-language rights group.


December 8, 2007 Vancouver Sun
Ottawa wants to fast track more foreign workers
Ottawa wants to fast track more temporary foreign workers to address "immediate and deep labour shortages" in B.C. and Alberta, federal Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg said Friday.


December 8, 2007 Vancouver Sun
B.C. job growth at record level; Drawbacks are lack of workers and B.C. Fed's concern that low-paying jobs can't support families
A "barnburner" jobs report from Statistics Canada shows British Columbia's nation-leading employment growth reaching a record level in November, thanks in large part to a robust construction sector.


December 10, 2007 Montreal Gazette
One in four suffer from bias over ethnicity; Workplace discrimination over race is high
Ottawa - One in four Canadians say they have been victims of discrimination based on their race or ethnicity, according to a new study. Respondents to a national survey cited race, ethnicity, skin colour and gender as areas where they felt their rights had been violated.


December 11, 2007 National Post
'Lost Canadians' to get citizenship restored; Old Laws Reversed
The Conservative government announced legislation yesterday to modernize the country's citizenship laws and restore citizenship to tens of thousands of people known as "lost Canadians." The proposed amendments to the 1947 and 1977 laws would retroactively grant citizenship to more than 170,000 people who lost their status -- or never received it -- thanks to a set of archaic and discriminatory rules.


December 12, 2007 Edmonton Journal
Recruiters take their search abroad; Government and business turned recent trade mission to India into a recruitment drive
Calgary - The growing need for labour in Alberta is turning many business development trade shows around the world into recruitment fairs as much as investment missions for government and industry leaders.


December 13, 2007  LeaderPost
Trucking firm complains others hiring away its foreign drivers
Saskatoon -- The owner of a Saskatoon area trucking company says it's too easy for other trucking companies to hire away his new immigrant drivers. Jim Clunie of Kelsey Trail Trucking Ltd. in Dundurn, a company specializing in flat deck loads across Canada, says a group of Filipino long-haul truck drivers who arrived at his firm just this spring and summer recently gave notice.


December 13, 2007 The Gazette
Anglos have their turn at hearing
Quebec's 608,000 anglophones have buried the hatchet with Quebec's francophone majority, are happy with the French-language charter, and think the primacy of French is 'extremely important,' the Bouchard-Taylor commission heard this morning. But when it comes to treatment of immigrants and their cultural differences, anglophones don't agree that Quebec should adopt a blanket policy to treat them with a 'one-size-fits-all' policy of integration, an anglo advocacy group said.


December 13, 2007 Montreal Gazette
Why the Montreal region is not attractive to newcomers; High taxes, exclusionist attitudes and nationalism are some of the reasons
An illuminating new study rates Canada's metropolitan regions according to their attractiveness to newcomers - that is, to immigrants as well as to migrants from the same province or from elsewhere in Canada. Montrealers ought to pay particular attention to its troubling message.


December 13, 2007 Montreal Gazette
Half of anglos send their kids to French schools; Quebec's English- speakers remain anxious and uncertain about their future
One finding leaps out from the results of the Statistics Canada survey on the vitality of official-language minorities released this week: Last year in Quebec, there were about as many children of English- speaking parents reported to be attending French schools as English ones. This is probably due mainly to Bill 101, which generally allows only the children or siblings of someone educated in English in Canada to attend publicly subsidized English schools.


December 15, 2007 National Post 
Make rights charter pro-Quebec
Montreal - Pauline Marois, leader of the opposition Parti Quebecois, offered a glowing example yesterday of why the Quebec commission studying the accommodation of minorities is not a dangerous waste of time, as some critics have charged.


December 15, 2007 Regina LeaderPost
PQ wants immigrants to learn French
Calling the Bouchard-Taylor commission "a perilous exercise," Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois Friday laid out her vision of Quebec as a place where immigrants should learn more French, businesses shouldn't get government contracts if they don't have a francization program, and Christianity should get priority in the religious curriculum of schools.


December 18, 2007 Calgary Herald
Political appointees receive hefty raises; CRTC, refugee board members enjoy 7% hikes
Ottawa - The Harper government quietly gave pay raises of up to seven per cent to hundreds of political appointees this year, bumping some recipients into annual salary ranges that now top out at $455,000.


December 20, 2007 Montreal Gazette
Quebec needs replacement workers - fast
By most measures, Quebec is about as prosperous and successful as it's ever been. Unemployment is near a record low and average earnings are actually growing faster than in most of Canada.


December 21, 2007 Vancouver Sun
A Class Conundrum; B.C. graduates about 2,000 teachers yearly and appears to be running out of jobs for all
Patrik Parkes has simple advice for anyone dreaming of becoming a teacher and sliding into one of those public school jobs soon to be vacated by retiring boomers: Think again. As a teacher in search of full-time work, Parkes has crunched the numbers and concluded universities are graduating more teachers than there are jobs. He said he believes that situation isn't likely to change soon, especially with student numbers in decline and the elimination of mandatory retirement in B.C.


December 22, 2007 Ottawa Citizen
Newfoundland wants its exiles to come home; Declining population worries Atlantic provinces
Newfoundland and Labrador is the latest Atlantic Canadian province to plan a national advertising campaign aimed at attracting former residents. The province wants to lure Newfoundlanders who left for work to come back to their home province, says Andrea Nolan, a spokeswoman for Premier Danny Williams.


December 22, 2007 Calgary Herald
Officers walk a fresh beat; Calgary police's overseas recruiting drive reunites two Scottish policemen
Ten years and 6,488 kilometres later, two Scottish police officers who trained together in Glasgow once again found themselves in the same recruit class -- this time, with the Calgary Police Service.


December 24, 2007 National Post
Firm Built On History Of Immigration; 'Dwayne's business was international from Day 1' Series:
The Canadian Youth Business Foundation provides startup financing, mentoring and online business resources to entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 34. Each week, Financial Post features CYBF alumni who discuss the hurdles faced en route to success.


December 24, 2007 Vancouver Sun
Law makes citizenship easier for children adopted abroad
Ottawa- A law making it easier for children adopted abroad to become Canadian citizens went into effect Sunday, Canada's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration announced.


December 31, 2007 The StarPhoenix
Ukrainian immigrants see future in Sask.
For more than 100 years, Ukrainians have been immigrating to Saskatchewan for the same reason -- opportunity. And according to a survey of recent Ukrainian immigrants to the province, they're finding good fortune and bushels of hope.

 

Source: CanWest Interactive. December, 2007.

November 2007

 November 1, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
Tighten up security at the border now
Important aspects of Canada's security system - at the border, for defence contracts, in immigration screenings - are a mess, auditor-general Sheila Fraser says. Flagged suspects and shipments regularly get through unchallenged; military contractors build sensitive bases without security clearance; freight containers are searched on the basis of hunches rather than with the aid of the new detection technology installed by the Canada Border Services Agency, at the cost of $525 million.


November 1, 2007 —Ottawa Citizen
Importing the best brains
Canadians can no longer assume because we offer basic freedoms and high quality of life that Canada will automatically be the most desirable place for the best and brightest to immigrate. We need to end our complacent attitude if we're going to stay strong in the 21st century.


November 7, 2007 —The National Post
Quebec doesn't need reasonable accommodation debate: Harper
Vancouver -- Quebecers could do without the ongoing debate on the integration of immigrants into society, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.


November 8, 2007 —The Province
Foreign students make best immigrants: Study
They're attuned to Canadian life
Ottawa -- Canada should try to attract more foreign students as immigrants of choice because they have a greater chance of getting a foot in the door when it comes to finding jobs, a study released yesterday says.


November 9, 2007 —The Province
850,000 want to come here
Only 265,000 spots -- at most -- all next year
A massive backlog -- more than 850,000 people in all -- is waiting to seek permission to enter Canada. The inventory of immigration applicants keeps ballooning each year. The backlog is now 31/2 times the number Canada takes in each year.


November 11, 2007 —Canwest
Tarnished image from reasonable accommodation hearings?
Montreal -- There have been dire warnings of late that the fuss over reasonable accommodation is giving Quebec a bad name in the rest of the world. Whether the rest of the world much cares is another matter.


November 12, 2007 —National Post
Filipino linemen fill Calgary jobs; Desperate firm 'thinking outside the box'
Ottawa - Joe Marshall had reached the end of his rope. He had travelled far and wide in Canada in search of skilled tradesmen for the Calgary power company he managed, pumped tens of thousands of dollars into advertising, and hired a headhunting firm only to come up empty in his quest to hire the skilled bodies the company desperately needed to build, maintain and operate power lines.


November 14, 2007 —The Vancouver Sun
'It's really brutal'
Man who died after being shot with police Taser was surrendering when hit, witness says
Victoria -- A Victoria man who filmed Robert Dziekanski's dying moments at Vancouver International Airport last month says the Polish immigrant was surrendering himself to police when officers shocked him with a Taser.


November 14, 2007 —The Province
RCMP 'misrepresenting the facts' in Taser death
Vancouver -- The B.C. Civil Liberties Association filed a new complaint against the RCMP Tuesday over their handling of a Tasering death at Vancouver International Airport.


November 14, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
'You'll get the country you deserve'
Laval appears divided at Bouchard-Taylor commission hearings
Wading into its most ethnically diverse city yet, the Bouchard-Taylor commission heard from many Arab Muslim immigrants last night in Laval - and also from people who think they're a big problem.


November 15, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
Bouchard, Taylor to address the media
After 10 weeks criss-crossing Quebec and holding hearings in 15 cities - and before facing protests when they start hearings in Montreal next week - scholars Gérard Bouchard and Charles Taylor will make a declaration to the media this afternoon, summing up their experience on the road so far.


November 15, 2007 —The Province
Fed's red tape costing B.C. millions
Immigration officials should be 'recruiters instead of gatekeepers'
Canadian immigration officials should be 'recruiters instead of gatekeepers' when it comes to filling about 20,000 job openings in the construction sector, an industry insider says


November 15, 2007 —The Vancouver Sun
Police use of Taser at airport was 'inappropriate,' U.S. expert says
The four officers should have been able to physically control the man, professor says
A decision by the police to subdue Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport with a Taser was 'inappropriate' because the four officers present should have been able to physically control him, says an American policing expert.


November 16, 2007 —The Province
Rules broken in deadly Taser incident
Vancouver -- Four Mounties involved in the Taser death of a Polish immigrant appear to have broken the rules of how the weapon should be used.


November 17, 2007 —The Edmonton Journal
Loan program helps immigrants get skills training
Back in Jamaica, Taiesha Stewart-Francis worked as an operating-room nurse with training in general surgery, neurology, gynecology, orthopedics, pediatrics and more.


November 17, 2007 —Regina LeaderPost
Health region recruits in the Philippines
Hundreds of Filipino nurses eagerly applied to work in the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region -- many because of the high wages they can earn here. "Just last week the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region went to the Philippines and had a successful recruitment tour," said Linda West, the region's interim vice-president of Human Resources. "We recruited 90 RNs and we'll probably get about 80 to actually come. They're very high-skilled, they've got excellent English and a wide range of nursing skills."


November 20, 2007 —Canwest
Day promises report on Taser death within days
Ottawa -- A report on the Taser death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski will be released to the public within days, says Public Security Minister Stockwell Day.


November 21, 2007 —Canwest
Criminal charges possible in Polish immigrant's airport death
Ottawa -- Four RCMP officers could face criminal charges in the death of a Polish immigrant who died in Vancouver International Airport after being shot with a Taser last month, says Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.


November 21, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
Accommodation road show rolls into Montreal
Language issue takes centre stage
Loudly picketed by activists demanding jobs for immigrants, the Bouchard-Taylor commission went ahead with its first Montreal open-mike night yesterday in a highly symbolic place.  The site was a new multi-ethnic library in the Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough, where nearly half of all residents are foreign-born and where Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others outnumber Roman Catholics.


November 22, 2007 —The CanWest News Service
Date set for inquest into Vancouver airport death
Vancouver -- A coroner's inquest has been scheduled for May 5-16, 2008, to probe the events that led to a Polish immigrant's death after he was Tasered by police.


November 23, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
Muslims worry about 'tarnished' image
Rein in 'preachers of hate,' commission told
The burgeoning Muslim population in Quebec is organizing itself to avoid 'exaggerated' demands for special treatment and to rein in 'preachers of hate,' the Bouchard-Taylor commission was told yesterday.


November 24, 2007 —The Vancouver Sun
CBSA to release Dziekanski death report Monday
Vancouver -- The Canada Border Services Agency will release its report Monday into the death of a Polish man after he was hit twice with a Taser and restrained by four RCMP officers at the Vancouver International Airport.


November 24, 2007 —Ottawa Citizen
Just desertions; Canada should open its arms to soldiers fleeing the horrors of an illegal American war in Iraq
Now that the Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the cases of the first two American deserters from the Iraq war to come knocking at its door, the last real hope for U.S. soldiers who have moral objections to the war lies in the hands of Canadians and our elected officials.


November 26, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
Moving the church into the future
Cardinal asks Quebecers to forgive
Cardinal Marc Ouellet took Quebec by surprise with his letter asking forgiveness for the past wrongs of religious and lay members of the Catholic Church in the province, including bishops. It is an impressive, bold and courageous statement, and recalls Pope John Paul II's plea for forgiveness in 2000. The cardinal's statement is unprecedented; he was speaking not only as a bishop but also as primate of Canada.


November 26, 2007 —The Edmonton Journal
Website set up to attract immigrants to Alberta
Edmonton -- The Alberta government has launched a new website aimed at attracting immigrants to the province and making their journey here easier.


November 26, 2007 —The Gazette
Plea made for Quebec independence
The Quebec government could get tougher by banning English- and other minority-language schools and by making all companies do business in French, but that would be counterproductive, the mandarin who was once Rene Levesque's former chief of staff told the Bouchard-Taylor commission this morning.


November 27, 2007 —The Vancouver Sun
Border agency admits it failed Dziekanski
The president of the Canada Border Services Agency apologized Monday for not finding troubled Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski sooner after he arrived at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 13.


November 27, 2007 —The Montreal Gazette
We're afraid to say no: teachers
Want rules for health, schools. Officials fear ostracism if requests are turned down
Quebec schools and health-care institutions are afraid of being sued or condemned in the media over religious accommodations they'd rather not make and need government guidelines to help them decide which demands are legitimate and which are not, the Bouchard-Taylor commission heard yesterday


November 27, 2007 —The Gazette
School board wants laws on accommodation
Quebec's largest  school board wants the government to ban prayer spaces in schools - even though it doesn't believe it has a problem with intercultural relations.


November 27, 2007 —The Gazette
We might begin to hear new voices as hearings hit city
So far, old-stock francophones from the regions mainly had their say. The man didn't raise his voice or rant. He spoke calmly as he explained how the accommodations controversy in Quebec is the fault of Jews.


November 28, 2007 —The Gazette
Outremont Jews abuse municipal rules, resident tells commission
Wearing blue turbans, steel wrist bracelets and business suits - and speaking entirely in English - a delegation of orthodox Sikhs made a long-awaited appearance yesterday at the Bouchard-Taylor commission.


November 28, 2007 —The Gazette
Poland opens probe into Taser death
Warsaw -- Justice authorities in Poland said Wednesday they were investigating the death of a Polish immigrant who was zapped by police with a stun gun at a Canadian airport last month.


November 30, 2007 —The Gazette
Court strikes down 'safe third country' pact
U.S. skirts treaties, judge rules. Sending refugees back exposes them to risk
The Federal Court of Canada has struck down an agreement that barred thousands from seeking refugee status in Canada, saying the United States does not meet international refugee protection requirements nor does it respect international conventions against torture.

 

Source: CanWest Interactive. November, 2007.