Government of Canada to Introduce New Measures to Simplify the Passport Process

GATINEAU, QC, June 8 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Atlantic Opportunities Agency, announced today new measures to simplify the passport issuance system, improve satisfaction among Canadians, and allow Passport Canada to cope with increased demand.

"Canada's New Government has been working to improve Canada's passport services and make the system more convenient for Canadians," said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs. "Over the summer and fall, we will begin implementing a series of initiatives to simplify and improve the passport application and issuing process while ensuring the security and integrity of the Canadian passport."

The new measures include;
- A Simplified Passport Renewal Program allowing Canadians who currently hold a valid passport, and who meet eligibility criteria, to be able to renew it without submitting proof of citizenship or a guarantor declaration.
- A Simplified Guarantor Policy which will allow most Canadian adult passport holders to act as guarantors for first-time applicants. - A Series of Passport Clinics across the country with a special focus on border areas and areas far from large urban centres. Passport officers will be on site to answer questions from the public about applying for a passport, review passport applications to ensure they are complete, and will accept completed passport applications for processing.

Ontario-India Agreement Helps Students Study Abroad (Including Goa !)
http://www.yorku.ca/mediar/archive/Release.asp
Article sent courtesy of Antoinette.Messner@ontario.ca

TORONTO, May 30, 2007 -- York University is playing a lead role in a new international exchange program between Ontario and two states in India - Maharashtra and Goa – which will allow 50 students to participate thanks to funding from the Ontario government.
"York University is proud of to see the Ontario-Maharashtra-Goa Student Exchange Agreement come to fruition," said Sheila Embleton, vice-president academic for York University. "This partnership is another example of the many important advances that have taken place in the internationalization of Ontario's postsecondary education in the past couple of years. We appreciate the direct support and involvement of the Ontario government in making this type of program a reality."

At an event celebrating international education at York University, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Chris Bentley announced $600,000 over three years to support the new program. The agreement was signed between York University, on behalf of several Ontario institutions, and the University of Pune in India during the Premier's Ontario Business Mission to India in January. Since then, the Ontario-Maharashtra-Goa Student Exchange Agreement has expanded to include 15 Ontario universities and up to 10 Indian institutions.

"Our government supports students who want to expand their experiences by studying abroad," said Bentley. "The connections made from Premier McGuinty's Ontario Business Mission to India have continued to grow since January, resulting in new agreements between postsecondary institutions in Ontario and India. Fostering cross-cultural learning and the exchange of knowledge is central to Ontario's economic future."

Ontario government support for the exchange agreement will help with some of the travel costs of students from Ontario and India to ensure they can take advantage of the exchange. The exchange opportunities will be available to students as early as January 2008.

Even Non-White Men And Women Born Here Are Paid Less Than White Canadians, Study Finds
June 02, 2007
From : http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/220597
Toronto Star Petti Fong Western Canada Bureau Chief

VANCOUVER - If you're a Canadian-born and educated member of a visible minority and you want to be paid the same as your non-visible minority co-worker, head west.
A new study conducted by researchers at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby and the University of Ottawa has found that despite being born and educated in Canada, members of visible minorities still earn less than white Canadians.
In Canada's largest cities, the wage disparities were highest in Montreal and Halifax. Visible minority men in Halifax earned 24 per cent less than white Canadians and in Montreal, they earned 21 per cent less. For women in Toronto, visible minorities earned 12 per cent less and men 17 per cent less than their white counterparts.
Sociologist Ravi Pendakur says regional differences may have to do with the composition of different ethnic groups. Ottawa was the exception, but that may have to do with the federal government being such a large employer in the region.
The disparities shrink in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Vancouver does better than other cities when it comes to paying its visible minorities. In fact, visible minority women in Vancouver are paid 10 per cent more than non-visible minorities. Men, however, still do worse.
Pendakur says one reason Toronto fares worse in its wage disparities is that the former Harris Conservative government got rid of the province's Employment Equity Act.
"None of the reasons why there should be disparities is reasonable if you're talking about people born here. They're educated here. All their contacts are here," he says.
"The possibilities are that Toronto and Montreal are just meaner but I would be reluctant to attribute that as the only reason."
What is clear from the results is that certain ethnic groups face tougher challenges than others. Blacks clearly face a gap, with black women earning about 12 per cent less than their white counterparts and men earning about 16 per cent less. Chinese women, on the other hand, earn substantially more than white women while men earn about the same. South Asian-origin women also faced earnings disparity, but not as severe as those for women from Caribbean and/or black ethnic backgrounds, while South Asian men had similar wage disparities as those surveyed for Caribbean and black-origin men.
The disparity has actually grown worse over the last two decades, says Krishna Pendakur, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University who co-authored the study with his brother from the University of Ottawa.
"There's been an increase in overall economic inequality and the differences between the haves and have-nots have grown. Basically this is not encouraging," he says. "The whys and reasons for it are really tough to answer.

CANADA LAUNCHES NO-FLY LIST
From:TheStar.com - News –
Tonda Maccharles- Ottawa Bureau
http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/213185

OTTAWA - A Canadian "no-fly" list of people to be barred from boarding domestic and international airline flights is set to take effect June 18, just as the busy summer flying season gets underway.
The move, nearly six years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, amounts to a flight blacklist of people "reasonably suspected" by federal officials as immediate threats to the safety of commercial aircraft, passengers or crew.
Under the rules, as passengers check in for flights, whether at kiosks or counters, their names will be automatically screened against the government's list, known as the "Passenger Protect" program.
The no-fly list will be drawn up by Transport Canada, with input from the RCMP and CSIS.
If a name is red-flagged as a possible match with a name on the no-fly list, the traveller will be directed to a flight agent, who will contact Transport Canada for a decision on whether to allow boarding. Airlines are responsible for protecting the passenger's confidentiality.
People denied access to a flight will be able to challenge their inclusion on the list, but in the short haul, they will be grounded. And the airport or local police will be notified.
Critics say the plan will not make air travel safer, and will likely lead to the kinds of "false positive" identification of people that has plagued a similar list in the United States. The most celebrated example involved Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who was barred from boarding a flight when he was wrongly identified as being on the list. Infants have also been banned.
As well, critics worry that it will prove almost impossible for those wrongly included to have their names removed from the list.
The federal government says it will provide a "non-judicial and efficient" mechanism for individuals to appeal their listing through a Transport Canada "Office of Reconsideration."
That office "may" submit the file for review by an independent external adviser, who was not part of the initial identification of the name for the list. The adviser would be expected to make a recommendation to the minister on whether the person stays on the list within 30 working days.
And if the person still contests the decision, they "have the option of pursuing other legal avenues ... such as the Federal Court," say the documents. That presumably means first seeking the court's leave to apply for judicial review.
Details will be outlined in government regulations to be published next week, but Conservative Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day unveiled parts of the package via news release yesterday.
The new rules will apply to all passengers "who appear to be 12 years of age or older." The government says that is consistent with the definition of a child under Canadian law (Criminal Code and the Youth Criminal Justice Act).
Overseas travel already requires a passport. For domestic travel, passengers will require one piece of valid government-issued photo ID that shows name, date of birth and gender, such as a driver's licence or a passport; or two pieces of valid government-issued non-photo ID, at least one of which shows name, date of birth and gender, such as a birth certificate.

See Notice in Announcements section
See Air Travel Tips in Announcements section

BRINGING SKILLED IMMIGRANTS TO ONTARIO:
ABOUT ONTARIO’S PILOT PROVINCIAL NOMINEE PROGRAM
http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/english/PNPabout.asp

Ontario recognizes that employers play a critical role in our economic success. For many employers, newcomers to Ontario are a valuable source of skilled workers and professionals. Multinational firms establishing or expanding their businesses in Ontario may also want to bring key executives, managers or employees to work in their Ontario operations.
In most cases, to work legally in Canada, individuals who are not Canadian citizens must either be permanent residents of Canada, or have a work permit. Permanent resident visas and work permits are issued by the federal government of Canada.
To help employers and multinational investors succeed, the government of Ontario has established the Ontario Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (Pilot PNP).

 This program allows employers to:
• Apply for the approval of permanent, full-time positions to be filled by newcomers
• Recruit individuals, who are newcomers to Ontario, to fill those positions.
About the Pilot PNP
The Ontario Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (Pilot PNP) is Ontario’s first-ever nomination program. The Pilot PNP is designed to contribute to job creation, job retention and economic development by attracting new investment, and by helping employers in targeted sectors to attract and retain qualified employees for jobs for which there are currently labour shortages. The Pilot PNP also supports government priorities by facilitating the immigration of professionals in the health care and education sectors.
Immigration is a cornerstone of Ontario’s economic prosperity and social fabric. More than half of all newcomers to Canada have chosen to settle in our province each year since 1987. Newcomers bring valuable skills and knowledge to Ontario’s labour market, energizing the province’s economy and making Ontario a destination of choice around the world. Historically, individuals could immigrate to Ontario only through the federal immigration system. The Pilot PNP will, for the first time, allow Ontario to have a role in the selection of its own newcomers.
Individuals who meet all Pilot PNP requirements may be nominated by the province for permanent residence as Provincial Nominees. Nominated individuals must then apply to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). CIC then does all required processing (including medical and background admissibility checks) in order to issue work permits and/or grant permanent residence to applicants.

See Occuptations list at: http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/english/PNPOccupations.asp

Violence flares after Kenya's Mungiki gang kill police
05 Jun 2007 11:25:07 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Wangui Kanina

NAIROBI, June 5 (Reuters) - Kenyan police cordoned off a Nairobi slum on Tuesday to hunt suspected members of Kenya's Mungiki gang who gunned down two officers.
Police with dogs and assault rifles stormed Nairobi's Mathare slum, a stronghold of the outlawed gang behind a series of killings and beheadings of ordinary citizens, and increasingly government officials.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the Mathare operation, which began on Monday night, had captured seven prime suspects, but he declined to comment on local media reports saying as many as 22 people were killed in the sweep.
"We are purging the place," Kiraithe said. "There are some people who have resisted the police cordon and search operation. ... I cannot confirm any casualties. We do not comment on ongoing operations."
The death toll could not be immediately verified. One Mathare resident, who declined to be identified, said some people had died.
"I hear four people have been killed," he said. "There was a lot of mayhem last night. Young men were rounded up and beaten senseless by policemen. Many are limping today."
Gunmen ambushed the two officers in Mathare late on Monday, after dropping leaflets warning that any attempting to guard bus stations would be killed.
Internal Security Minister John Michuki ordered police to man the stations around the clock to stop Mungiki from extorting and threatening operators and passengers of Kenya's ubiquitous matatus, the local name for minibuses.
Mungiki makes most of its money from extorting matatu operators -- a lucrative racket since the the government says the buses nationwide earn more than 90 million Kenya shillings ($1.35 million) per day.

POLITICAL TIES

The Mungiki, which means "multitude" in the Kikuyu tribal language, emerged in the 1990s as a quasi-religious sect.
It touted itself as having inherited the mantle of the Mau Mau rebels, also a largely Kikuyu group that fought the British colonial government before independence in 1963.
But Mungiki later turned to violence and extortion, and it has links to wealthy families and politicians -- many of whom in Kenya's past have not shied from hiring muscle to ensure elections go their way.
That has raised fears they plan to play a violent role in Kenya's upcoming general elections in December.

Gang a Threat to Investors, Say Kenyans Abroad

East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS4 June 2007
Posted to the web 4 June 2007

By Chris Wamalwa in Delaware, US- Nairobi
Kenyans in the Diaspora are worried that the killings attributed to Mungiki sect would undermine the recent political and economic gains.

In a statement released in Washington, DC, the Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA) president, Ms Mkawasi Mcharo, said insecurity reduces the confidence of local and foreign investors. "When a country's security appears compromised, and a series of reckless killings by organised criminal gangs continue to rise unabated as we are experiencing in Kenya, it undermines the country's standing on human rights and in the global market," she said.

KCA said "petty warlords" should not be allowed to undermine the country's progress. Mcharo said Kenya is expected to be an example of democratisation of politics in Africa.

"The vicious circle of violence and greed that tends to erupt intermittently is a badge of shame that Kenya must not carry. The election year should be marked by peace and democracy worth emulating across the continent. Kenyans abroad will not stand by and see one more innocent mwananchi (citizens) killed," the statement said in part.

The community called upon the Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, and the Commissioner of Police, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, to contain the violence.

Noting that the recent summoning and interrogation of politicians was the way to go, KCA, however, called for tougher measures to contain other dangerous gangs that are likely to take advantage of the Mungiki mayhem to cause more violence.

"We also call upon local leaders, especially MPs, to be the first to rise up in condemnation of violence on the people they represent. Silence is construed as compliance," Mcharo said.

Wondering why the Government was behaving as if it is not in control, KCA said criminals and their sponsors must be brought to book.

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