The kirpan, which is a stylized representation of a sword, will be allowed in public areas of Toronto courthouses subject to certain conditions.

The kirpan, the Sikh ceremonial dagger

Sikhs’ ceremonial daggers now allowed in Toronto courthouses

Published On Wed, 16 May 2012

Curtis Rush
Police Reporter

Toronto has become the first city in Canada to develop a formal policy allowing Sikhs to bring their ceremonial daggers into its courthouses.

The kirpan, which is a stylized representation of a sword, will be allowed in public areas of Toronto courthouses subject to certain conditions.

For instance, the court officer must be informed the person is a Khalsa Sikh, which is an initiated Sikh, and that they are carrying a kirpan.

Azkar Khan says many members of the Pakistani community in Regina are upset over changes to a Saskatchewan immigration program. (CBC

New immigration rules slammed
CBC News Posted: May 12, 2012 2:52 PM CST Last Updated: May 12, 2012 3:00 PM CST
Azkar Khan says many members of the Pakistani community in Regina are upset over changes to a Saskatchewan immigration program. (CBC)

Anger and frustration were evident at a meeting Friday night in Regina where members of the local Pakistani community voiced their unhappiness with changes to a Saskatchewan immigration program.

The province announced changes to the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program on May 2.

Among other things, the changes put a limit on how many additional family members may apply to immigrate until the original family has settled.

The people at the Regina meeting said the changes came without warning, catching some families who had already been making plans off guard.

Azkar Khan, who recently moved to Regina, said people at the meeting shared concerns that the changes, announced just over a week ago, will create unfairness.

“If I submit my two applications on 30th of April and my friend who is also eligible has those applications ready, but somehow couldn’t make it to the office, now the rules are changes for him,” Khan said.

(…)
“This is about the community and I can see other people are upset,” Khan added. “They’re crying. Because they made this move. It’s not easy to relocate in Canada.”

A rally was being organized for Monday to protest the changes.
With files from CBC’s Dani Mario

Global protests denounce Ottawa’s plan to wipe out immigration backlog

Nicholas Keung

Chadigarh, India

Waving placards denouncing Ottawa’s plan to eliminate a lengthy immigration backlog, protesters in four foreign cities urged Canada not to repeat its discriminatory immigration past.

In Hong Kong, organizers said about 80 affected immigration applicants — many travelling from inner Mainland China — staged a demonstration against the federal government’s plan to return the applications of 280,000 people in the queue.

Similar protests were held Monday in Leeds, England, and Karachi, Pakistan. In India’s Chandigarh, 200 people attended a rally and candle-light vigil, according to the Canadian Backloggers Pre-2008 Association.

“The Chinese Exclusion Act in 1923 is being repeated,” protester Yiming Jiang told the Star in a telephone interview Monday, referring to Canada’s legislated ban on Chinese migrants. “We are pleading the Canadian government not cancel our applicants and reward queue-jumpers.”

The protesters in Hong Kong — some travelled with young children from Dalian and Changchun — carried signs that read “Give Us 76 Months Back” and “We Want Justice, Not Refund.” They also handed a petition letter to Canadian consulate official, Angela Gawel.

Although the federal government has said affected applicants can reapply under the new skilled immigration program introduced in 2008, many in the backlog like Jiang will not qualify because only those with skills and experience in one of 29 professions are eligible.

News Services

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says he supports extending biometric ID requirements to permanent residents and would consider amending his current omnibus immigration bill to make it happen.

“I think in principle, we should be doing everything we reasonably can to identify visitors or immigrants and ensure they don’t represent a threat to Canada’s safety, so biometrics is the best technical tool at our disposal and I think in principle, that it should be applied to not just temporary but also permanent residents,” Kenney said Thursday after testifying before a Commons committee reviewing Bill C-31, the Protecting Canada’s Immigration Act.

After hinting at it during the meeting, he confirmed the government was “considering” amending the bill to ensure it covers permanent residents.

“This is not a Christian country or a Christian city. It is a secular multicultural country and secular multicultural city with people from numerous religions as well as spiritual people, agnostics and atheists,” Solo said.

Atheist Ashu Solo threatens human rights complaint after Saskatoon councillor’s dinner blessing

Betty Ann Adam, Postmedia NewsApr 21, 2012 – 5:02 PM ET | Last Updated: Apr 23, 2012 10:06 AM ET

Richard Marjan/Postmedia News

“It made me feel like a second-class citizen. It makes you feel excluded,” atheist Ashu Solo complained after a Saskatoon city councillor said grace at a volunteer appreciation dinner.

SASKATOON — A Christian prayer by a city councillor at a City of Saskatoon volunteer appreciation dinner discriminated against non-Christians, says a volunteer who intends to complain to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

Ashu Solo, a member of the city’s cultural diversity and race relations committee, was among the guests at the dinner Wednesday, where Coun. Randy Donauer said a blessing over the food in which he mentioned Jesus and ended with “amen.”

“It made me feel like a second-class citizen. It makes you feel excluded,” said Solo, who is an atheist.

“It’s ironic that I’ve now become a victim of religious bigotry and discrimination at this banquet that was supposed to be an appreciation banquet for the service of volunteers like me.”

Immigrants prioritized over ‘white’ Canadians for public housing, human-rights complaint says

Gary Dimmock, Postmedia News

OTTAWA — An Ottawa man who was living in a shelter with his wife and two children took the City of Ottawa to a human-rights tribunal last month, alleging that immigrants are given priority over “white Canadians” for public housing.

Kirk Munroe and his family lived at the Carling Family Shelter for months last year while waiting for a public housing unit to call their own. Munroe grew frustrated with the wait after immigrant families at the shelter were offered public housing in only a “matter of weeks.”

In his application to Ontario’s human-rights tribunal, Munroe quoted an Ottawa public housing manager as saying “whites have less chance of getting a home and they have to stay in shelters longer than immigrants new to Canada.”

The tribunal heard that the quick turnaround time for immigrants was in “distinct contrast to the experience of white Canadian families” at the shelter, including his own, who had to wait months for housing.

A lawyer for the public housing agency denied it gives priority to immigrants, and a lawyer for the City of Ottawa told the hearing that the immigrants in question may have been victims of domestic violence, which, he said, would account for why they were offered social housing so quickly. The tribunal also heard that the public housing manager denied saying that immigrants have a better shot at getting public housing.