Grewal cleared in immigration controversy
Last updated Jun 23 2005 07:18 AM PDT
CBC News
CBC NEWS – The federal ethics watchdog has cleared Surrey Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal of conflict-of-interest allegations in an immigration controversy.
Ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro said the B.C. legislator made an error in judgment by having his office demand cash guarantees of up to $250,000 before he helped some foreigners seeking visas to visit Canada.
Gurmant Grewal (File photo)
In a report tabled Wednesday in the House of Commons, Shapiro said the practice placed Grewal in an apparent conflict of interest .
However, Grewal was making an honest mistake and never pocketed any money from the pledges, the ethics commissioner said.
"There was no real conflict of interest," Shapiro said in the report.
"No profit personal to Mr. Grewal was either intended or realized."
LINK: Ethics Commissioner's report on Grewal (pdf)
Grewal's office asked some sponsors for the guarantees before the MP would go to bat for them after the Immigration Department turned down a visitor's visa for a friend or relative.
The pledges – which ranged from $1,000 to $250,000 – were meant to ensure that the visitors didn't stay in Canada after their visas expired.
The ethics investigation found that Grewal's office collected 232 signed guarantees from 2002 to 2005, when it ended the practice. There was no attempt to redeem any of the guarantees.
Shapiro's investigation stemmed from a complaint in April from federal Immigration Minister Joe Volpe.
FROM APRIL 6, 2005: B.C. MP blasted over visa guarantees
Grewal went on stress leave after finding himself in the midst of a separate controversy over tapes he made as he negotiated with top Liberals to break Conservative ranks in order to ensure Paul Martin's minority government didn't fall.
FROM JUNE 6, 2005: Gurmant Grewal going on stress leave
Earlier this month, Grewal was also cleared of wrongdoing by RCMP and Transport Canada investigations launched after he tried to get Ottawa-bound passengers at the Vancouver airport to carry a package for him.
CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. External links will open in a new window.
Sphere: Related Content
6/24/05
Canada, US and Mexico to announce new security and trade measures
OTTAWA (AFP) - Trade and security ministers from Canada, the United States and Mexico will meet here Monday and announce new unspecified measures to bolster cooperation against terrorism and other threats while improving trade, according to senior government officials.
The meeting between Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Industry Minister David Emerson and their US and Mexican counterparts, Secretary Michael Chertoff, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary Fernando Canales and Secretary Carlos Abascal, comes three months after the heads of each country agreed to closer ties when they met in Waco, Texas.
Officials said the partners have discussed North American competitiveness, ways to avoid duplication, concerns about intellectual property and a further reduction of tariffs and duties.
"Over the last 90 days, in a number of areas, work has advanced sufficiently that ministers can (now make announcements)," a senior official said.
The countries have been bound in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since 1994, but disputes over trade and immigration still linger.
New security measures will be announced too, officials said. Sphere: Related Content
The meeting between Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Industry Minister David Emerson and their US and Mexican counterparts, Secretary Michael Chertoff, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary Fernando Canales and Secretary Carlos Abascal, comes three months after the heads of each country agreed to closer ties when they met in Waco, Texas.
Officials said the partners have discussed North American competitiveness, ways to avoid duplication, concerns about intellectual property and a further reduction of tariffs and duties.
"Over the last 90 days, in a number of areas, work has advanced sufficiently that ministers can (now make announcements)," a senior official said.
The countries have been bound in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since 1994, but disputes over trade and immigration still linger.
New security measures will be announced too, officials said. Sphere: Related Content
Canada, US and Mexico to announce new security and trade measures
OTTAWA (AFP) - Trade and security ministers from Canada, the United States and Mexico will meet here Monday and announce new unspecified measures to bolster cooperation against terrorism and other threats while improving trade, according to senior government officials.
The meeting between Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Industry Minister David Emerson and their US and Mexican counterparts, Secretary Michael Chertoff, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary Fernando Canales and Secretary Carlos Abascal, comes three months after the heads of each country agreed to closer ties when they met in Waco, Texas.
Officials said the partners have discussed North American competitiveness, ways to avoid duplication, concerns about intellectual property and a further reduction of tariffs and duties.
"Over the last 90 days, in a number of areas, work has advanced sufficiently that ministers can (now make announcements)," a senior official said.
The countries have been bound in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since 1994, but disputes over trade and immigration still linger.
New security measures will be announced too, officials said. Sphere: Related Content
The meeting between Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Industry Minister David Emerson and their US and Mexican counterparts, Secretary Michael Chertoff, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary Fernando Canales and Secretary Carlos Abascal, comes three months after the heads of each country agreed to closer ties when they met in Waco, Texas.
Officials said the partners have discussed North American competitiveness, ways to avoid duplication, concerns about intellectual property and a further reduction of tariffs and duties.
"Over the last 90 days, in a number of areas, work has advanced sufficiently that ministers can (now make announcements)," a senior official said.
The countries have been bound in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since 1994, but disputes over trade and immigration still linger.
New security measures will be announced too, officials said. Sphere: Related Content
6/23/05
6/22/05
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6/21/05
canada news online
act canada immigration. Immigration Canada. Canada Immigration resources and Legal Immigration Services. Professional Immigration, employment Immigration. Canada Immigration News. Application forms ...
For the latest news updates,
visit news portal about immigration canada Sphere: Related Content
For the latest news updates,
visit news portal about immigration canada Sphere: Related Content
6/20/05
CANOE -- CNEWS - Canada: McKenna: Canada needs different treatment
McKenna: Canada needs different treatment
WASHINGTON (CP) - Canada and Mexico shouldn\'t be treated identically when it comes to border issues like requiring passports to enter the United States, Ambassador Frank McKenna told CNN on Tuesday.
\"I don\'t think that we should be trying to do equivalent things on the borders, the issues are just dramatically different,\" he told host Lou Dobbs. \"The Mexican border, the major issue would be immigration . . . You don\'t hear of Canadians trying to get under barbed wire fences to get to the United States.\"
Canada has long argued that needing passports to head south is too onerous. McKenna predicted Monday the U.S. would drop the contentious proposal, citing discussions between officials on both sides of the border.
McKenna has been on a campaign to promote Canadian trade and security issues through the U.S. media.
After listing off the amount of trade between the two countries on CNN, Dobbs allowed: \"We love Canada. We love Canada. You\'ve got me convinced ambassador.\"
McKenna again knocked down the myth that any of the terrorists involved in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, crossed the border from Canada.
\"It hurts us terribly, you know,\" he said. \"We would never want to contribute to in any way to anything that would harm our neighbour.\"
source: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/06/14/1088539-cp.html Sphere: Related Content
WASHINGTON (CP) - Canada and Mexico shouldn\'t be treated identically when it comes to border issues like requiring passports to enter the United States, Ambassador Frank McKenna told CNN on Tuesday.
\"I don\'t think that we should be trying to do equivalent things on the borders, the issues are just dramatically different,\" he told host Lou Dobbs. \"The Mexican border, the major issue would be immigration . . . You don\'t hear of Canadians trying to get under barbed wire fences to get to the United States.\"
Canada has long argued that needing passports to head south is too onerous. McKenna predicted Monday the U.S. would drop the contentious proposal, citing discussions between officials on both sides of the border.
McKenna has been on a campaign to promote Canadian trade and security issues through the U.S. media.
After listing off the amount of trade between the two countries on CNN, Dobbs allowed: \"We love Canada. We love Canada. You\'ve got me convinced ambassador.\"
McKenna again knocked down the myth that any of the terrorists involved in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, crossed the border from Canada.
\"It hurts us terribly, you know,\" he said. \"We would never want to contribute to in any way to anything that would harm our neighbour.\"
source: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/06/14/1088539-cp.html Sphere: Related Content
940 NEWS
Ruling allowing deportation to torture needs revisiting, says former justice at 17:32 on June 13, 2005, EST.
TORONTO (CP) - A Supreme Court of Canada ruling allowing the deportation of terrorist suspects to face torture in \"exceptional circumstances\" will likely have to be revisited, says a justice who was party to the landmark decision.
In an interview Monday, Louise Arbour refused to call the finding a mistake but said it doesn\'t meet the international ban on such removals.
\"In some cases, we may revisit, or courts may be wise to revisit, their original decision just as legislators may be wise to revisit some of their very harsh early legislation in response to the threat of terrorism,\" Arbour said.
\"It\'s a question of interpreting legal standards but international legal standards would be more exacting than what was expressed then.\"
The high court ruling in 2002 came in the case of Sri Lankan refugee Manickavasagam Suresh, who was ordered deported on security grounds.
The court acknowledged the ban on deporting suspects to countries where they face a real risk of torture is absolute under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Canada is a signatory to the pact.
The court also ruled there may be \"exceptional circumstances\" where removal could be justified, but did not define those.
The ruling has yet to be tested, although Immigration officials have relied on it in the case of several terror suspects to argue they should be deported.
Just last month, the United Nations committee on torture urged Canada to find that the Suresh case had been wrongly decided.
Arbour acknowledged the pressure from human-rights groups and others for Canada to take another look at the decision.
\"The international community has been urging Canada to reconsider that position and to close the door even more firmly that it has,\" said Arbour.
Now the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights based in Geneva, Arbour was on Monday named Canadian of the Year for 2005 by the Canadian Club.
Asked if the ruling was a mistake, Arbour said she couldn\'t comment on the decision itself.
John Norris, a Toronto defence lawyer who is fighting on behalf of several foreigners detained as terrorism suspects, nevertheless praised Arbour\'s candour.
\"Eventually, (this) is going to end up back before the Supreme Court, but until they grapple with it again, we\'re stuck with that decision,\" said Norris.
\"But it will get there, there\'s no doubt about that (and) I believe the court would have a great deal of difficulty reaching the same conclusion as they reached in Suresh.\"
Norris compared the situation to the battle fought over the death penalty, where the Supreme Court reversed its position and outlawed the practice.
Arbour conceded the legal approach many countries adopted after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 is \"evolving.\"
As lawmakers and courts begin to review their actions, their views on how best to wage the war on terror will likely moderate, she said.
\"The more distance we now have from Sept. 11, the more I hope we\'ll be able to have a rational cool-headed judgment on what is required and what is appropriate.\"
In her speech to the Canadian Club, Arbour warned about allowing an irrational fear of terrorism to undermine basic human rights and, in the worst cases, lead to arbitrary detentions and torture.
\"A country is as much at risk of destruction . . . by the collapse of its human rights norms . . . than it is by the explosion of bombs on its territory.\"
Arbour also said the most pressing need for international intervention to curb gross human-rights abuses may now be in Nepal.
One lesson she has learned since becoming the high commissioner for human rights last year, she said, was \"never underestimate the force of indifference.\"
Sphere: Related Content
TORONTO (CP) - A Supreme Court of Canada ruling allowing the deportation of terrorist suspects to face torture in \"exceptional circumstances\" will likely have to be revisited, says a justice who was party to the landmark decision.
In an interview Monday, Louise Arbour refused to call the finding a mistake but said it doesn\'t meet the international ban on such removals.
\"In some cases, we may revisit, or courts may be wise to revisit, their original decision just as legislators may be wise to revisit some of their very harsh early legislation in response to the threat of terrorism,\" Arbour said.
\"It\'s a question of interpreting legal standards but international legal standards would be more exacting than what was expressed then.\"
The high court ruling in 2002 came in the case of Sri Lankan refugee Manickavasagam Suresh, who was ordered deported on security grounds.
The court acknowledged the ban on deporting suspects to countries where they face a real risk of torture is absolute under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Canada is a signatory to the pact.
The court also ruled there may be \"exceptional circumstances\" where removal could be justified, but did not define those.
The ruling has yet to be tested, although Immigration officials have relied on it in the case of several terror suspects to argue they should be deported.
Just last month, the United Nations committee on torture urged Canada to find that the Suresh case had been wrongly decided.
Arbour acknowledged the pressure from human-rights groups and others for Canada to take another look at the decision.
\"The international community has been urging Canada to reconsider that position and to close the door even more firmly that it has,\" said Arbour.
Now the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights based in Geneva, Arbour was on Monday named Canadian of the Year for 2005 by the Canadian Club.
Asked if the ruling was a mistake, Arbour said she couldn\'t comment on the decision itself.
John Norris, a Toronto defence lawyer who is fighting on behalf of several foreigners detained as terrorism suspects, nevertheless praised Arbour\'s candour.
\"Eventually, (this) is going to end up back before the Supreme Court, but until they grapple with it again, we\'re stuck with that decision,\" said Norris.
\"But it will get there, there\'s no doubt about that (and) I believe the court would have a great deal of difficulty reaching the same conclusion as they reached in Suresh.\"
Norris compared the situation to the battle fought over the death penalty, where the Supreme Court reversed its position and outlawed the practice.
Arbour conceded the legal approach many countries adopted after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 is \"evolving.\"
As lawmakers and courts begin to review their actions, their views on how best to wage the war on terror will likely moderate, she said.
\"The more distance we now have from Sept. 11, the more I hope we\'ll be able to have a rational cool-headed judgment on what is required and what is appropriate.\"
In her speech to the Canadian Club, Arbour warned about allowing an irrational fear of terrorism to undermine basic human rights and, in the worst cases, lead to arbitrary detentions and torture.
\"A country is as much at risk of destruction . . . by the collapse of its human rights norms . . . than it is by the explosion of bombs on its territory.\"
Arbour also said the most pressing need for international intervention to curb gross human-rights abuses may now be in Nepal.
One lesson she has learned since becoming the high commissioner for human rights last year, she said, was \"never underestimate the force of indifference.\"
Sphere: Related Content
The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - 20-Jun-05 - Charles Krauthammer:
Language is key to immigration success
Charles Krauthammer:
Language is key to immigration success
By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
ONE OF the reasons for the success we\'ve enjoyed in Afghanistan is that our viceroy — pardon me, ambassador — there, who saw the country through the founding of a democratic government, was not just a serious thinker and a skilled diplomat, but also spoke the language and understood the culture. Why? Because Zalmay Khalilzad is an Afghan-born Afghan-American.
It is not every country that can send to obscure faraway places envoys who are themselves children of that culture. Indeed, Americans are the only people that can do that for practically every country.
Being mankind\'s first-ever universal nation, to use Ben Wattenberg\'s felicitous phrase for our highly integrated polyglot country, carries enormous advantage. In the shrunken global world of the information age, we have significant populations of every ethnicity capable of making instant and deep connections — economic as well as diplomatic — with just about every foreign trouble spot, hothouse and economic dynamo on the planet.
It is true that other countries, particularly in Europe, have in the last several decades opened themselves up to immigration. But the real problem is not immigration but assimilation. Anyone can do immigration. But if you don\'t assimilate the immigrants — France, for example, has vast isolated exurban immigrant slums with populations totally alienated from the polity and the general culture — then immigration becomes not an asset but a liability.
America\'s genius has always been assimilation, taking immigrants and turning them into Americans. Yet our current debates on immigration focus on only one side of the issue — the massive waves of illegal immigrants that we seem unable to stop.
The various plans, all well-intentioned, have an air of hopelessness about them. Amnesty of some sort seems reasonable because there is no way we\'re going to expel 10 million-plus illegal immigrants and we might as well make their lives more normal. But that will not stop further illegal immigration. In fact, it will encourage it because every amnesty — and we have them periodically — tells potential illegals still in Mexico and elsewhere that if they persist long enough, they will get in, and if they stay here long enough, they can cut to the head of the line.
In the end, increased law enforcement, guest-worker programs and other incentives that encourage some of the illegals to go back home can only go so far. Which is why we should be devoting far more attention to the other half of the problem — not just how many come in but what happens to them once they\'re here.
The anti-immigrant types argue that there is something unique about our mostly Latin immigration that makes it unassimilable. First, that there\'s simply too much of it to be digested. But in fact, the percentage of foreign-born people living in America today is significantly below what it was in 1890 and 1910 — and those were spectacularly successful immigrations. And second, there is nothing about the Catholic-Hispanic culture that makes it any more difficult to assimilate than the Czechs and Hungarians, Chinese and Koreans, who came decades ago.
The key to assimilation of course, is language. The real threat to the United States is not immigration per se, but bilingualism and, ultimately, biculturalism. Having grown up in Canada, where a language divide is a recurring source of friction and fracture, I can only wonder at those who want to duplicate that plague in the United States.
The good news, and the reason I am less panicked about illegal immigration than most, is that the vogue for bilingual education is now waning. It has been abolished by referendum in California, Arizona and even Massachusetts.
As the results in California have shown, it was a disaster for Hispanic children. It delays assimilation by perhaps a full generation.
Those in \"English immersion\" have more than twice the rate of English proficiency of those in the old \"bilingual\" system (being taught other subjects in Spanish while being gradually taught English).
By all means we should try to control immigration. Nonetheless, given our geography, our tolerant culture and the magnetic attraction of our economy, illegals will always be with us. Our first task, therefore, should be abolishing bilingual education everywhere, and requiring that our citizenship tests have strict standards for English language and American civics.
The cure for excessive immigration is successful assimilation. The way to prevent European-like immigration catastrophes is to turn every immigrant — and most surely his children — into an American. Who might one day grow up to be our next Zalmay Khalilzad.
Charles Krauthammer is a columnist for The Washington Post.
source:http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=56503 Sphere: Related Content
Language is key to immigration success
By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
ONE OF the reasons for the success we\'ve enjoyed in Afghanistan is that our viceroy — pardon me, ambassador — there, who saw the country through the founding of a democratic government, was not just a serious thinker and a skilled diplomat, but also spoke the language and understood the culture. Why? Because Zalmay Khalilzad is an Afghan-born Afghan-American.
It is not every country that can send to obscure faraway places envoys who are themselves children of that culture. Indeed, Americans are the only people that can do that for practically every country.
Being mankind\'s first-ever universal nation, to use Ben Wattenberg\'s felicitous phrase for our highly integrated polyglot country, carries enormous advantage. In the shrunken global world of the information age, we have significant populations of every ethnicity capable of making instant and deep connections — economic as well as diplomatic — with just about every foreign trouble spot, hothouse and economic dynamo on the planet.
It is true that other countries, particularly in Europe, have in the last several decades opened themselves up to immigration. But the real problem is not immigration but assimilation. Anyone can do immigration. But if you don\'t assimilate the immigrants — France, for example, has vast isolated exurban immigrant slums with populations totally alienated from the polity and the general culture — then immigration becomes not an asset but a liability.
America\'s genius has always been assimilation, taking immigrants and turning them into Americans. Yet our current debates on immigration focus on only one side of the issue — the massive waves of illegal immigrants that we seem unable to stop.
The various plans, all well-intentioned, have an air of hopelessness about them. Amnesty of some sort seems reasonable because there is no way we\'re going to expel 10 million-plus illegal immigrants and we might as well make their lives more normal. But that will not stop further illegal immigration. In fact, it will encourage it because every amnesty — and we have them periodically — tells potential illegals still in Mexico and elsewhere that if they persist long enough, they will get in, and if they stay here long enough, they can cut to the head of the line.
In the end, increased law enforcement, guest-worker programs and other incentives that encourage some of the illegals to go back home can only go so far. Which is why we should be devoting far more attention to the other half of the problem — not just how many come in but what happens to them once they\'re here.
The anti-immigrant types argue that there is something unique about our mostly Latin immigration that makes it unassimilable. First, that there\'s simply too much of it to be digested. But in fact, the percentage of foreign-born people living in America today is significantly below what it was in 1890 and 1910 — and those were spectacularly successful immigrations. And second, there is nothing about the Catholic-Hispanic culture that makes it any more difficult to assimilate than the Czechs and Hungarians, Chinese and Koreans, who came decades ago.
The key to assimilation of course, is language. The real threat to the United States is not immigration per se, but bilingualism and, ultimately, biculturalism. Having grown up in Canada, where a language divide is a recurring source of friction and fracture, I can only wonder at those who want to duplicate that plague in the United States.
The good news, and the reason I am less panicked about illegal immigration than most, is that the vogue for bilingual education is now waning. It has been abolished by referendum in California, Arizona and even Massachusetts.
As the results in California have shown, it was a disaster for Hispanic children. It delays assimilation by perhaps a full generation.
Those in \"English immersion\" have more than twice the rate of English proficiency of those in the old \"bilingual\" system (being taught other subjects in Spanish while being gradually taught English).
By all means we should try to control immigration. Nonetheless, given our geography, our tolerant culture and the magnetic attraction of our economy, illegals will always be with us. Our first task, therefore, should be abolishing bilingual education everywhere, and requiring that our citizenship tests have strict standards for English language and American civics.
The cure for excessive immigration is successful assimilation. The way to prevent European-like immigration catastrophes is to turn every immigrant — and most surely his children — into an American. Who might one day grow up to be our next Zalmay Khalilzad.
Charles Krauthammer is a columnist for The Washington Post.
source:http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=56503 Sphere: Related Content
Bid to woo tourists with cruises
BY JOHAN FERNANDEZ
NEW YORK: Malaysia is focusing on developing cruise tourism and yachting to attract high-end tourists from the United States, Canada and Europe, said Tourism Minister Dr Leo Michael Toyad.
He said cruise liners plying the Caribbean and the Mediterranean would have a “new playground” in the South-East Asian region, with routes beginning in the Andaman Sea and stopovers in Phuket and Langkawi.
They would pass through the Straits of Malacca, Java and around Borneo Island before ending in Manila Bay,
WORLD-CLASS FASHION: A model parading a creation of Malaysian fashion designer Nazleen Noor at the St Regis Hotel in New York recently.
The framework for the idea was discussed at a regional meeting last month, Dr Toyad said here on Friday.
“We have been working with some local tour agents and foreign passenger companies to bring cruise liners to our ports. To date, many major cruise liners have called on Port Klang, Penang, Langkawi, Kuantan and Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
The number of local yacht owners had been increasing every year and there were now 14 marinas and yacht clubs in Malaysia with international class facilities, he added.
Dr Toyad is leading a mission to Canada and the United States, covering Vancouver, New York and Los Angeles, to promote Malaysia as a premier tourist destination.
The delegation also aimed to establish a wider network of contacts in the US and Canadian tourism industries.
“This mission is just the beginning of our concentrated efforts to educate travellers about what Malaysia has to offer,” Dr Toyad said.
“One of the programmes the country is promoting is the \'Malaysia My Second Home\' that allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia for at least five years or more on a social visit pass and a multiple–entry visa.”
He said the Government had also relaxed the requirement for applicants to purchase landed property in Malaysia.
The Immigration Department had, to date, approved 172 applications from the United States.
For this year until April, 22 applications by Americans were approved.
source: Sphere: Related Content
NEW YORK: Malaysia is focusing on developing cruise tourism and yachting to attract high-end tourists from the United States, Canada and Europe, said Tourism Minister Dr Leo Michael Toyad.
He said cruise liners plying the Caribbean and the Mediterranean would have a “new playground” in the South-East Asian region, with routes beginning in the Andaman Sea and stopovers in Phuket and Langkawi.
They would pass through the Straits of Malacca, Java and around Borneo Island before ending in Manila Bay,
WORLD-CLASS FASHION: A model parading a creation of Malaysian fashion designer Nazleen Noor at the St Regis Hotel in New York recently.
The framework for the idea was discussed at a regional meeting last month, Dr Toyad said here on Friday.
“We have been working with some local tour agents and foreign passenger companies to bring cruise liners to our ports. To date, many major cruise liners have called on Port Klang, Penang, Langkawi, Kuantan and Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
The number of local yacht owners had been increasing every year and there were now 14 marinas and yacht clubs in Malaysia with international class facilities, he added.
Dr Toyad is leading a mission to Canada and the United States, covering Vancouver, New York and Los Angeles, to promote Malaysia as a premier tourist destination.
The delegation also aimed to establish a wider network of contacts in the US and Canadian tourism industries.
“This mission is just the beginning of our concentrated efforts to educate travellers about what Malaysia has to offer,” Dr Toyad said.
“One of the programmes the country is promoting is the \'Malaysia My Second Home\' that allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia for at least five years or more on a social visit pass and a multiple–entry visa.”
He said the Government had also relaxed the requirement for applicants to purchase landed property in Malaysia.
The Immigration Department had, to date, approved 172 applications from the United States.
For this year until April, 22 applications by Americans were approved.
source: Sphere: Related Content
6/16/05
CBC Nova Scotia - Russian boat family arrives in Bermuda
CBC Nova Scotia - Russian boat family arrives in Bermuda: "Russian boat family arrives in Bermuda
Last updated Jun 16 2005 09:12 AM ADT
CBC News
HALIFAX � A Russian family ordered out of the country has arrived safely by sailboat in Bermuda.
Vitaly Bondarenko, his wife Marina and their two sons set sail from Lunenburg on June 8 in order to comply with immigration rules.
The Bondarenkos want to live in Canada. But they have to be in another country to fill out the necessary paperwork.
They hope to return to Lunenburg sometime in August." Sphere: Related Content
Last updated Jun 16 2005 09:12 AM ADT
CBC News
HALIFAX � A Russian family ordered out of the country has arrived safely by sailboat in Bermuda.
Vitaly Bondarenko, his wife Marina and their two sons set sail from Lunenburg on June 8 in order to comply with immigration rules.
The Bondarenkos want to live in Canada. But they have to be in another country to fill out the necessary paperwork.
They hope to return to Lunenburg sometime in August." Sphere: Related Content
Canada and Saskatchewan sign new immigration agreement
Canada NewsWire Group: "Canada and Saskatchewan sign new immigration agreement
OTTAWA, June 1 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Joe Volpe, Canada's Minister
of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Honourable Pat Atkinson, Saskatchewan
Minister Responsible for Immigration, today announced the signature of a new
Canada-Saskatchewan Immigration Agreement. The Agreement replaces the original
Canada-Saskatchewan Agreement, signed on March 16, 1998.
'Effective immigration is about close partnerships-not only between the
federal government and the provinces or territories, but also with communities
and stakeholders. The Canada-Saskatchewan Immigration Agreement is an
excellent example of a partnership that works,' said Minister Volpe.
The Agreement defines the respective roles and responsibilities of Canada
and the Province of Saskatchewan related to immigrants, temporary workers,
students and others who want to come to Saskatchewan under the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act. It incorporates the Agreement on Provincial Nominees,
signed in 2002, which allows Saskatchewan to identify and nominate immigrant
applicants through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP).
'Continuing to expand the population, labour force, culture and economy
of Saskatchewan through immigration is a priority of the Government of
Saskatchewan,' Minister Atkinson said. 'This new and enhanced agreement is the
latest demonstration of our commitment to make Saskatchewan a destination of
choice for immigrants from around the world.'
The Agreement removes the nominations cap from the SINP, providing
Saskatchewan with greater flexibility in operating its immigration program and
enabling the province to attract more skilled work"
source:http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/01/c6324.html Sphere: Related Content
OTTAWA, June 1 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Joe Volpe, Canada's Minister
of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Honourable Pat Atkinson, Saskatchewan
Minister Responsible for Immigration, today announced the signature of a new
Canada-Saskatchewan Immigration Agreement. The Agreement replaces the original
Canada-Saskatchewan Agreement, signed on March 16, 1998.
'Effective immigration is about close partnerships-not only between the
federal government and the provinces or territories, but also with communities
and stakeholders. The Canada-Saskatchewan Immigration Agreement is an
excellent example of a partnership that works,' said Minister Volpe.
The Agreement defines the respective roles and responsibilities of Canada
and the Province of Saskatchewan related to immigrants, temporary workers,
students and others who want to come to Saskatchewan under the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act. It incorporates the Agreement on Provincial Nominees,
signed in 2002, which allows Saskatchewan to identify and nominate immigrant
applicants through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP).
'Continuing to expand the population, labour force, culture and economy
of Saskatchewan through immigration is a priority of the Government of
Saskatchewan,' Minister Atkinson said. 'This new and enhanced agreement is the
latest demonstration of our commitment to make Saskatchewan a destination of
choice for immigrants from around the world.'
The Agreement removes the nominations cap from the SINP, providing
Saskatchewan with greater flexibility in operating its immigration program and
enabling the province to attract more skilled work"
source:http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/01/c6324.html Sphere: Related Content
* Canada issues 331 permanent resident visas to Sri Lankans affected by the tsunami
Monday, June 13, 2005, 11:29 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 13, Colombo: The Canadian government announced today that 331 permanent resident visas were issued to Sri Lankans in an effort to reunite close family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were seriously and personally affected by the tsunami disaster on December 26.
The Canadian High Commission in Colombo said, “As part of Canada’s humanitarian response to the disaster, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) put in place temporary measures to assist the people who had been affected. These measures included expediting the processing of applications for those with close family members in Canada and waiving the processing fees for applicants personally and seriously affected by the disaster. CIC offices in Canada and at the affected missions abroad began reviewing, on a priority basis, existing applications from people in the tsunami-affected areas as soon as the measures were announced.
“The large majority of the visas were issued to priority family class members: spouses, partners and dependent children. Close to 80 percent of priority family class applications already in process when the disaster struck were finalized in the four months following the disaster. At the same time, CIC is on track to process, within six months, applications already in process when the disaster struck, from parents and grandparents affected by the disaster.”
As of May 31, CIC had responded to 2,610 enquiries from the public through its special tsunami e-mail account, and 8,303 enquiries from the public on its tsunami hotline.
source:http://www.colombopage.com/archive/June13112941JV.html Sphere: Related Content
June 13, Colombo: The Canadian government announced today that 331 permanent resident visas were issued to Sri Lankans in an effort to reunite close family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were seriously and personally affected by the tsunami disaster on December 26.
The Canadian High Commission in Colombo said, “As part of Canada’s humanitarian response to the disaster, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) put in place temporary measures to assist the people who had been affected. These measures included expediting the processing of applications for those with close family members in Canada and waiving the processing fees for applicants personally and seriously affected by the disaster. CIC offices in Canada and at the affected missions abroad began reviewing, on a priority basis, existing applications from people in the tsunami-affected areas as soon as the measures were announced.
“The large majority of the visas were issued to priority family class members: spouses, partners and dependent children. Close to 80 percent of priority family class applications already in process when the disaster struck were finalized in the four months following the disaster. At the same time, CIC is on track to process, within six months, applications already in process when the disaster struck, from parents and grandparents affected by the disaster.”
As of May 31, CIC had responded to 2,610 enquiries from the public through its special tsunami e-mail account, and 8,303 enquiries from the public on its tsunami hotline.
source:http://www.colombopage.com/archive/June13112941JV.html Sphere: Related Content
6/10/05
Russian family gets break on return to Canada
Russian family gets break on return to Canada
CTV.ca News Staff
The Bondarenko family set sail for Bermuda Tuesday, in the hopes they will soon be able to return to Canada as immigrants.
Still, they refrained from bidding their friends "Goodbye." Instead, they left after wishing each other "See you soon."
Indeed, there was good news for the family of sailors before they left the country they now call home.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada had ordered the native Russians to stay away Canada for one year before their application to immigrate could be acted upon, but officials have now lifted that order.
However, Vitaly Bondarenko, his wife Marina and their two sons must still leave Nova Scotia.
They can return once their lawyer has processed their application to become landed immigrants.
This is not the first time the Bondarenko family has been told to leave.
In December 2004 they were prepared to sail from Halifax in freezing conditions after their visas expired. Immigration officials stopped their boat and said they could stay through the winter.
Some believe a trip during winter could have killed them.
The Immigration department gave the family a six-month residency permit that lasts until June 30.
An Immigration official said the problems started when the family was unable to produce proper travel documents, such as a visa.
"What we're saying is, 'Yes, we do want people to come here.' But we don't want people to just show up and say, 'We're here, now deal with us,'" said Ron Heisler, spokesman for Immigration Canada.
"The good news on this story . . . is that when they came in here (Wednesday), they were under the impression they would have to stay out of Canada for a year. Now, because the order is invalid, they can come back after they apply . . . without the one-year waiting period."
The Bondarenkos have been sailing around the world since leaving Russia 14 years ago. The family is fluent in English, and Vitaly Bondarenko is trained in the field of sound vibration engineering.
The two sons were both born in different places: 12-year-old Ivan was born in Maryland, while his six-year-old brother Vasily was born in Australia.
The family has found odd jobs in various ports around the world.
After meeting some Canadians in the Caribbean, they decided to visit Canada.
They now consider Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, to be their home, where they have settled since December.
The town has shown their support for the family in their struggle for citizenship.
"It's our home and our family and we just have nobody in the world except people here taking care of us, and Lunenburg is our home now," Marina Bondarenko told CTV's Halifax affiliate, ATV News.
Despite the small victory, supporters of the family had criticism for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
"When you get stuck in the letter and completely ignore the spirit, which is to bring good people to this country, it's very stupid," said Gregg Ernst.
With a report from ATV News' Elizabeth Chiu
read more about immigration canada Sphere: Related Content
CTV.ca News Staff
The Bondarenko family set sail for Bermuda Tuesday, in the hopes they will soon be able to return to Canada as immigrants.
Still, they refrained from bidding their friends "Goodbye." Instead, they left after wishing each other "See you soon."
Indeed, there was good news for the family of sailors before they left the country they now call home.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada had ordered the native Russians to stay away Canada for one year before their application to immigrate could be acted upon, but officials have now lifted that order.
However, Vitaly Bondarenko, his wife Marina and their two sons must still leave Nova Scotia.
They can return once their lawyer has processed their application to become landed immigrants.
This is not the first time the Bondarenko family has been told to leave.
In December 2004 they were prepared to sail from Halifax in freezing conditions after their visas expired. Immigration officials stopped their boat and said they could stay through the winter.
Some believe a trip during winter could have killed them.
The Immigration department gave the family a six-month residency permit that lasts until June 30.
An Immigration official said the problems started when the family was unable to produce proper travel documents, such as a visa.
"What we're saying is, 'Yes, we do want people to come here.' But we don't want people to just show up and say, 'We're here, now deal with us,'" said Ron Heisler, spokesman for Immigration Canada.
"The good news on this story . . . is that when they came in here (Wednesday), they were under the impression they would have to stay out of Canada for a year. Now, because the order is invalid, they can come back after they apply . . . without the one-year waiting period."
The Bondarenkos have been sailing around the world since leaving Russia 14 years ago. The family is fluent in English, and Vitaly Bondarenko is trained in the field of sound vibration engineering.
The two sons were both born in different places: 12-year-old Ivan was born in Maryland, while his six-year-old brother Vasily was born in Australia.
The family has found odd jobs in various ports around the world.
After meeting some Canadians in the Caribbean, they decided to visit Canada.
They now consider Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, to be their home, where they have settled since December.
The town has shown their support for the family in their struggle for citizenship.
"It's our home and our family and we just have nobody in the world except people here taking care of us, and Lunenburg is our home now," Marina Bondarenko told CTV's Halifax affiliate, ATV News.
Despite the small victory, supporters of the family had criticism for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
"When you get stuck in the letter and completely ignore the spirit, which is to bring good people to this country, it's very stupid," said Gregg Ernst.
With a report from ATV News' Elizabeth Chiu
read more about immigration canada Sphere: Related Content
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