Economic Growth and Prosperity the Focus of Immigration Changes
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-04-20.asp

Montreal, April 20, 2012 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney spoke at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations and outlined how a transformed immigration system would benefit the Canadian economy.

In his speech the Minister outlined a series of changes planned for the immigration system to make it faster, more flexible and focused on jobs to promote national economic growth and prosperity that can benefit all regions of Canada.

Proposed changes to the economic immigration system include eliminating the backlog of old Federal Skilled Worker applications, modernizing how selection is done under that program to better reflect the importance of younger immigrants with Canadian work experience and better language skills, creating a new Federal Skilled Trades program, and modifying the Canadian Experience Class to better facilitate the transition to permanent residence by successful skilled temporary workers.

Under the proposed change, prospective citizens would be required to provide objective evidence of their language ability with their citizenship applications. Applicants would be able to demonstrate language ability by submitting a variety of evidence, including the results of approved third party tests, evidence of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English or French, or evidence of achieving the appropriate language level in certain government funded language training programs.

“The proposed change would encourage citizenship applicants to ensure that they can speak English or French when they apply,” Minister Kenney said. “Language is an important component of the successful integration of immigrants and new citizens.”

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Indian immigrants' 3rd child more likely to be a boy
By Annie Burns-Pieper, CBC News | Posted: Apr 16, 2012
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/04/13/third-child-male-india-mothers.html

Ratio of 136 boys to 100 girls raises issue of selective abortion

New research confirms that significantly more boys than girls are born as third children to women from India raising families in Ontario. The research was inspired by a controversial editorial published earlier this year about the prevalence of sex-selective abortions.

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U.S. women religious group 'stunned' by Vatican's latest move
http://ncronline.org/print/news/women-religious/lcwr-stunned-vaticans-latest-move
Apr. 19, 2012 | By Joshua J. McElwee

The largest leadership organization for U.S. women religious says it was "stunned" by the announcement Wednesday that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had ordered it to reform its statutes and had appointed an archbishop to oversee its revision.

"The presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned by the conclusions of the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," the group said in a news release Thursday morning.

"Because the leadership of LCWR has the custom of meeting annually with the staff of CDF in Rome and because the conference follows canonically-approved statutes, we were taken by surprise."

On Wednesday, the Vatican announced it had appointed Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain to oversee LCWR, which has been the subject of a doctrinal assessment by the Vatican congregation since 2009.

The group sent an email Thursday to the heads of each of the congregations it represents, explaining how the group became aware of the news.

That email, obtained by NCR, says LCWR leadership was in Rome to meet Wednesday with members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the doctrinal assessment. When the leaders came to the meeting, the congregation had already communicated with the U.S. bishops' conference news of Sartain's appointment, the email states.

Additionally, the email says LCWR membership was told during the meeting that news of the appointment would only be shared Wednesday at the bishops' conference internally and not with the general public in order to give the group time to communicate with its leaders.

"When we met with Cardinal (William) Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on April 18, where we received the assessment results, CDF's communication had already been sent to the USCCB for release at noon," the email states.

"We understood that the documents would be put on USCCB's members-only web page," it continues. "Consequently, we had hoped to communicate the conclusions with you ourselves. That was not possible."

First announcement of Sartain's appointment came in a Wednesday press release from the U.S. bishops' conference, which was accompanied by an eight-page document of the doctrinal congregation and a one-page statement from Levada.

According to the document from the congregation, Sartain is to be given authority over the group in five areas, including:

• Revising LCWR statutes;

• Reviewing LCWR plans and programs;

• Creating new programs for the organization;

• Reviewing and offering guidance on the application of liturgical texts; and

• Reviewing LCWR's affiliations with other organizations, citing specifically NETWORK and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes.

According to the letter, Sartain's mandate runs for "up to five years, as deemed necessary." Sartain is also expected to set up an advisory team that includes clergy and women religious to "work collaboratively" with LCWR officers and to "report on the progress of this work to the Holy See."

"In this way, the Holy See hopes to offer an important contribution to the future of religious life in the Church in the United States," the letter states.

In an email to NCR on Thursday, Annmarie Sanders, LCWR's associate director for communications, said the group's officers have "decided not to do any interviews until they have had time to do a much wider consultation with our board and our members."

"We do not want to proceed with this until we have given this whole matter careful thought and prayer, and know the mind of our members," wrote Sanders, who also serves on NCR's board of directors.

According to the U.S. bishops' release, Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, and Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., will work with Sartain.

The Vatican congregation's doctrinal assessment of LCWR started shortly after the Vatican's Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life announced a separate apostolic visitation of U.S. women religious orders. The results of that study were submitted to Rome in January.

In his letter Wednesday, Levada writes that Sartain's appointment is "aimed at fostering a patient and collaborative renewal of this conference of major superiors in order to provide a stronger doctrinal foundation for its many laudable initiatives and activities."

The document from the congregation re-emphasizes the reason for the doctrinal assessment, writing that Levada told LCWR leadership in 2008 that the congregation had three major areas of concern with the group:

• The content of speakers' addresses at the annual LCWR assemblies;

• "Corporate dissent" in the congregation regarding the church's sexual teachings; and

• "A prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" present in some of the organizations programs and presentations.

[Joshua J. McElwee is an NCR staff writer.]

For the full copy of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's letter, click here
For the full copy of Levada's letter, click here.

Previous reporting from NCR on the Vatican's investigation of LCWR:

• Vatican investigates U.S. women religious leadership, April, 2009

• Women religious meet Vatican accusers in Rome, April, 2009

• LCWR seeks full disclosure of Vatican visitation, August, 2009

• LCWR leaders meet with Midwest bishops, May, 2010

• Vatican officials, US women religious meet, July, 2010

• Vatican orders LCWR to revise, appoints archbishop to oversee group

Vatican orders drastic reforms of Women’s Religious
April 20, 2012 by admin | Filed under Church, newsletter-world, USA, World

USA, April 19, 2012: The Vatican has called for reform amid a doctrinal “crisis” within the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), appointing Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle to lead renewal efforts.

The appointment was made as the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith revealed the findings of its multi-year doctrinal assessment of the women’s conference, which has more than 1,500 members throughout the country.

The assessment document explained, “It is clear that greater emphasis needs to be placed both on the relationship of the LCWR with the Conference of Bishops, and on the need to provide a sound doctrinal foundation in the faith of the Church.”

The assessment, initiated in 2008 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was carried out by Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, a member of the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee. Among the key findings were serious theological and doctrinal errors in presentations at the conference’s annual assemblies in recent years.

Several of the addresses depicted a vision of religious life that is incompatible with the faith of the Church, the assessment found. Some attempted to justify dissent from Church doctrine and showed “scant regard for the role of the magisterium.”

The document cited one address about religious sisters “moving beyond the Church” and even beyond Jesus. Such positions — which constitute “a rejection of faith” and “serious source of scandal” — often go unchallenged by the LCWR, it said.

- ncregister.com

Top employers recognize skilled immigrants key to economic health
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/962059/top-employers-recognize-skilled-immigrants...

TRIEC and RBC announce winners of 6th Annual Immigrant Success Awards

Toronto, April 26, 2012 /CNW/ - The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) and RBC are recognizing top employers who are leading the way in integrating skilled immigrant talent in the Greater Toronto Region labour market at the 6th Annual Immigrant Success (IS) Awards today.

The four IS Awards winners represent different sectors of the Greater Toronto Region economy - from telecommunications to environmental testing - and share the same view: Toronto needs skilled immigrants to address skill shortages and give businesses and the region as a whole a competitive edge.

"The IS Awards winners are part of the growing momentum to embrace immigrant employment as an important part of the solution to address demographic changes and support innovation in the Toronto region," says Zabeen Hirji, Chief Human Resources Officer at RBC. "RBC strongly believes that the integration of skilled immigrants is essential for the well-being of our economy and we are proud to sponsor these awards for the sixth year."

Why integrating immigrant talent matters to Toronto:

• Skilled immigrants can help address skill shortages and hard-to-find skill sets

• International and diverse work experience can trigger innovative products and solutions

• Knowledge of additional languages can lead to new and deeper business opportunities

• Immigrants bring high levels of post-secondary education and training

• 50% of Toronto's population was born outside of Canada

"Especially now when Ontario is facing more competition for skilled immigrants from western provinces, we need to step up our game in leveraging the talents of this group," says Elizabeth McIsaac, Executive Director of TRIEC. "Businesses across the region should be looking to these leaders for their novel strategies to get skilled immigrants working for them."

The four winners, three organizations and one individual selected from a pool of applicants, will be honoured at a ceremony tonight for their leadership in integrating immigrant talent.

Winners

Maxxam Analytics
Toronto Star Award for Excellence in Workplace Integration

Maxxam Analytics: Toronto Star Award for Excellence in Workplace Integration
- http://youtu.be/raQyKdJIKT4

This Mississauga testing laboratory systematically recruits skilled immigrants through their co-op program. Co-op placements gain elusive Canadian workplace experience and significant training while the company is ensured an ongoing pool of exceptionally well-prepared professionals to address skill shortages in their field and meet the demands of its fluctuating workloads. Maxxam has taken 400 placements since 2005 and has hired half of them full-time.

Huawei Technologies Canada
RBC Immigrant Advantage Award

Huawei Canada: RBC Immigrant Advantage Award - http://youtu.be/nb65EsZihTo

This global telecommunications company headquartered in Shenzhen, China attributes 100% of its success in Canada to its mostly immigrant employee base. In establishing itself in Canada, Huawei embraced a strategy of hiring skilled immigrants who often had the advantage of experience with Huawei technology in other countries. In addition, brand awareness and loyalty were strong among those from abroad unlike local professionals for whom they had to compete with other big names like Google. With employees from 30 different countries, the strategy paid off. Huawei is now a major player in Canada's telecommunication industry, attracting clients like Telus and Bell among others and has established itself as a solid Canadian company with eastern cultural roots.

Career Edge Organization's Career Bridge Program
CBC Toronto Vision Award for Immigrant Inclusion

Career Bridge: CBC Toronto Vision Award for Immigrant Inclusion - http://youtu.be/kPFEQk3Y0LI

This not-for-profit organization's internship program is unparalleled. Skilled immigrants looking for their first job here in Canada get elusive access to employers and on-the-job training. Employers get highly qualified pre-screened talent sourced to fit prescribed roles. What's more, interns are paid throughout the process so that their focus is squarely on the job and their contributions respected. The best part? Eighty percent of interns find full-time employment within six months post-internship.

Zuleika Sgro, Manager, Talent Management Services, Questrade
Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award

Zuleika Sgro: Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award
- http://youtu.be/RGBSIh0YUDs

When Zuleika Sgro had to oversee a mass hiring at the rapidly expanding online brokerage Questrade, she set her sights on skilled immigrants. She quickly connected with community agencies and immersed herself in the field, building her own library and networks. One year and 100 hires later, Sgro has emerged as an expert and advocate in the field. Today, her company is seen as an employer of choice and recognized internally and externally for the value placed on diversity among its staff.

The winners, all profiled at www.isawards.ca, will be celebrated tonight at an invitation-only reception hosted by RBC. Matt Galloway, Host, Metro Morning, CBC Radio One 99.1 will serve as MC and Zabeen Hirji, Chief Human Resources Officer, RBC and Co-Chair, TRIEC, will deliver the keynote address.

The IS Awards are presented by TRIEC and sponsored by RBC, with media partners Canadian HR Reporter, CBC Toronto and the Toronto Star. For complete details about the IS Awards and to view profiles of the winners visit www.isawards.ca

About TRIEC
TRIEC creates and champions solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater Toronto Region labour market. For more information visit www.triec.ca.

Video with caption: "Video: Maxxam Analytics: Toronto Star Award for Excellence in Workplace Integration ". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQyKdJIKT4

Video with caption: "Video: Huawei Canada: RBC Immigrant Advantage Award ". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb65EsZihTo

Video with caption: "Video: Career Bridge: CBC Toronto Vision Award for Immigrant Inclusion ". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFEQk3Y0LI

Video with caption: "Video: Zuleika Sgro: Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award ". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGBSIh0YUDs

US President Barack Obama sounds alarm bell on jobs
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=99034

Washington Sounding an alarm bell over the challenge from "hungry" Indian and Chinese students, US President Barack Obama has asked Americans to focus more on science, mathematics and technology to ensure that "jobs of future" stay within the shores.

Acknowledging that American firms are having a tough time finding the right candidates for jobs in science and technology, Obama, travelling to Durham in North Carolina, said it is not a good sign for the future of the country.

"So these are the jobs of the future. These are the jobs that China and India are cranking out. Those students are hungry because they understand if they get those skills they can find a good job, they can create companies, they can create businesses, create wealth. And we're falling behind in the very fields we know are going to be our future," Obama said.

"So we can do better than that. We must do better than that. If we're going to make sure the good jobs of tomorrow stay here in America, stay here in North Carolina, we've got to make sure all our companies have a steady stream of skilled workers to draw from," he said.

Obama said at present there are more than four job-seekers for every job opening in America.

"But when it comes to science and high-tech fields, the opposite is true. The businesses represented here tell me they're having a hard time finding high-skilled workers to fill their job openings," he said.

Obama said only four per cent of all undergraduate students enrol in the STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering, and maths.

Of those students, one-third will switch out of those fields, and only about two in five will graduate with a STEM degree or certification within six years, he added.

Asian Development Bank warns of rising inequality
http://australianetworknews.com/stories/201204/3488283.htm?desktop
Last Updated: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:42:00 +1000

Sen Lam, Asia Pacific

The Asian Development Bank has warned the region about rising financial inequality.

The bank says growth is benefiting the elite much faster than it's helping the poor.

ADB Principal Economist Dr Dong Hyun Park has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific that now poverty has been dramatically reduced, inequality should be the region's new focus.

"Never in human history has there been such a massive and widespread reduction of poverty," he said. "But now Asia is confronted with a new problem, that of growing inequality, which is a problem that's distinct and different from poverty."

Dr Park says the topic will be discussed at the bank's annual meeting next week.

He says the gap between the rich and poor has increased, especially in Asia's most populous countries China, India and Indonesia. "We're not just talking about income, but we're also talking perhaps more importantly, about inequality of opportunity, in particular, access to education and healthcare, access to productive employment opportunities."

He says if rising inequality is left unchecked, it will compromise the region's economies.

"Most fundamentally, it poses a serious threat to economic growth, by undermining social stability and by undermining political stability.

Dr Park says the bank hopes to catalyse policy-makers in the region to begin addressing the issue.