Michael Ignatieff Delivers Greetings for Eid

Michael Ignatieff delivers greetings for Eid on behalf of the Liberal Party and the Official Opposition.



Info courtesy: Abdul Hai Patel

A tale of two countries' libraries - Canada vs USA

In recession-wracked U.S. cities they are being targeted for closure. Not so here

Sep 20, 2009 Toronto Star

Lynda Hurst
Feature Writer

EXTRACT: "What Canadians won't be seeing in the years ahead is outsourcing, which is happening in several U.S. states, most famously in Jackson County, Ore.

In 2007, it re-opened the doors to 15 public libraries after a lack of funds had forced them shut, the largest library closure in U.S. history. In the interim, the county outsourced them to a company called Library Systems & Services which now privately manages more than 50 across the U.S.

The American Library Association opposes creeping privatization, calling libraries "not a simple commodity but an essential public good that should be directly accountable to the public they serve."

"That trend," says a thankful Pyper, "is invisible up here." One thing librarians know for sure: The future is going to be expensive, but ensuring that people are literate – in all forms and formats – will pay big dividends, economic and otherwise, down the line."

Driver wouldn't give him the time of day - in English

• Police called, riders kicked off bus when immigrant passenger persists, By JASON MAGDER, THE GAZETTE September 5, 2009
  

• Bus driver made us a laughing stock

• Montreal bus driver celebrates 40 years of official bilingualism by throwing English-speaking passenger off her bus, By debaron@illinois.edu @ The Web of Language

• Montreal bus driver refuses to speak English, calls police

Info courtesy: yesat100@yahoo.com

Healthcare debate in Canada: Media monitoring

• David Frum: Why Americans love their health care system
  August 20, 2009, by National Post Editor, 14 Comments
• Extract: A child has a fall from a slide. There's blood in his urine. The parents race him to the emergency room. Two hours later, the boy's having a CAT scan. (An American is twice as likely to use a CT machine in any given year as a Canadian, four times as likely as a Briton, and seven times as likely as a Dane.) A car driven by an illegal immigrant smashes into a tree. The driver and his family are horribly injured. They are raced to the nearest emergency room and treated, no questions asked, no bill presented.
• Why I'd rather be sick here than in U.S. Bob Hepburn Toronto Star: Aug 20, 2009; Comments on this story (38)
• Extract: Why is our system superior?
  First, it's universal. Second, I visited doctors twice in the last week and never had to haul out my credit card or chequebook before I could see them. Third, the quality of care I got in the last week was unparalleled. Fourth, many of our medical outcomes top those in the U.S....

See also:

Video: Can we please admit that the Europeans can teach us something about health care? August 20, Political Buzz Examiner Ryan Witt

Dignity of labor (Oops: Labour): Australian PM once worked as toilet cleaner

"Recalling his worst job experience, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he cleaned toilets and scrubbed floors on his way to country's top political job." source

"I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living." Rockefeller, John D.

see also: K Rudd's cruddy job - cleaning loos

Happy to be here in Canada

By ABUBAKAR KASIM, GUEST COLUMNIST, Toronto Sun

Extract: "I made the right decision to make Canada my home.
Despite its unstable winter season and shortened sunny summer period, in spite of the challenges in trying to adjust to the new environment, and regardless of the imperfectness of its justice system, I still firmly believe I have come to the right place and at the right time. " continue reading

Library Services for Newcomers to Canada: Embracing Cultural Diversity

by Kendra Bender (MLIS student, School of Library &
Information Studies, University of Alberta, CANADA), Information for Social Change Issue 26: Winter 2007- 2008.
Excerpt from the Canadian Library Association 2007 Students Article Contest
Press Release states: "The second runner-up is Kendra Bender for "Library Services for Newcomers to Canada: Embracing Cultural Diversity". Kendra is a student in the MLIS program at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. Comments on this entry were that it incorporates both personal experience and a professional research approach, it was well-written, timely and focuses on Canada. Kendra will also receive a cash prize courtesy of the Wosk Family and a choice of CLA publications." Read full press release.
Extract:
"...To help public libraries improve collections and services for Russian immigrants in Toronto, Dali (2004) conducted a study of the reading habits of this population. Unfortunately, the majority of respondents sampled in her survey were not satisfied with the collection of Russian-language books in their public libraries. However, the public library was characterized as a “place to spend time”, where English language materials about the history and customs of their new country could be accessed for free.[23] Accessing materials for free was a theme that reoccurred in Dali’s research. Improved income did not seem to reduce the respondents’ inclination to use the public library for acquiring desired Russian-language titles (if available), precisely because they were offered at no cost." continue reading
See also on the same shelf:

• Diversity Resources - Accommodation, Tolerance and Coexistence
• Religious Education of the Young - Multifaith Resource Series no.1
• Save the Time of the Godly: Information Mediators Role in Promoting Spiritual & Religious Accommodation

•  The Countries You May Like to Go with your American / Canadian MLIS - A literature survey
• Factors in success or failure of foreign-trained librarians in Canada

Discrimination common in Toronto rental market: study

Watch the Video

Extract:

July 7, 2009 Comments64Recommend26
CBC News
"Volunteers posing as prospective tenants found discriminatory approaches by landlords in about a quarter of the cases, the study says. (CBC)
A new study into rental housing says race, gender and marital status are all factors when it comes to finding accommodation in Canada's largest city.
According to Toronto's Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, about a quarter of black, South Asian, single parents and households on social assistance face discrimination in the city's rental market.
John Fraser, director of CERA, said in an interview with CBC that "if you're a single mother with a Caribbean accent, or someone with a South Asian accent … or someone receiving social assistance, you basically have a one in four chance of facing discrimination when you first inquire about renting an apartment." continue reading

Wanted: Plumbers. Must not be foreign

Red tape bars immigrants who could end skills shortage
Apr 29, 2009, Toronto Star
Comments on this story (46) Nicholas Keung IMMIGRATION REPORTER

Getting foreign credentials and work experience certified in Canada isn't just a headache for brain-surgeon cabbies. A new study says immigrants in skilled trades, such as electricians and plumbers, also hit a brick wall when it comes to getting licensed and accessing jobs.
The findings are alarming, says the Citizenship and Immigration Canada-funded report to be released today, because more than half of Ontario's skilled tradespeople will retire in the next five years and four of every 10 businesses that depend on skilled trades are expected to face labour shortages. continue reading