Update - CBC news video links

One thing about the Internet is - it's always changing. In many cases, where you once could find information, it's missing - 404 - file not found. This happens for a lot of reasons: web designers change the organization of a site, content is past its shelf life, resources get moved and no one bothers to update the links, technology changes.

This is the case recently with the CBC and its online news video content. A while back, I posted links to all the daily news feeds of "News at Six" for the different Provinces. Well, that info is now outdated, because CBC has redesigned its video player. The good news is, all the media is in one place now. So update your links to the following - http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada and you can once again learn about the latest going on in the part of Canada that is of interest to you.

Much ado about fraudulent marriages

The Star online featured a report today built to play into the hands of anti-immigration extremists, reporting the...alarming fact that the CIC receives about 1,000 complaints a year of spouses/partners who come to Canada and immediately abandon their sponsors.

Of course, this is devastating to the sponsor emotionally, and can be a big problem financially, as the sponsor is on the hook for any government service fees the runaway partner racks up (like unemployment) for a three year period.

The story features takes from a number of jilted Canadians and it really is sad to read how their hearts were broken by those they loved and trusted.

However...let's add a little context here if I may. There are around 45,000 family class permanent resident visas issued each year to spouses/partners. The 1,000 alleged cases of abandonment only represent 2% of that number. Of the entire annual number of immigrants, it only represents around 4/10 of 1%.

It's hard to categorize those numbers as some epidemic of immigration abuse.

But it plays well with Conservatives.

Read the entire article here

Kenney sneaks in changes to Federal Skilled Worker program

While Canada was distracted with the recent G8 and G20 meetings in Toronto, Jason Kenney, Harper's Immigration Minister, held a barely noticed press conference where he announced Tory changes to the Federal Skilled Worker program. What has changed? Here's a summary

• Instead of 38 approved professions, now there are only 29
• In any category, only 1000 applicants will be accepted per year
• There is an overall cap of 20,000 applications per year (do the math and see that that means 9000 additional positions will not be created)
• Applicants must now submit the results of a language test, either English or French - even if they come from an English or French-speaking country

So, what's really going on here? Well, let's call it trimming the Federal budget for one thing. Kenney has consistently advocated ways to reduce the immigration rolls at a cost to potential immigrants. Fewer opportunities and added fees are always great ways to negatively influence behaviour. What else is happening? Just another example of Canada's pro-immigration policies being overseen by anti-immigration bureaucrats.

Something else to really note here: The hidden story in this release is the news on Investor Class applicants. The Harper government is proposing that these applicants now need to have a net worth of $1.6M and be willing to drop $800K into the Canadian economy (double the old requirements in both cases).

I don't get it: if someone is willing (under the current program) to come and drop $400K into Canada to start new businesses or invest...the plan is to tell them "no?" That this class has any limitations in the number of applicants at all is crazy. Economies are built on investors willing to take a chance.

You have to wonder what it will take to get the opposition's attention in Canada. Harper seems to pretty much do as he wants.

Get your E-read on

The Kindle and e-reader devices open up a world of Canadian literature

A few months ago I picked up a Kindle and have gradually been making the transition to e-books. One of the great things about having it is that I now have access to a number of free book collections, including Amazon Popular Classics, Archive.org Openlibrary and Project Gutenberg.

All of these sites have loads of Canadian content. Especially if you are a history buff. A quick search with the keyword "Canadian" in Openlibrary returned over 1,500 titles.

If you have an e-reader, do yourself a favour and take advantage of a great opportunity to learn a lot about Canada.

Happy Canada Day

From Wikipedia:

Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada), formerly Dominion Day (French: Le Jour de la Confédération), is Canada's national day, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as internationally.

I'll be in the Southwest U.S. What are your plans for the holiday?

The road so far

For those of you who follow this blog, you may be wondering where my personal immigration story stands at this point. It's been a long road for sure for my love and I. We applied at the end of 2007 for this latest round attempting to gain my permanent residence in the family class. We are conjugal partners. This was our first hurdle: that CIC would agree we were a legitimate applicant under this classification. It's been a big one. So, after a couple years in the black hole, we finally got an interview this spring in Buffalo - which we think went well. I took 35 pounds of materials proving every aspect of our relationship to be legitimate: pictures, phone records, travel receipts, photos galore, wills, you name it. Now we are back waiting with no end in sight for a decision on our application. We've done everything we can. We think we are close, but it is a journey with nothing but twists and turns: we still can't see the end of the road.

But we believe we will be together. Soon? Who knows. But we believe - we believe.

Filipinos now top Canada immigrants

The Vancouver Sun has a week-long feature on Filipino immigrants in Canada. According to the articles, Filipino immigrants have surpassed the Chinese and Indians in terms of immigration.

Read the series here

Toronto lags in immigrant employment opportunity

In a report generated by the Toronto Board of Trade, a Stats Canada study is summarized noting the following facts about the employment prospects for new immigrants:

• The average hourly wage of an immigrant with the same or better qualifications than their Canadian counterpart is 10% lower.
• As of 2008, immigrants aged 25-54 with college degrees earned 20% less than their Canadian-born counterparts (even though on average they were both younger and more educated)
• Research showed that 40% of new immigrants to Canada are forced to make a downward step in their career paths
• Less than half of internationally trained immigrants were working in their field.
• Three times as many individuals (37%) we unemployed or under-employed than those trained in Canada (11%)
• Relative incomes for newcomers are falling
• Chronic low income occurs at a rate 250% higher than in Canadian-born populations

These are sober figures for anyone seeking to immigrate to Canada to pursue a professional career.

Read the full report: "Lifting All Boats: Promoting Social Cohesion and Economic Inclusion in the Toronto Region" here

A few Toronto videos

I got to missing the city today and thought I'd post a few YouTube views of Toronto for you to enjoy.



This is the Gardnier Expressway, heading eastbound into the city (this is the exit I take going home too...)



Biking King and Younge Streets




And finally, some dowtown sights...

Federal reforms to refugee law up in the air

Norma Greenaway, in a Canwest News Service article published on Thursday, June 03, 2010 reports:

"The federal government's push to speed passage of major refugee reform legislation has bumped up against an unexpected wall of Liberal opposition.

"Three days after Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced he had reached a deal with the Liberal party's immigration critic to get the bill through committee, a mini revolt within the Liberal caucus has left the legislation's future in doubt."

Read the article here.