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Posted by Vijay on May 7, 2012, at 6:58 pm |
Minister Kenney surprises Burmese community with special announcement
Statement of Canadian Friends of Burma – May 7, 2012
OTTAWA – Honorable Jason Kenney, Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Multiculturalism, visited to Burmese Buddhist Temple in Toronto on May 6 to meet with members of various Burmese/ethnic communities. Community members and the Venerable Ashin Kawida warmly received him.
During the visit, Minister Kenney made a special announcement for a ‘Ministerial Relief’ that he signed for a Karen activist whose asylum had been in limbo for almost a decade due to his past involvement with Karen freedom movement. Burmese community members at the Burmese Buddhist Temple in Toronto applauded with a mixture of relief and joy for Lerwah.
“It has been a long and painful process for Lerwah and his family. I am very glad that at least the Canada Immigration part of that process has been successfully resolved,’ said Paul Copeland, Lerwah Bo’s lawyer. Mr. Copeland also sent a letter of appreciation to the Minister, noting that this decision would lead him to become a permanent resident to Canada.
This is the second case Canadian Friends of Burma, along with Burmese community, have successfully sought the Minister Kenney’s political intervention.
In August of 2009, a deportation order of a Burmese refugee claimant Nay Myo Hein was halted following the intervention of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney on humanitarian grounds.
In the private meeting with the Minister, Kachin crisis became the centre of the discussion and the Minister was urged to assist more than 70,000 Kachin refugees and internally displaced people trapped in the conflict zones in the northern part of Burma.
“We are very grateful of Minister Kenney’s efforts towards Burma’s democratic change and the long-held inspiration of its people. One thing I am quite sure is that he has a big heart for Burma and Tibet, and a lot of people in Burmese community are praising about his good work for Burma” said Tin Maung Htoo, executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma.
The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) is federally incorporated, national non-governmental organization working for democracy and human rights in Burma since 1991. Contact: Suite 206, 145 Spruce St., Ottawa, K1R 6P1; Tel: 613.237.8056; Email: cfob@cfob.org; Web:www.cfob.org
Posted by Vijay on May 4, 2012, at 12:22 pm |
Minister Kenney to meet with Burmese-Canadian community leaders in Toronto
May 4, 2012
TORONTO – The Honourable Jason Kenney – Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism – will be meeting with Burmese community leaders in Toronto at Mahadhammika Buddhist Temple on May 6, 2012 at noon for a special reception and felicitation from the Burmese community in Canada.
Mr. Kenney has been a long-time supporter for the democratic movement in Burma. Since being elected to the Parliament in 1997 he was a key member of Parliamentary Friends of Burma (PFOB) before becoming a minister. Minister Kenney will be welcomed by members of Burmese community in Toronto and a meeting with community leaders will follow thereafter.
Place: 12 High Meadow Place, Toronto, Ontario, M9L 2Z5
Media enquiries:
- Ashin Kawita (Mahdhammika Buddhist Temple) at 416-747-7879
- Vijay Sappani (Canadian Friends of Burma) at 416-716-1522
- Or Tin Maung Htoo (Canadian Friends of Burma) at 613 297-6835
The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) is federally incorporated, national non-governmental organization working for democracy and human rights in Burma. Contact: Suite 206, 145 Spruce St., Ottawa, K1R 6P1; Tel: 613.237.8056 ; Email: cfob@cfob.org ; Web: www.cfob.org
Posted by Vijay on April 24, 2012, at 12:52 pm |
In an expected move, Baird today announced that Canada will suspend most sanctions on Burma. Canada follows other countries like US, UK, Norway who have done the same. Imports, exports and financial transactions are allowed but the embargo on arms still remains. Most companies have done the same and we need to keep the embargo on arms and military technology, until further progress is seen.
Canada should also now open an Embassy in Burma with a dedicated high commissioner for Burma and a trade office. Burma is rich in minerals and natural gas, providing a great opportunity for Canadian mining companies to do legitimate trade and create good paying jobs for the local Burmese people. More to come on this later….
Posted by Vijay on April 24, 2012, at 12:05 pm |
I did a blog few days back comparing the cost of Grekko baby stroller in Canada and US and for those who found that interesting, here is something I saw on media today.
OTTAWA – Canada’s retailers are blaming their suppliers for the large gap that still exists between their prices and identical goods for sale south of the border, despite the nearly equal value of the two dollars.
Diane Brisebois of the Retail Council of Canada says the merchants she represents are being unfairly singled out for having higher prices than their American counterparts.
She says because Canada’s population is so small in comparison, large multi-national vendors can enforce a special Canadian price for brand name products and it can be from 35 per cent to 40 per cent higher than in the U.S.
She says there are other reasons for the discrepancy, which some studies show average over 20 per cent.
Brisebois was testifying at a Senate committee looking into the issue.
She told the Senators they should look at the companies that supply Canadian retailers, but noted they had not as yet been called before the committee.
Posted by Vijay on April 23, 2012, at 11:32 pm |
Results are starting to come in Alberta #abvote , its a Tory majority.
For once Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, Dippers, Greens , Rhino’s and everyone else are happy with the victory of the Progressive Conservatives in Alberta, well technically the defeat of Wildrose party.
Once again pollsters were way off the mark…those hundreds of champagne bottles that Wildrose supporters got…hmnn going to be a bubbly garbage tomorrow.
White people in Alberta can relax, don’t have to live with the guilt of having elected a party whose candidates said white people are better positioned to serve than those who are not (yup in 2012 , in Canada some people believe that!)
Leech’s comment : “When different community leaders such as a Sikh leader or a Muslim leader speak, they really speak to their own people in many ways. As a Caucasian, I believe that I can speak to all the community.” This probably was the start of the decline of Wildrose.
Hudak had a majority in his pocket in the last Ontario provincial election. All he had to do was shut up and let the media do it work on the Liberal platform on immigrants. Instead he went on overdrive with his comments on ‘Foreign workers’ which was the end of his campaign. Immigrants with votes(lived in Canada for 4 or more years) would have voted against the idea in fear that newer ones might end up taking their jobs, when their turn was just coming!
More evidence that the right of centre is the place to be( I know B.C. is leaning more towards the pseudo communists). Canadian are getting more and more comfortable with the right of centre, but dont stretch that too far, just at arms length distance. Anti Immigrants hate not only scares immigrants/minorities, but also the moderate vote that hinges on the right and left of centre. Its that vote in that bandwidth which determines every election in Canada and gets into panic mode when hate speech is thrown out during campaign.
Congrats to Redford on being the first female premier of Alberta. Hope she understands that this was NOT a vote for her but a vote against the Wild West Wildrose party.
Posted by Vijay on April 23, 2012, at 3:23 pm |
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), policy session April 27, 2012- Ottawa.
Yeah, that’s right. We, at CFOB are conducting a one day policy consultation session to engage both the public and Burma analysts towards developing our policy on Canada-Burma relations. A lot has changed in the past two years that has surprised even the biggest cynics, but a lot more has to happen to win the full trust of the biggest optimists. We are cautiously optimistic with all the positive change happening in Burma and would like to see it as a foundation for greater things to come, towards a true, free democratic state. A lot is happening so fast that we need to stay informed, engaged and work with our policy makers towards updating our outlook on Burma.
Canada has played a pivotal role in pressuring Burma towards reforms, something that we at CFOB and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi truly appreciate. The next few years are critical. As Burma breaks out of its cocoon of autocracy rule to take small steps towards democracy, Canada can play a key role in guiding and helping the elected representatives of Burma and her citizens towards creating a progressive society. CFOB will facilitate and serve as a bridge between the democratic representatives and the people of Canada and Burma.
We are pleased to invite you to join the Policy Consultation on Burma. This one-day consultation comprised of two info sessions is scheduled to take place on 27 April 2012 (Friday) at University of Ottawa.
Details of the events are as followed:
Name: Public Policy Consultation on Burma
Date: 27 April 2012 (Friday)
Time: 9:30 am – 12:00
Venue: Room # 257 – Arts Building, University of Ottawa
Attendance: open to public but registration needed in advance (not later than April 26)
Name: Strategic Policy Consultation on Burma
Date: 27 April 2012 (Friday)
Time: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Venue: Room #3102 – Desmarais Building, University of Ottawa
Attendance: CFOB Advisory Board members and other special invitees
The Canadian Friends of Burma is hosting this consultation with the support of University of Ottawa and Canadian NGO Committee on Burma.
Please confirm your attendance - not later than April 26 evening, 2012, by calling at 613-297-6835 or sending an email message to cfob@cfob.org
I hope to see some of you there.
Posted by Vijay on April 22, 2012, at 4:46 pm |
We are stroller shopping and looking at a whole range of strollers. Our daughter was born in October, but we didn’t rush into buying a stroller.We got a snap n go that served the purpose, especially considering we were going into winter.Now that Spring is here, we are looking at options and we have settled to choose between the Quinny Buzz, Maxi Cosi Foray, Britax B-Agile or B-Ready and finally something new today in Toys R us – Gracco Trekko caught our attention. So I wanted to check online and out of curiosity wanted to check the reviews in US site and found something that is not new for Canadians- price for the same ditto product is $110 cheaper in US!
Graco Trekko in Canada Toys R Us ($269.00) Vs. Graco Trekko in US Toys R US ($159.99) . Why this Kolaveri on Canadians, esp on baby products ? Will Canadians be second class customers eternally to Corporate world? Will they keep giving us the excuse of the buying power of US, when the collectively corporate buying power of Toys R Us between US and Canada is greater than just one of them, especially when the product is the same-ditto!
We don’t need to have a common currency or a border less state, we don’t need to change how our government(s) work, but as we advocate for free trade and new trade and economic coalitions and deals are being formed all over the world, its high time, some sanity prevails in the world’s largest trading bloc…and until then some of my business will be going south like millions of other Canadians who take billions of their spending options to the US, rather than be treated like second class customers in Canada.
Posted by Vijay on April 19, 2012, at 2:14 pm |
Trillium gift of life network has launched the Gift of 8 Movement with Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Most Canadians are compassionate to agree with organ donation, very few actually take the effort to sign up for it. The biggest misconception is that if you sign your donor card, that takes care of it. That is not true. Here is a list of FAQ’s
This page gives you details on how your community is doing in terms of number of residents Vs. registered donors. In all only 21% of Ontario residents have registered. My community of Unionville is 9% , Toronto is at 13% .
Registration is low due to many factors, including lack of awareness, misconception that a donor card is sufficient, apathy, cultural and religious beliefs and superstitions in certain ethnic communities. 47% of Ontario residents live in and around GTA and majority of them are visible minorities and immigrants. Many of them come from countries where organ donation practice is not very common and a greater emphasize is needed to promote it through healthcare teams (including incentives to doctors, pharmacists to educate and sign up more people on it). There are other religious beliefs that affects recruitment in certain communities. TGL needs to have a stronger, better diversity outreach with its website and campaign in multiple languages through ethnic media and community groups. The greatest impact will come through an incentive program for Physicians and pharmacists, two major front line healthcare professionals that Ontarians engage regularly and trust.
For those who have simply being apathetic or lazy to sign up, its takes 3 minutes to do it. Just keep your health card number ready and follow the link below.
Here is a 3 minute process you can do to register:
1) Visit: https://beadonor.ca/
2) click on Register Now , you will be taken to this page
3) Have you Health card number handy and just fill in the details
Congratulations! You are a registered donor, now get your family to do the same.
Posted by Vijay on April 19, 2012, at 1:17 am |
Posted by Vijay on January 20, 2012, at 8:46 am |
This is what jet lag does to me..up all night reading up crazy good articles…found this one to be good to be shared- What have clothes got to do with sexual attacks? by Annie Zaidi.
Eve teasing (or sexual harassment as we call in West) is rather a common sight in India, esp in Mumbai and Delhi(as stats say) and often violent and cause of several deaths. My recent visit(to the south) made me feel the issue has dramatically reduced, thanks to increased media awareness and police enforcement and what I think is the greater opportunity for men to socially interact with women(thanks to a booming economy and workforce) but yet the issue is far from being dead and a deadly virus(like HIV) that spreads from what seems to be fun and affects the innocent, who often get blamed for it.
The often used lame excuse by some men(and some women) is to blame women for how they dress (in which case there should be no rape in Middle East!) and often law enforcement play the same game. In Banglore, the technology capital of India a ladies college has instructed all women to wear Sarees, what they deem to be ‘decently dressed’ and believe that eve teasing(sexual harassment) will magically disappear when that happens. While its commonly perceived that fair skinned women in ’sexy’ clothes are the target, a walk down any crowded place in India will prove that myth to be wrong. Women of all color and age are a target to these Vultures, though admittedly there has been an improvement over the years and yet common sight especially where young women folk together, be it outside colleges, beaches, malls or restaurants
Eve teasing has little to do with how Women dress and more to do with the attitudes of young(and old) men towards women. It is a disease that is prevalent among the young, old, rich,poor, educated, illiterate, urban, rural, religious,atheist in all segments of society. This BBC Story published recently Eve teasing in India: Assault or harassment by another name talks about the seriousness of the issue. Watch the video on how two young men were stabbed to death trying to protect two of their girl friends from eve teasers.
India’s history and culture that it preaches to the outside world often contradicts it actions.A land of Hindus who pray thousands of Goddess, make hundreds of movies a year singing the praise of women, a country of billion + people where family planning is a big message for the government , the land of Kamasutra and tantric sex that has left the West amorous to India and yet a country where women in general, every one of them would have in their life time have faced a public sexual harassment case from men in a country where the majority of them are still shy to ask for a condom in a store! Welcome to India!
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