Census 2016: Western provinces’ populations are the fastest-growing in Canada
As of last year’s census day, there were 35,151,728 people in Canada, and nearly one in three now live in the West. That was one of the important takeaways from the first of Statscan’s reports, which will give policy makers, urban planners and businesses a clearer picture of the nation in 2016.

Canada’s population growth is shifting ever westward, as the latest census results show the Prairie region and British Columbia leading the country in growth.

For the first time since Confederation the three Prairie provinces all rank at the top of provincial growth charts, nosing out a slowing Ontario. British Columbia, in fourth place, also grew at a rate higher than the national average. Nearly one in three residents now live in Western Canada, the highest share ever recorded.

Statistics Canada counted a total of 35,151,728 people living in Canada on the day of the census, May 10, 2016. Over the five years since the previous census the population grew at a rate of about one percentage point a year, or 5 per cent overall, for a total of 1.7 million additional residents since 2011.

Global context
As it has been for the last 15 years, Canada remains the fastest-growing country in the G7 group of industrialized nations, with a growth rate which exceeds those of the United States and the United Kingdom. Canada ranked eighth among the G20 nations, behind countries such as Turkey, South Africa, Mexico and Australia.

Alberta was the fastest-growing province in Canada again during this period. Despite the downturn in the provincial economy in the past two years, Alberta grew by a total of 11.6 per cent over the period, an even faster rate of growth than from 2006 to 2011 and more than twice the national average. That growth slowed following the drop in the price of oil, but not enough to change what has become a long-established pattern as people both within Canada and from abroad head West in search of economic opportunity.

Saskatchewan, which was shrinking in the 1990s, grew at the second-fastest rate, just as it did in the previous census period. It has similarly benefited from a resource-intensive economy that attracted a lot of workers in the early part of this decade before the economy began to slow.

Manitoba jumped into third place among provinces with a 5.8-per-cent rate of growth. It’s the first time in 80 years that Manitoba grew more quickly than the national average. The province has succeeded in attracting a greater share of international migration in recent years. Like the other Prairie provinces, Manitoba has a significant indigenous population, which is much younger than the population in general and has a higher birth rate. British Columbia slipped to fourth place in its rate of growth at 5.6 per cent, although it was still the third-largest province.


Slower growth in Ontario
Ontario grew by 4.6 per cent, the second consecutive census period in which it grew at a rate slower than the national average. It’s the first time that’s happened since the Second World War. Ontario still has by far the largest share of the national population, with more than 13 million people, or 38 per cent of Canada’s population. The main reason for its slower growth is that it received proportionally fewer immigrants over the past five years.

Quebec’s rate of growth was below the national average, a trend that’s been in place since the end of the 1960s. Its share of national population, which was nearly 29 per cent in 1966, fell to slightly more than 23 per cent in 2016. Quebec passed the eight million mark in overall population, and the Montreal area surpassed four million for the first time, meaning half the provincial population is concentrated around its biggest city.

The Atlantic provinces had much lower rates of growth in this census period. New Brunswick’s population declined over the past five years by 0.5 per cent. Prince Edward Island had the highest growth rate in the Atlantic at 1.9 per cent, followed by Newfoundland at 1 per cent. Nova Scotia barely grew, with an increase of just 0.2 per cent. The region is growing more slowly because it attracts few immigrants, and many people choose to move to other provinces, chiefly Alberta and Ontario. In 2014 the number of deaths exceeded the number of births in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick.

Toronto’s population surpassed 5.9 million, but it grew at a slower rate in this census period, at about 6 per cent, compared to more than 9 per cent from 2006 to 2011. Montreal topped four million for the first time in 2011, and Vancouver had nearly 2.5 million. The five fastest growing cities were all in the prairies, led by Calgary and Edmonton, which both surpassed 1.3 million residents, and Saskatoon and Regina (295,000 and 236,000), respectively. Just two of Canada’s large cities, known as CMAs (census metropolitan areas), shrunk in this census period – Windsor and Thunder Bay.

The census counted more than 14 million private dwellings in 2016, an increase of 5.6 per cent over 2011, a slightly slower rate of increase than in the previous census period.

Roughly two-thirds of the growth in population is due to migration, or the amount by which the number of new immigrants exceed the number of people who leave Canada. The other third comes from what’s known as “natural growth,” the difference between births and deaths. Some countries, such as Germany, Italy and Japan, have already seen the annual number of deaths exceed births, meaning all their growth now depends on migration. Projections show that Canada may reach the point where migration accounts for all population growth around 2050.

The census results released Wednesday were the first in a series scheduled to come out over the course of 2017. These results are taken from the short-form census questionnaire and not the long form, which was reinstated for 2016 after being replaced by the voluntary National Household Survey.

 

Hey, what about the bison coming back?

 

Their numbers currently stand at approximately 250,000 a far cry from the 10 million prior to European settlement.

But damn they are tasty lol.

 

Congratulations Bombardier you made the big leagues and are now "Too Big Too Fail" ...

They just got another government bailout.

 

If you are not a white Canadian good luck getting across the border ... if they had anything on her they wouldn't have released her but you can guarantee that she will have a tail from now on.

Canadian woman turned away from U.S. border after questions about religion, Trump
A woman from the Montreal suburb of Brossard says she was denied entry into the U.S. Saturday after being fingerprinted, photographed and questioned in detail about her religion and her views on U.S. President Donald Trump.

Fadwa Alaoui, a Moroccan-born Canadian citizen who is Muslim and wears a hijab, says she has used her Canadian passport to enter the United States many times without incident to visit her parents and brother, who live there.

On the weekend she was travelling with two of her children and an adult cousin, who all have Canadian passports. She said they planned to spend the day shopping in Burlington, Vt., but after four hours at the border they were turned back.

She said most of the questions that she faced at the Philipsburg border crossing focused on religion.

"I felt humiliated, treated as if I was less than nothing. It's as if I wasn't Canadian," Alaoui told CBC News in an interview Wednesday.

Morocco is not among the seven predominantly Muslim countries targeted by a U.S. travel ban introduced by Trump that is now being disputed in the courts.

Alaoui said U.S. border agents asked to see her and her cousin's cellphones. They asked for the passwords and then examined the phones for about an hour. Alaoui and her cousin were then questioned separately for about 45 minutes each.

"He said, 'Do you practise? Which mosque do you go to? What is the name of the imam? How often do you go to the mosque? What kind of discussions do you hear in the mosque? Does the imam talk to you directly?'" Alaoui said.

She said she was also asked about the deadly shooting at a mosque in Quebec City and if she knew any of the victims, and what she thought of Donald Trump's policies.

Agents looked at cellphone videos
Border agents also asked her about Arabic videos on her phone. She said they were videos of daily prayers.

Alaoui said after the questioning, she waited about another hour. The border agents returned and told her she was being denied entry.

"They said, 'You're not allowed to go to the United States because we found videos on your phone that are against us," Alaoui said.

'No discrimination based on religion'
In an email to CBC, David Long, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said privacy laws prohibit discussion of individual travellers.

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection's top priority is the prevention of the entry of terrorists and their weapons into the United States, while facilitating legitimate trade and travel," Long's email read.

"CBP does not discriminate on the entry of foreign nationals to the United States based on religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation," he continued.

He said travellers who feel they've wrongly been denied entry into the U.S. can file a written complaint on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.

According to the agency, an average of 1.2 million people a day try to enter the U.S. at all crossings. Of those, an average of between 300 and 500 are denied entry for various reasons.


Fadwa Alaoui, her children and cousin were all carrying Canadian passports. (Salimah Shivji / CBC)

Worried about returning to U.S.
Alaoui now wonders about returning to the U.S. to visit her parents in Chicago. She was planning to do that for spring break, but now she's not sure.

"Usually we drive about eight hours to cross at the Sarnia border. We don't want that to happen to us again after eight hours of driving," she said.

Alaoui said she hopes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will raise the issue when he eventually meets with Trump.

Trudeau was asked in Question Period on Wednesday about Alaoui's treatment and said the federal government is working with American officials to clarify the rights of Canadians at the border.

"It's an issue everyone's concerned about here and we're working on it," he said.

Public Security Minister Ralph Goodale said his department was looking into the Alaoui situation, which he described as "troubling."

"To the best of my knowledge, this was one incident, but it's one incident too many. And I will want to examine it, but I need to get the detail of exactly who and when it happened so that I can follow it up," he said.

Goodale said he expected anyone travelling on a Canadian passport to be treated with "deference and respect" at border crossings.

 

Canada looking at legality of enforcing Trump travel ban on Canadian soil
Legal concerns over ban could run up against customs pre-clearance agreement
The federal government says it is looking into whether the enforcement of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order banning entry of certain nationalities to the United States violates Canadian laws.

Trump signed an executive order more than a week ago, restricting entry to the United States for travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Canada is one of only six countries that has U.S. border agents working on its national territory under a long-standing agreement that allows travellers to pre-clear customs at major Canadian airports and other departure points. The agreement is set to expand under a bill passed by the U.S. Congress in December.

Because those operations by U.S. customs agents are carried out on Canadian soil, they are subject to Canadian laws.

Andrew Gowing, a spokesman for Public Safety Canada, told CBC News, "The government is still in the process of determining what, if any, impact the recent U.S. executive order has on current pre-clearance activities or on the Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine and Air Transport Preclearance" between the countries.

"Any U.S. pre-clearance activities in Canada have to be carried out in a manner consistent with Canadian law, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Canadian Human Rights Act."

Convenience for Canadians
Pre-clearance allows Canadian travellers to clear both U.S. Customs and immigration controls at their point of departure, and has existed since 1952 in Canada.

As a result of pre-clearance, Canadians can land directly at smaller U.S. domestic airports that lack customs and immigration facilities.


Passengers wait to check in and go through U.S. Customs at Calgary International Airport in Calgary in 2009. The Canadian government is considering how the recent U.S. travel ban affects a long-standing pre-clearance agreement between the two countries. (Todd Korol/Reuters)

The system currently operates at eight Canadian airports: Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. It also operates at the Port of Vancouver, and at the city's Pacific Central train station, and on some B.C.-Washington ferries.

Under an agreement signed last March, U.S. border agents are scheduled to begin working this year in three additional ports of departure: Toronto Island airport, Quebec City's airport, and Montreal's Central Station.

The expansion and the existing arrangement would be in danger if the new executive order were found to be inconsistent with Canadian laws or the Charter.

Ireland, Netherlands have concerns
The only other countries that have pre-clearance agreements with the U.S. are Ireland, Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the United Arab Emirates.

Ireland, the only country in Europe that has U.S. border agents on its soil, has ordered a review to see whether the Trump order violates the country's anti-discrimination laws.

The review came after a man living legally in Ireland was refused pre-clearance at Dublin airport. The Irish government has not disclosed the identity of the man, but has said that in his view he should have been allowed to travel.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said he would like to keep pre-clearance facilities, which have made travel between the U.S. and Ireland much easier.

Kevin Toland, chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority, said the pre-clearance facility was a "critical point of competitive advantage for Ireland … critically important for this country, critically important for the government, critically important for our airport, and critically important for the U.S."

But some in the government say that should not trump Irish law, including Minister for Children Katherine Zappone, whose tweets about the issue led to the review.


Irish cabinet minister Katherine Zappone was the first to question the pre-clearance agreement in her government.

The Netherlands has also been in talks with the U.S. since December about extending pre-clearance to its Schiphol international airport, but on Tuesday it abruptly ended them.

Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said the Trump visa ban affected some of his friends who were dual Dutch-Iranian citizens, and his government was committed to protecting the rights of dual citizens living within its borders.

Would Canada cancel pre-clearance?
No country would have more to lose from the cancellation of pre-clearance than Canada, if it is found that U.S. border agents enforcing the Trump visa ban are in violation of Canadian laws.

There are more pre-clearance points in Canada than in the other five pre-clearance countries put together, and more travellers pass through them.

Without such a system, the U.S. would have to put border agents in many more airports, or it would have to require all Canadian flights to land only at major international airports. Given the costs of the first solution, it seems likely the U.S. would opt for the second.

And so Canada has little incentive to bar U.S. border agents from Canadian airports.

Whatever conclusion the federal government comes to about the legality of the U.S. ban, any resident of Canada who feels he or she has been discriminated against at a Canadian airport has recourse to a Canadian court or to a human rights tribunal, which would then reach its own conclusion.

A ruling against the ban would potentially lead to a crisis over pre-clearance, since U.S. border agents would be obligated to enforce the ban, while Canadian law enforcement could be obligated to prevent them from doing so.

 

PM Trudeau to meet Trump in Washington next week

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have his long-expected first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

The two leaders have spoken by phone but haven't yet met face-to-face.

Trudeau's office said in a statement that he and Trump "look forward to discussing ‎the unique relationship between Canada and the United States of America and how we can continue to work hard for middle class Canadians and Americans, together."

A statement from the White House said Trump and Trudeau "look forward to a constructive conversation on strengthening the relationship between our two nations."

Trudeau spoke to Trump last month, after a deadly shooting at a mosque in Quebec City. He also spoke to Trump on Jan. 21, to congratulate the president on his inauguration. Trudeau and Trump "reiterated the importance of the Canada-United States bilateral relationship, and discussed various areas of mutual interest," according to a read-out of the call provided by Trudeau's office. The read-out noted the two leaders looked forward to meeting "soon."

Trudeau will be travelling much of next week, with a trip to France and Germany set for Feb. 16 and 17, during which he'll address the European Parliament.

The date of Trudeau and Trump's first meeting has been the subject of much speculation in Ottawa. Traditionally, the U.S. president makes Canada the destination of his first official visit, although former president George W. Bush first travelled to Mexico in 2001.

The Canadian government has been focused on the possible impact of Trump's trade policies after he pledged during the election to renegotiate or trash NAFTA and pull out of the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump cancelled U.S. participation in the TPP during his first week in office, essentially killing the agreement.

A number of Canadian cabinet ministers have travelled to D.C. to meet with their Trump adminstration counterparts, including Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. Finance Minister Bill Morneau is in D.C. Thursday, to meet with senior White House economic advisors and with several senators on the finance and banking committees.

 

Trudeau is the 3rd leader hosted by Trump: Here's how the first 2 meetings went
British PM Theresa May and Japan PM Shinzo Abe visited White House with varying results
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump will likely discuss jobs, the middle class and the flow of goods and people across the border on Monday — while Trudeau tries to find the right balance between reassuring Canadians and not provoking the unpredictable president.

• Justin Trudeau unlikely to raise differences with Trump on Monday

Trudeau won't be the first leader to meet Trump at the White House, so the prime minister will have a couple of previous encounters to study if he so chooses: visits by British Prime Minister Theresa May and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Here's a look at how each meeting went for the prime ministers and how they were perceived by the media in their home countries.

Theresa May, Jan. 27
The official line:

In Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader at the White House since becoming president, May said Trump had reaffirmed both countries' "unshakeable commitment" to NATO.

• Trump reaffirms 'unshakable commitment' to NATO, British PM says

Trump had previously suggested that the military alliance was "obsolete" and that the U.S. might not come to the aid of countries that don't meet targets for their own defence spending.


May's visit drew mixed reactions in her home country. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

May said the two agreed it is important for member countries to "invest properly to face our shared challenges together."

She also left the U.S. with the first steps toward an early trade deal with Britain once it leaves the European Union.

The visuals:

The boisterous Trump and reserved May took pains to demonstrate a readiness to maintain close ties between the United States and Britain, something that is particularly important for May as she steers Britain out of the European Union.

They posed for photos before a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office — a minor obsession for sections of the British press — and Trump accepted an invitation from the Queen to visit Britain this year.

The two leaders held hands briefly as they walked down the White House colonnade to their news conference in the East Room.


This hand-holding moment between May and Trump was widely publicized. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

The reaction in the U.K.:

May's trip delighted those who think Trump's presidency will be good for Britain, but alarmed others who loathe the brash Republican populist.

British Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said May "clearly spent her time with Trump dodging his despicable comments on torture, on women, on Muslims and on Mexicans."

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said May "failed to challenge Trump and stand up for our values."

The perception of May's visit has only soured over time: She was condemned for being slow to criticize Trump's immigration ban of seven predominantly Muslim countries, and the Speaker of Britain's House of Commons said he strongly opposes letting Trump address the U.K. Parliament.

But the trip drew approval from the pro-Brexit sections of Britain's press.

"It was one of the most extraordinary days in the long history of U.K.-U.S. relations," said the Daily Mail under the headline "Love-In at the White House" with a picture of the hand-holding moment.

The sideshow:

Several media outlets, including The Telegraph, reported that Trump held May's hand because the president "may have a fear" of slopes and stairs.

A U.K. official said Trump was merely being chivalrous.

Shinzo Abe, Feb. 10 and 11
The official line:

Trump said he wanted to bring the alliance with Japan "even closer."

Abe, a nationalist adept at forging relationships with self-styled strongmen overseas, had been the only world leader to meet the Republican before his inauguration.

Flattering the billionaire businessman, Abe said he would welcome the United States becoming "even greater."

One of Trump's first acts as president was to pull the U.S. back from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Abe stressed the importance of a "free and fair common set of rules" for trade and said that was the purpose of the TPP, but both leaders held out the possibility of a future bilateral deal.

He also invited Trump to visit Japan this year. Trump accepted, according to a joint statement.

Stepping carefully into Japan's longstanding territorial dispute with China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, Trump said the U.S. is committed to the security of Japan and all areas under its administrative control.

Trump didn't repeat controversial campaign comments about Japan developing its own nuclear weapons, and neither country lingered over their differences on international trade.

The visuals:

The optics were closely controlled and largely positive.

After a working lunch on economic issues, the two leaders boarded Air Force One with their wives for a trip to Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. They dined with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at the club Friday night and played golf Saturday.

Media weren't allowed to view the golf round, though Trump tweeted an official photo with the two leaders exchanging a high-five.

The reaction in Japan:

The initial response from English-language media in the country seems to be wariness.

Kyodo News said in a report that the two leaders had taken "baby steps" on bilateral trade, but future negotiations could cost Abe political capital in Japan.

Media also said concerns about Trump are lingering at the Bank of Japan.

"What the BOJ is doing now might be considered currency manipulation by President Trump," Yuzo Sakai, manager of foreign-exchange business promotion at Tokyo Forex and Ueda Harlow Ltd., was quoted as saying in the Japan Times. "The possibility cannot be ruled out that President Trump will launch a verbal attack on the BOJ in the future."

The sideshow:

There were several sideshows, including Trump tweeting about Abe using his given name ("Heading to Joint Base Andrews on #MarineOne with Prime Minister Shinzō earlier today"), and some black plastic placed over the Mar-a-Lago windows so he and Abe could golf out of the media's view.

But the moment that caught the most attention online was Trump and Abe's 19-second handshake and the look on Abe's face when it was over.

 

Here's one for you.
A Canadian man who has been missing from Vancouver since 2012 was found wandering delirious in the Amazon rain forest trying to find the Argentine Library...

I'm not sure if it's true but his first words are reported to have been: "Life is like a box of chocolates"...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/canadian-man-missing-five-years-234328240.html

 

WOW, that is quite the adventure compounded by being able to pass through borders unchecked ...

Bittersweet ending though since the fuckers wouldn't let him into the library when he finally got there, that's just mean lol.

I don't see the need to add the "box of chocolates" comment though !!!

He is a fellow Canadian regardless and the gofundme page should help get him home and back on med's.

 

And remember, Mr. President...no good-bye hug. Maybe even skip the handshake. You don't want to give the XNXX nattering nabobs any more evidence like you did with an Obama visit.

 

So Trump and Trudeau meet in Washington bla bla bla ...

I am more interested in the way that Ivanka is looking at Justin like he is a porkchop lol. I bet she was "glued" to her seat by the end of the meeting that included a group of high powered female executives. The meeting was organized by Ivanka Trump. Our guy is the consumate gentleman of course.

 

'Who wants pizza?': WestJet pilot buys food for stranded Air Canada passengers


A WestJet pilot is earning high praise after paying for pizza for passengers that got re-routed while travelling to St. John's — on an Air Canada flight.

"There was outwards applause when it happened," says John Samms, who lives in St. John's.

It started after an Air Canada plane couldn't land on Feb. 8 due to bad weather and ended up going back to Fredericton.

Samms said passengers were told by an Air Canada staff member in the airport at midnight that ultimately, it wasn't possible to get food delivered.

"Out of nowhere, a WestJet pilot emerged and said, 'Hey ... I am from WestJet and we do things differently. Who wants pizza?'" Samms told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"Within 20 minutes to half an hour the pizza had arrived and I think he paid for it out of his own pocket."

Air Canada says sorry

Samms said it was especially surprising, since all of the passengers were travelling on a competing airline.

"That was the irritating part for me ... I had taken it as perhaps a lack of effort on Air Canada staff, " said Samms, who had lived in Fredericton for a few years and knew there were at least a few pizza places open.

For its part, Air Canada is apologizing to customers for the incident, and acknowledging the efforts of the WestJet employee.

"Unfortunately the food service was closed but thankfully, a caring customer, an airline employee himself, so truly empathetic to the situation, stepped up," Air Canada said in a statement provided to CBC News.

"Clearly we should have done better for our customers."

Samms said no airline is perfect all the time, but people remember when staff go out of their way, especially for these passengers that weren't even flying with WestJet.

"A little bit of effort can go a long way when it comes to customer service."

CBC News asked WestJet for comment and the mystery pilot's name, but had not heard from that airline as of Monday.

 

Ontario court rules in favour of 'Sixties Scoop' claimants

An Ontario court has sided with aboriginal plaintiffs in the "Sixties Scoop" class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government.

Starting in the 1960s, welfare agencies removed thousands of indigenous children from their homes and placed them with non-indigenous families.

The court decision said Canada failed to protect those children from losing their cultural identity.

The decision comes after years of litigation.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba said in his ruling that Canada breached its "common law duty of care" to the children by not taking reasonable steps to prevent them losing their ties to their culture.

The suit plaintiffs had argued that they suffered emotional, psychological, and spiritual harm from the broken connection to their aboriginal heritage.

"Today, Canada became a better country," said a clearly overjoyed Marcia Brown Martel, who was the lead claimant in the class-action. "One that protects the cultural identities of all - all - its children."

Jeffery Wilson, the lead attorney on the lawsuit, said this is the first case in the western world that discusses the obligation of the state to protect the cultural identity of its indigenous peoples.

The court has yet to rule on damages. The class action is seeking CA$85,000 (US$65,000/£52,000) in damages per person, or CA$1.3bn (US$995m/£798m).

Thousands of aboriginal children were removed from their homes by Ontario provincial child welfare services between 1965 and 1984.

Around 16,000 indigenous children from the province were taken from their families and communities and put up for fostering or adoption.

They were sent to mostly non-indigenous homes in Canada, the US, New Zealand, and Australia - often without the consent of their families. First Nations communities were also not consulted on the policies. Many of the children had no contact with their families and communities after their removal.

By the 1980s, Canadian provinces began changing their adoption policies after indigenous leaders and others condemned the practice as a form of "cultural genocide".

Similar lawsuits have been filed in British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, where so-called "Sixties Scoop" policies were also in place.

Mr Wilson said Tuesday's ruling could have a "ripple effect" on those other cases despite the narrow scope of this lawsuit, which focused solely on what duty the Canadian government had to the children after they had been removed from their homes.

The federal government has no plans to appeal the decision and is seeking a negotiated settlement.

 

School District In Canada Cancels Trips To U.S., Citing Border Policies, Safety
by Bill Chappell
February 13, 2017

Saying it won't risk having to leave any students at the border because of new U.S. policies, a public school district in Windsor, Ontario, has canceled upcoming school trips south of the border. Some trips had been slated for this month; a visit to Washington, D.C., was canceled over safety concerns owing to a protest that's planned around the same time, officials say.

The decision was made out of caution, says the Greater Essex County District School Board, which cites uncertainty over President Trump's immigration and travel ban that targets citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations. While that ban has been put on hold by federal courts, legal arguments over it are still working through the judicial system.

"We are just not completely clear on what might happen should a student's documentation be questioned and we would not want any of our students being denied entry," school board spokesman Scott Scantlebury says.

The directive isn't permanent and will be reviewed at the end of February.

"We hope that by the end of the month we have a better, clearer idea of the situation so that these field trips can resume," Scantlebury says.

With 71 schools and around 35,000 students, the Greater Essex County District includes both Essex County and Windsor, the Canadian city that sits just across the Detroit River from downtown Detroit.

Citing a school board trustee, the CBC reports, "many Syrian children who could potentially get banned from crossing the border have started attending schools in the area."

Some of the Canadian classes had planned to make the short trip to the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., the Windsor Star reports.

And at the district's W.F. Herman Academy, students who play in the school's concert bands were "very disappointed" to learn the board had canceled their trip to Washington for a music festival in April, the Star adds. In blocking the visit, the board said a large rally and protest that is slated to overlap with the multiday festival could create an unsafe environment for the students.

The school district's travel ban on visits to the U.S. comes days after a Canadian college athlete who has Moroccan roots was refused entry to the U.S. as his track team traveled for a meet in Boston.

 

WestJet has always gone the extra mile not only for it's own customers but for any and all involved in the aviation industry, passengers included.

They have an annual Christmas promotion where they unsuspectingly ask passengers their Christmas wish and without being any wiser all of the things people asked for were waiting for them at their destination.

It is an employee owned company so everyone that works there has a vested interest in it's success ...

Good on them.

 

There is always a loser when politics are involved and hopefully they can work out the kinks sooner than late. Things like these take time to iron out but there are plenty of interesting Canadian points of interest to occupy their time ...

Just what we need, teaching our kids that the USA is like a communist country !!!

 

No, we're Trumpunists.

 

Here is one for the "Holy Fuck" files ...

So Trump has enough confidence in Canada to make it his third official foreign visit. Not thirteenth or three hundredth but third. That speaks volumes in itself right ???

Wrong, the USA has so little respect for Canada that in his infinite wisdom the White House mouthpiece Sean Spicer held a news conference and highlighted the visit which was nice of him, BUT he went on to call our Prime Minister "Joe Trudeau" ...

Are you that fucking stupid that you can't get your head in the game and show a little respect for the leader of a country, major trading partner and a major contributor to the G7 of which we are a part. Fucking asshat needs to go already and I give him 6 months before he gets his walking papers too.

 

80-storey tower proposed for downtown Edmonton
Plans for an 80-storey condo tower proposed for the Quarters in downtown Edmonton were presented to the public Monday evening.

The Quarters Hotel and Residences would tower over Jasper Avenue and Grierson Hill Road, bordered on the west by the Shaw Conference Centre and on the east by 96th Street.

The building would be the tallest in Edmonton. The Stantec Tower stretches 66 storeys and is expected to open in 2018.

But the architect behind the new project, Brad Kennedy says despite the height, the river valley will still be in sight for people below.

"We designed the podium of the tower to be transparent, so the only piece of the tower that blocks six-and-a-half per cent of the view is the core for the elevators and the stairwells," said Kennedy.

"Everything else is completely clear, so you can walk along Jasper Avenue and you can see down through the tower to the whole river valley."

The project would include a hotel, condominiums, restaurants, fitness facilities, shops and two publicly accessible parks, stretching over 100,000 square feet.

Several amendments to the land-use bylaw would need to be made for the project to be approved, including removing a portion of the site from the North Saskatchewan River Valley Area Redevelopment Plan. (read the update below further to this)

The Quarters Hotel and Residences would stand between Jasper Avenue and Grierson Hill next to the Shaw Conference Centre.


A rendering of the Quarters Hotel and Residences.

UPDATE: