🎓‘Alarming trend’ of more international students claiming asylum: minister

A “growing number” of international students are claiming asylum in order to stay in Canada after being allowed in on student visas, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says, calling it an “alarming trend.”

Miller said those claimants are using the international student program as a “backdoor entry into Canada,” often to lower their tuition fees, and that universities and colleges must improve their screening and monitoring practices to weed out bad actors.

#immigration
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that at a time when the world faces increasing instability, leaders have a choice: bury their heads in the sand or put their differences aside for the sake of future generations.

We can recognize that, collectively, we have a responsibility to set our differences aside, to confront the serious global challenges and to deliver on a pact for the future.

Trudeau said at the Summit of the Future in New York on Sunday, part of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Trudeau faces plummeting ratings at home, yet he believes he can tell the world how things should be.

#Trudeau
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💰Economists question Bloc demand to boost seniors benefits, which carries $16-billion cost

Some economists are questioning the Bloc Québécois demand to enhance seniors benefits in exchange for keeping the minority Liberal government in power this fall, saying the estimated price tag of $16-billion over five years does not clearly target financial need and will worsen generational fairness.

Speaking with reporters last week, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet repeated his call for Ottawa to boost the benefits, saying he’s heard rumours that the government is taking the request seriously.

His party wants the government to support one of its private members bills, C-319, which amends the Old Age Security Act to provide a 10-per-cent boost in benefits for seniors aged 65 to 74. The Liberal government recently implemented such an increase in July, 2022, but limited it to seniors aged 75 and up.

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🇺🇸US border stopped 1,200 terror suspects from Canada, urges tighter immigration

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows the country has stopped over 1,200 terror suspects on their “Watchlist” attempting to cross from Canada in just 4 years.

An issue that was virtually non-existent prior to 2020, it’s now seeing explosive growth that will result in big changes—either to how Canada conducts immigration or how Canadians are treated at the border.

#US
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Violent crime in Canada has increased 30 percent in the last decade of recorded incidents

Violent crime in Canada has seen the greatest increase compared to all other crime categories in the last 10 years of recorded incidents, rising 30 percent in a decade.

In 2023 there were 1,427 such crimes committed per 100,000 people, compared to 2013, when the rate was 1,095.

The top violent crimes in 2023 were assault not using weapons or resulting harm, uttering threats, and assault employing weapons or resulting in harm.

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🗳Election campaign period officially begins in B.C.

Saturday marked the official start of the B.C. election period, as writs will start being issued ahead of voting day on Oct. 19.

The chief electoral officer will issue writs to each of the province's 93 ridings, some of which have been changed from the previous election.

The B.C. NDP's David Eby and B.C. Conservatives' John Rustad will each run in an election for the first time as party leaders. B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau has already run for the premier's job during the 2020 provincial election.

#BritishColumbia
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💉Conservative Leader John Rustad regrets taking COVID vaccine

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said he regrets taking three shots of “the so-called vaccine” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, I’ve had three shots of the vaccine. I wish I hadn’t, quite frankly. And it’s one of the things that’s changed in my thinking — the so-called vaccine, the COVID mRNA

shots. When I talked to Bonnie Henry about it, I started to realize that it wasn't so much about, you know, trying to get herd immunity or trying to stop the spread, but it was more around shaping opinion and control on the population.

#BritishColumbia
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🍞Daily Bread launches Thanksgiving drive amid 'crisis-level' food insecurity in Toronto

Toronto's Daily Bread food bank launched its annual Thanksgiving drive Thursday as it tries to alleviate what it calls "crisis-level" food insecurity in the city.

Neil Hetherington, CEO of Daily Bread, says the charity hopes to fundraise $4.6 million and collect some 200,000 pounds of non-perishable food during the campaign, which runs until Oct. 31.

Hetherington said the organization had two million client visits between March and August, a roughly 25 per cent increase over the same period last year. Similarly, an average of about 13,000 additional people visited food banks in the city each month this year, according to Hetherington.

#Ontario
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🇺🇸New York farmer is overwhelmed by illegal crossings from Canada, caught on camera

Chris Oliver's farm near Fort Covington, N.Y., has become a transit point for a growing number of people crossing from Canada into the U.S.

Recently, Oliver's trail cameras captured 48 individuals crossing near his home in the week leading up to Labour Day. His farm, located east of the Dundee, Que., border crossing, is part of an area experiencing some of the highest rates of illegal crossings along the Canada-U.S. border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

#US #immigration #Quebec
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Conservatives table non-confidence motion to try to topple Trudeau

The Conservatives have tabled a motion to try to declare non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre presented the motion before the House of Commons on Tuesday on the first “opposition day” of the fall sitting of the Parliament.

The motion simply states: “The House has no confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government.”

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🏠 Anger after Doug Ford tells homeless people to "get off your a** and start working"

Ontario Premier Doug Ford sparked anger on Monday with comments about the province’s unhoused population, suggesting that people experiencing homelessness can simply “get off [their] A-S-S and start working like everyone else is.”

Ford made the comment while speaking at a press conference in Cobourg about the waitlist for access to affordable housing in the province.

#Ontario #housing
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🏠 Number of people living unhoused in Edmonton up 47% in 2024: Data

The number of Edmontonians experiencing homelessness has risen 47 per cent this year, according to data from the city's main housing agency.

In July, Homeward Trust's By Name List(opens in a new tab) counted 4,011 people who were either living unhoused or without stable housing. That's up from 2,728 people in January.

#Alberta
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🎓Nearly 13K international students applied for asylum this year, data shows

Nearly 13,000 international students have applied for asylum in Canada in the first eight months of the year, data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows.

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, a total of 119,835 refugee claims were made in Canada. Of these, 12,915 were claimants who were on either study permits (11,605) or study permit extensions (1,310), the department data said.

They see studying as a loophole to remain in Canada.

#immigration
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🩺 Pierre Poilievre says no to 'radical' pharmacare plan during House of Commons debate

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said his party rejects the proposed national pharmacare plan, arguing it would force Canadians to give up their own private drug plans.

In the House of Commons Tuesday, as he debated a non-confidence motion in the Liberal government, Poilievre said the pharmacare plan was something he would not accept.

I will reject the radical plan for an “single-payer” drug plan.

In the spring, the Conservatives voted against the pharmacare legislation, which is now in the Senate.

#healthcare #Poilievre
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🏠 Gap between Ontario housing and population growth highest in 50 years: report

The gap between Ontario’s housing stock and its rapid population growth is the widest it has been since records began, according to a development industry report that throws fresh doubt on the Ford government’s ability to hit its own target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

The study found that as far back as 1972, the number of housing starts in Ontario has remained relatively constant, bouncing between around 50,000 and 100,000 per year

Population growth, on the other hand, has gone from the low hundred thousand range into the two hundred thousands and, more recently, closing in on half a million.

#Ontario #housing
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Liberals survive first confidence vote after the end of governance agreement with NDP

The Liberal government has survived the first of what is expected to be a series of confidence votes during this fall sitting.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre brought forward a non-confidence motion this week in an effort to topple the government and trigger an early election.

The result of Wednesday's vote wasn't really in doubt, as the NDP and Bloc Québécois had signalled they wouldn't support the Conservative motion.

The final tally was 211 MPs voting against the motion and 120 in favour. Two Independent MPs and the two Green MPs voted against the motion. Two other Independents voted with the Conservatives.

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Bloc threatens to push for an early election if government doesn't top up pensions by Oct. 29

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet laid out a list of demands Wednesday he said the government must fulfil by the end of October if it wants to avoid the risk of an early election.

Blanchet said the Bloc wants the government to push through a bill, C-319, that would hike Old Age Security (OAS) payouts by 10 per cent for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74. The government topped up OAS payments for seniors aged 75 and older in 2022.

He said those demands must be met by October 29. If they're not, he said, the Bloc will start negotiations with the Conservatives and the NDP on toppling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

Enjoying the power, eh?

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👶Canada’s fertility rate has hit a record low

Canada’s fertility rate, which has been steadily declining, has hit a record low and the country is now among the “lowest-low” fertility nations.

Statistics Canada released new data on Wednesday showing that the Canadian fertility rate in 2023 was 1.26 children per woman, which is the lowest recorded level since the agency began collecting data.

Coupled with record population growth, this means Canada is losing its identity at twice the speed.

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🇺🇸🇨🇳🇷🇺Canada considering following U.S. in banning vehicle software and hardware from China, Russia

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday she is "absolutely" considering following the U.S. move to ban vehicle hardware and software from China or Russia.

Our government has made it very clear that we take really seriously intentional Chinese overcapacity and we take very seriously the security threat from China.

Freeland's comments come a day after the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced its plans to "prohibit the sale or import of connected vehicles integrating specific pieces of hardware and software … with a sufficient nexus to" China or Russia.

#US #China #Russia
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Why did it take him three business days to scare the bear away? 😂

#BritishColumbia
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Another day in B.C.

#BritishColumbia
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