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By: Arvind Magesan in Calgary, AB
Defenders of Donald Trump say his "shithole countries" remark regarding people from Africa, Haiti and other nations was just Trump being Trump — the president may have used salty language, but it's really just his way of saying the United States should have a merit-based immigration system like Canada's.
A generous interpretation of Trump's comments are that immigrants from certain so-called "shithole" countries — African nations, Haiti and El Salvador — are not typically highly skilled or economically self-reliant, and if admitted would need to depend on the state.
In fact, Trump apologists — and the president himself — might be surprised by what the economic data says about immigrants who come to Canada from the "shithole" countries.
John Fredericks, who was Trump's campaign chair in Virginia, told CNN that immigrants from those countries "come into the United States and they do nothing to increase the prosperity of the American worker. They lower wages or go on welfare and extend our entitlement system …. Australia and Canada have a merit-based system. You know why they do that? Because they want to bring people into their country who are going to enhance the prosperity of their citizens."
Trump, himself tweeted a similar sentiment.
"I, as President, want people coming into our Country who are going to help us become strong and great again, people coming in through a system based on MERIT. No more Lotteries! #AMERICA FIRST"— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018
The conclusion we are expected to make, it seems, is that if the United States was to adopt a purely merit-based system, immigrants would not come from these countries — they would come from countries like Norway, and immigrants from these Norway-like countries would not put pressure on blue-collar U.S. workers because they would be highly skilled and, more importantly, they wouldn't be a drain on the system because they would be economically self-reliant.
Canada offers an opportunity to take a look at this hypothesis because our points-based immigration system screens immigrants on merit to a large degree. So when we screen immigrants on merit, who do we let in and how do they do?
The first thing to note is that Canada admits many immigrants from the "shithole" countries.
Data from the 2016 Census shows over the last five years there have been more than twice as many immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean (which includes Haiti and El Salvador) than there were from the U.S. There were also more immigrants from the African continent than from the U.S. and North and Western Europe combined.
Clearly a merit-based system does not mean we only admit people from the "Norways" of the world — and in fact, the census data shows only 230 people immigrated from Norway over the five-year period.
The next question is how do these immigrants fare?
To look more closely at this, I used individual 2011 Canadian census data (detailed 2016 data isn't yet available) to look at three groups: Canadians whose families have been here for three generations or longer; immigrants from the "Norways" of the world (Northern and Western Europe, including the U.K., Germany, and Scandanavia) and immigrants from Trump's "shithole" countries (Central America, the Caribbean, Africa).
I looked at the skill levels of the different groups, as measured by their education level, and then at their economic self-sufficiency: Employment, wages and how much they receive in transfers and employment benefits from the government.
Let's start with skill level.
Forty per cent of Canadians who have been here for three generations or longer have at least some post-secondary education, and 18 per cent have a bachelor's degree. By comparison, a much larger percentage of immigrants of either type (53 per cent) have some post-secondary, and 27 per cent of immigrants from "Shitholes" have a bachelor's degree. So by this standard measure of skill, immigrants from "Shitholes" have a slightly higher skill level than do immigrants from "Norways," and a much higher skill level on average than Canadians who have been here for generations.
What about self-sufficiency?
It is commonly argued that immigrants, particularly from poorer countries, are "expensive" because they receive a disproportionate amount of government transfers and unemployment benefits. The truth is, though Canadians who have been here for generations are more likely to be employed and earn (slightly) more on average than either immigrant group, immigrants from the "Shitholes" are far more likely to be employed than immigrants from the "Norways."
Perhaps more interestingly, immigrants from the "Shitholes" receive fewer transfer payments from all levels of government than "Norwegian" immigrants.
Finally, looking at employment insurance benefits alone, Canadians who have been here for generations receive more than either group.
What can we say about these numbers?
Firstly, immigrants from the "Shithole" countries are not typically low skill and in principle, should not be putting pressure on employment or wages of blue-collar workers in Canada. Then why is this such a common perception?
It's likely due to a different issue, that high-skilled immigrants are unable to get high-skill jobs for other reasons (discrimination in the labour market, an inability of employers to recognize or evaluate credentials, or even language issues) and then do end up competing with lower-skilled Canadian workers.
Secondly, immigrants from the "Shithole" countries are generally no more dependent on the state than other Canadians. Though they earn less than those from the "Norway" countries, they are more likely to be employed and they receive less total government transfer payments.
As an economist, it's important to state that we shouldn't interpret these relationships between country of origin and economic outcomes as causal — workers from different countries are different for many reasons (demographics like age, as well as occupation, etc).
But that doesn't at all affect the main point — Trump's perception of the differences in the average immigrant from countries like Haiti and Norway is at the very least a consequence ignorance, or as many have suggested, racism.
One thing that can't be rationalized by the raw numbers here: The course of history and the current plight of many of the "shithole" countries is at least partly a consequence of U.S. foreign policies, that the position of relative economic superiority of the U.S. is partly an outcome of these policies, and that this above all might imply a moral obligation on the part of the U.S. when deciding who to let in and from where.
Arvind Magesan is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Find the original article here.
By: Kelly Toughill in Halifax
Thousands of families will soon get a second chance to bring parents and grandparents to Canada.
That's the good news recently announced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The bad news is that there is no chance Canada will keep its promise to issue 10,000 permanent resident visas to extended family members in 2017.
Officials won't even finish collecting the new applications until December and it will take months to process those applications after they arrive.
Problems with the parent and grandparent sponsorship program are a classic case of great intentions gone wrong. In this case, families who followed the rules were suddenly shut out of the system, and other families were given false hope that they could reunite with ailing relatives.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have changed Canada's immigration system significantly in the last 16 months. They reversed a much-criticized law that allowed the government to strip people of their Canadian citizenship. They set up new programs to help businesses recruit tech workers and to support Francophone immigration outside Quebec. They made it easier for entrepreneurs to come to Canada, and eased rules for workers who want to move to struggling Atlantic Canada. They shortened the wait time to sponsor a spouse and made the forms easier to read and understand. They helped international students by setting up a new, speedy immigration program in Atlantic Canada, giving students extra points for Canadian degrees and making it easier for international students to become citizens after they get permanent resident status.
Those changes were greeted with relief and even gratitude across Canada.
Changes to the parent and grandparent program were supposed to be another feel-good tweak to the system. Instead, the changes angered the very consitutuency the government was trying to please.
Under the Conservative government, Ottawa set a quota each year for the number of Canadian families that could sponsor a parent or grandparent for permanent resident status. The Liberal government doubled the quota from 5,000 to 10,000, but initially kept the same process: applications opened in early January and closed when the quota was reached – always within days.
To win one of the coveted visas, most families hired experienced immigration lawyers or consultants and paid stiff fees for private couriers to wait in line outside the Mississauga processing centre the night before the program opened.
Just three weeks before the program was expected to open this year, the government announced it was scrapping the first-come, first-served system. Instead, then-Immigration Minister John McCallum invited families to fill out an online form and promised to hold a lottery to decide who could formally apply. He called the new process "more fair and transparent."
The announcement came after thousands of families had already prepared applications that require medical exams, police certificates and expensive translations, not to mention lawyers' fees. Many families wasted months of work and thousands of dollars on applications they would never get to file.
The larger problem, though, was the online form set up to register for the lottery; families could fill out the form without figuring out if they were actually eligible to sponsor a parent or grandparent.
Most know that only Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor a parent or grandparent for permanent resident status. But many don't know that you must be able to support that parent and that the only acceptable proof of your financial ability is past income tax forms. Many also didn't realize that parents and grandparents must be healthy to immigrate to Canada.
When immigration lawyers and regulated consultants saw the online form, many immediately warned of coming pandemonium. Some dismissed those warnings as sour grapes, suggesting that lawyers were just mad that clients might be able to sponsor relatives without their high-priced help.
It turns out the lawyers were right.
Almost 100,000 families registered for the lottery, but only a fraction of the 10,000 that were invited to apply actually managed to do so.
Immigration consultants shared stories of clients showing up on their doorstep with expectations that Canada was going to immediately fly their relatives here because the family had "won the lottery." Many had no idea they still had to pull together the complex and expensive application in 90 days. In June, an immigration official told a conference that only 700 of the 10,000 families had filed applications, and that 15 percent of those applications were incomplete.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada still doesn't know how many of the 10,000 families invited to apply will actually get to bring their relatives to Canada. A spokesperson said this week that 6,020 of the 10,000 families invited to apply last February actually filed applications. However, immigration officers still don't know how many of those application are complete or valid. Those numbers are expected later this fall.
In the meantime, Ottawa has quietly launched a second lottery. The notice was posted Friday afternoon before Labour Day. The new invitations were sent out on Sept. 6. Families must finish the applications by Dec. 8, and it will take several months after that deadline for permanent resident visas to be issued.
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen vigorously defended the new application process in early summer, when the problems first became public. Hussen could not be reached for comment this week, but a spokesperson for the department suggested the new process might change.
"This is the first year that we're using the new random selection intake process, and we are actively monitoring this model to see how we can make improvements in future years," communications advisor Faith St.-John wrote in an email.
Kelly Toughill is an associate professor of journalism at the University of King's College and founder of Polestar Immigration Research Inc.
Commentary by Will Tao in Vancouver
The Liberal Government finally delivered on their long-standing campaign promise to end conditional permanent residency for spouses on April 28.
Previously introduced in October 2012 by the Conservative government, the conditional permanent residence regulation required those who were in a relationship for two years or less and had no children to live with their sponsors for two years after they became permanent residents. Some exceptions were carved out for individuals who were victims of abuse or neglect. The Toronto Star (Nicholas Keung) reported that only 57 individuals sought an exemption and were successful in 75 per cent of their exemption requests.
The negative consequences of conditional permanent residency were often borne by vulnerable women and their young newly-born children. New to Canada and without a support network, they were victimized by their abusive spouses, but often too scared to seek help.
While the exception provisions allowed for a streamlined process to contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in these circumstances, I had several women subject to conditional permanent residence tell me first-hand stories of being prevented access to computers, phones, even the internet. In one case, I had a woman tell me that she locked herself in a bathroom just to communicate with me as we prepared her case.
Another woman told me about feigning sleep in order to avoid the verbal and psychological abuse of a partner coming home violent and intoxicated. All of this because they were afraid to leave their spouses and put their status in Canada at risk.
I am glad these individuals can now sleep better at night and enjoy the security that all Canadians rightfully enjoy.
It is important to note that that these stories did not only come from vulnerable women. They also came from male conditional permanent residents who were abandoned by their spouses, as well as the LGBTQ2+. Many of these relationships broke down foremost as a result of infidelity, leading later to abuse and neglect – a sequence of events that the earlier exceptions policy appears to have overlooked.
Conditional permanent residence created more harm than good, more uncertainty. For this, I am glad it is a thing of the past and we can move forward.
Immigrant Marriage Breakdowns ≠Marriages of Convenience
Moving forward, in my view, begins by re-framing the two issues of marriage fraud and marriage breakdown. We should not use the end of the conditional permanent residence requirement as a pretext to now second guess or re-scrutinize the genuineness and immigration intent of a majority (85%+) of bona-fide immigrant marriages. The end of conditional permanent residence, I hope, will not lend cover to sponsors trying to remove their sponsored spouses from Canada.
The reality with sponsorship of immigrant spouses is that a significant portion of genuine marriages will end up breaking down. While academic research is limited in this area, my hypothesis is based on the following:
First, I believe economic challenges have a greater negative effective on immigrant marriages and common-law partnership. Piecing together what we do know, recent Canada statistics show that 48% of all marriages are now ending in divorce, with financial issues and adultery among the leading causes. Poverty affects racialized individuals at a rate four times greater than non-racialized families and past studies have found immigrants who have been in Canada less than five years are 11 percentage points more likely to be in poverty than other Canadians. Furthermore, immigrant families, receive less in household income and are less likely to own homes than non-immigrant families. New Canadian immigrants, especially women, are often more likely to face labour market challenges and experiences with precarious work conditions.
Second, I suggest that cultural shock also contributes to marriage breakdown by creating consequences such as the return of the sponsored spouse to their home country, abandonment, and adultery. Carmen Munoz, Program Manager for the Cross-Cultural Peer Support Group Program for Immigrant and Refugee Women (CCPSGP) highlights in a piece she writes the challenges new immigrant women face which include experiencing "intense culture shock, isolation, depression, frustration and an overwhelming sense of confusion, which in turn, not only manifests itself mentally, but through physical reactions as well."
The cultural pressures, the economic pressures, and often extended family pressures (from both the Sponsor and the Applicant) can coalesce and intersect into major challenges for immigrant marriages and common-law partnerships.
Unfortunately, conditional permanent residence lumped the issue of marriage breakdown unnecessarily into the marriage fraud debate, inputting bad intentions where more often than not none existed. Not only did it punish genuine couples often at their most vulnerable moments, but it also led to not enough focus being placed to eliminating the actual root causes of marriage fraud – unauthorized legal practitioners both in Canada and internationally who set up marriages of convenience for their own financial gain.
Ultimately, I suggest that Parliament should focus on creating conditions that strengthen immigrant marriages and prevent systemic abuse of our sponsorship system, rather than enforcing back-end restrictions that may aggravate the challenges faced by new Canadian families.
Will Tao is a Canadian immigration lawyer based in Vancouver, B.C., with a practice primary focused on complex immigration applications and refusals on behalf of educational institutions and international students. Tao is a former member of New Canadian Media's board of directors and a current member of the Not-for-profit corporation. He currently sits on the Canadian Bar Association British Columbia's Equality and Diversity Committee and on the City of Vancouver's Cultural Communities Advisory Committee.
Commentary by Andrew Griffith in Ottawa
The just-concluded National Metropolis Conference is an annual forum for researchers, policy makers and immigrant-service organizations. This year the conference was held in Montreal.
Here are some of the themes covered and my take on them:
Integration – The Search for a New Metaphor: This session, prompted by the Canadian Index for Measuring Integration (CIMI) discussions on the meaning and definition of integration (and my Integration and multiculturalism: Finding a new metaphor – Policy Options) drew a good crowd (60-70 persons).
I opened with my critique of the "two-way street" metaphor by emphasizing that it did not capture the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of immigration, presenting my preferred metaphor, harmony/jazz, where harmony represents the underlying framework of laws and institutions, and jazz the improvisation involved in resolving accommodation demands.
Mort Weinfeld of McGill University drew from the personal experience of his parents and talking to cab drivers, noting that integration of the second generation is key. His preferred metaphor is the roundabout, with multiple points of entry and exit, with traffic moving smoothly.
Richard Bourhis of UQAM provided a Quebec perspective, looking at how Quebec language policies were characteristic of an assimilationist approach.
Elke Winter of the University of Ottawa drew from her analysis of European policies and practices and noted a third dimensions, that of outside actors and transnational forces (e.g., other countries, home communities of immigrants), and that integration was more a three-way than two-way process.
The presentations prompted considerable discussion, although no one jumped to the defence of the 'two-way street.'
Thinking about next year, this is a topic that merits further exploration, perhaps involving some literary descriptions or metaphors.
Citizenship – Factors Underlying a Declining Naturalization Rate: In the only session on citizenship, Prof. WInter opened the workshop with an overview of how Canadian citizenship has evolved over the last 150 years, setting out four phases: colonized citizenship (pre-1947), nationalizing citizenship (1947-76), de-ethnicising citizenship (1977-2008) and re-nationalizing citizenship (2009-15) with a possible fifth phase emerging under the Liberal government. She presented some preliminary findings from an interview-based study.
I followed with my usual presentation of citizenship statistics, showing the impact of previous policy and administrative changes along with an assessment of the 2014 Conservative changes and Liberal partial repeal of these changes (currently in the Senate).
Jessica Merolli of Sheridan presented the key MIPEX naturalization indicators and data from the European Social Survey comparing immigrant/non-immigrant attitudes on issues such as self-sufficiency, interests in politics, LGBT acceptance and others and how over time in the country of immigration differences declined. The most striking exception was with respect to interest in politics, where immigrants, no matter how short or long the time, were more interested than non-immigrants.
Questions of note included do we need a citizenship knowledge test given that it presents barriers for some groups, and the impact that the physical presence requirement has on families when one parent has to work abroad given difficulties in obtaining well-paying work in Canada.
Minority Voice, Identity and Inclusion – Media and Literary Expressions: A mix of a case study (Punjabi media by Syeda Bukhari where she noted the ethnic media was getting more sophisticated in comparing what politicians said to English and ethnic media and thus holding them to account) and the overall contribution ethnic media provides to integration (Madeline Ziniak, current chair of the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA)).
Myer Siemiatycki of Ryerson University gave a fascinating presentation regarding the person and poetry of Julian Tuwin, a Polish Jew (or Jewish Pole) whose loyalty and identity were attacked by both sides.
Negotiating "fit" – Connections Between Employer Mindsets/Practices and Labour Market Success of Newcomers: Kelly Thomson of York University provided an overview of the issue of "fit" and presented a case study of foreign-trained accountants. Aamna Ashraf of the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group (near Toronto) presented the results of a study on soft barriers, with focused and practical recommendations. Madeline Ng of Autodata and Nancy Moulday of TD Bank presented how their respective organizations encourage and facilitate diversity in their workforces.
Fitting In: Identity and belonging among second generation Canadians: Elizabeth Burgess-Pinto of MacEwan University organized this roundtable discussion focussing on the second generation. A number of second generation (and generation 1.5) participants shared their experiences, challenges and identities.
Andrew Griffith is the author of Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism and is a regular media commentator and blogger (Multiculturalism Meanderings). This commentary was adapted slightly from his blog post on the conference. He is the former Director General for Citizenship and Multiculturalism and has worked for a variety of government departments in Canada and abroad.
Commentary by Surjit Singh Flora in Brampton
For many Sikhs in Canada today, the Komagata Maru incident still looms large in our consciousness.
For anyone not familiar with this event in our nation's history, in May 1914 the Komagata Maru sailed from Hong Kong bound for Vancouver, carrying 376 passengers. Most of the passengers were from the Punjab, India. All were British subjects.
At that time, Canada had a regulation referred to as "continuous passage" which stated that immigrants must "come from the country of their birth, or citizenship, by a continuous journey and on through tickets purchased before leaving the country of their birth, or citizenship."
The regulation had been brought into force in 1908 to curb Indian immigration to Canada. The passengers on the ship intended to challenge this regulation. On their arrival, the ship was denied docking privileges, and eventually the ship was escorted out of the harbour by the Canadian military in July 1914 and forced to sail back to India, where 19 of the passengers were killed by gunfire upon disembarking and many others imprisoned.
The Komagata Maru story is an example of what was then the ultimate expression of colonial bigotry, exposing Canada's deliberate process in controlling immigration by excluding those people the government of the day deemed unfit to enter. These justifications were couched in racist and ethnocentric views of "progress", "civilization", and "suitability" which all were used to support the view that Canada should remain a "White Man's Country".
Greener pastures
In terms of immigration policy, the Canada of today is the complete opposite of still colonial pre-World War I Canada.
Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared that our borders are open to anyone. But this "openness" is now being tested. Refugee claimants reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's tougher stand on immigration have begun to head north to what they may see as greener, more accepting pastures. They are now daily crossings at the border, flouting the Canada – U.S. "Safe Third Country Agreement", under which refugee claimants are required to request refugee protection in the first "safe" country they arrive in.
In landing in the U.S., but crossing our border as refugees, they are in fact breaking the law and this has become a difficult situation for Prime Minister Trudeau, while simultaneously making many Canadians very uneasy.
Many of us applauded our new government's efforts to bring Syrian refugees to Canada. I believe a big part of the general acceptance of this policy was rooted in public perception that the process was well organized, refugee claimants were thoroughly screened and upon arrival the housing, schooling and other necessary supports were well in place. The latest development is the opposite of organized, with claimants crossing Canada's porous and largely uncontrolled border with no pre-screening and no homes and sponsors waiting to receive them.
Asylum shopping
Canadians are now watching to see how our government will react to this new refugee situation. If Canada does not exert its sovereignty, honour the Safe Third Country Agreement, and deter these opportunistic attempts at what can only be seen as "shopping for a yes" by claimants, this trickle will become a wave.
Canada is ill prepared for uncontrolled refugee claimants streaming into this country, and I believe the majority of Canadians expect our government to act in Canada's best interest. This means not merely reacting to claimants crossing our borders, but to act by deterring it. We are a country that values fair process and the rule of law.
Today, Canada has a compassionate, principled approach to both immigration and refugees. Our government's inability to control this developing situation may ultimately do harm to our current refugee system, ultimately causing Canadians to have a lack of faith in the system, and ultimately in the government that is charged with managing it.
Prime Minister Trudeau will need to step outside of his comfort zone and put in place firm measures to respond to this looming crisis. At times like these, his usual "sunny ways" approach will have to give way to more firm leadership.
The Prime Minister is being tested here, and his next move may finally provide Canadians with a true indication of just how fit to lead Justin Trudeau really is.
Brampton-based Surjit Singh Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer.
Commentary by Don Curry in North Bay
Municipal councils in Canada's smaller centres do not appear to be at the forefront in analyzing demographic and diversity trends affecting their communities. They ought to be looking for immigrants closer to home, rather than overseas.
I see it in discussions with municipal politicians from my perch in Northern Ontario, and in a recent Brockville Recorder and Times news article about attracting immigrant entrepreneurs. The municipality secured a provincial government grant to commission a study on the topic, one in which I am particularly interested.
The population of Canada is rising steadily and is more than 36 million people. Approximately 300,000 immigrants are now arriving annually.
Generally, newcomers to Canada do not emigrate to smaller centres, but to the larger ones, with Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver taking the majority. What is becoming more prevalent, however, is secondary migration to smaller centres.
Immigrant-owned businesses
In North Bay, population 54,000, where I live, there are more than 70 first generation immigrant-owned businesses. This is a relatively recent occurrence. Temiskaming Shores, population 10,500, is 90 minutes north of North Bay and it has more than 20 first generation immigrant-owned businesses. There, too, this is a recent occurrence.
The Brockville story that caught the attention of New Canadian Media noted the municipality of 22,000 people could attract immigrant entrepreneurs already in Canada. It was based on a study that contained a number of recommendations to make the municipality more receptive to immigrants.
I completed a study for the Far Northeast Training Board that will be released in January that covers some of the issues that Brockville council was discussing. I interviewed 36 immigrant business owners in 11 municipalities in Northeastern Ontario, the smallest with only 400 people and the largest the City of Timmins, population 43,000.
It supports the conclusion of the Brockville study that you don't have to recruit internationally for immigrant entrepreneurs — they are already here. I expect to report on it in this space when it is officially released in January.
Moving within Canada
But for now, I can tell you that it shows two-thirds of the immigrant entrepreneurs in the study area were born in India, but did not come to Northern Ontario from there. They came from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Dissatisfied with the high cost of GTA home ownership, high cost to purchase a business, and the congestion of the big city, they looked for alternatives and found them in Northern Ontario. They are just as likely to find them in Brockville, just a few hours down Highway 401, and in other smaller Ontario centres.
For municipal councils and economic development organizations, this is terrific news. Many smaller centre business owners want to sell their business and retire. Demographers have seen this coming for years, as more baby boomers retire.
In many cases their children have moved to a larger centre, or they are not interested in continuing the family business. In our region, we are seeing immigrant entrepreneurs moving north to fill the void.
Caught up in detail
The municipal council in Brockville, according to the newspaper report, was receptive to the study but reluctant to allocate funds in its budget to make Brockville a more welcoming community for immigrants. That is typical of what I hear in Northern Ontario as well.
Municipal councils, in my experience, spend far too much time on the mundane day-to-day issues that should be the purview of municipal staff members, and far too little time looking at the long-term future of their communities. The large cities in Canada, however, understand the value of putting policies, procedures, and people in place to ensure they are doing all they can to attract and retain immigrants.
Many of the smaller ones still haven't figured it out. Studies such as the one presented this month in Brockville and next month in the Far Northeast Training Board catchment area of a large chunk of Northeastern Ontario should serve as a wakeup call.
While municipal councils in smaller centres spend months poring over budgets, their population may be in decline and they are doing little to reverse the trend. They are preoccupied with minutiae.
Now they know it is far easier to recruit people from the GTA than from India. But it will take municipal will to make things happen on a larger scale.
Don Curry is the president of Curry Consulting (www.curryconsulting.ca). He was the founding executive director the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre and the Timmins & District Multicultural Centre and is now the chair of the board of directors.
News Analysis by NCM Newsroom
Days after being sworn in as prime minister on November 4 last year, Justin Trudeau listed priority tasks for his ministers.
Like that of his colleagues, the list for John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, drew much from the Liberal party's election promises.
While resettling Syrian refugees was the number one priority, McCallum was told that his overarching goal was "to reopen Canada's doors to welcome those who want to contribute to its success."
The wording was clever. While it tried to highlight the previous Conservative government's reluctance to open Canada's door to refugees, it retained the essence of what the country's need for immigrants has always been: It's the economy, stupid.
And, McCallum has stuck to the time-tested script. Tabling this year's report on immigration targets in parliament, he said the government is boosting the base number of immigrants to be admitted next year to 300,000. The previous annual targets from 2011 to 2015 was 260,000, but it swelled to 300,000 this year on account of the Syrian arrivals. The last time this base figure was reached was way back in 1913.
Attempting to give this annual setting of targets a more long-term view, the minister told reporters that it "lays the foundation for future growth." What was unsaid is that last year's election rhetoric for letting in more refugees was a one-off political gesture meant to to induce a feel-good across the country and reinforce the "Canada is back" mantra.
Although the 2017 intake targets includes 40,000 refugees and protected persons, it is down from nearly 56,000 this year. Also slightly down is the number of people who would be let in on humanitarian or compassionate grounds: 3,500 against this year's 3,600.
And when it comes to government-assisted refugees, the numbers are far lower. The number for 2017 is 7,500, down from nearly 20,000 admitted so far this year, and still fewer than the nearly 10,000 admitted in 2015.
Like the previous government, the targets focus on boosting entries for those in the "economic" class. It has been increased to 172,500 from 160,600. In the family class, the number of sponsored spouses, partners, children, parents and grandparents will climb to 84,000 from 80,000.
Signalling left, turning right
While people in the settlement sector would bemoan the cuts to refugee intake given the continuing crises around the world, others would call it pragmatism. Those less charitable to the Liberals would say they are back at their game of signalling left, turning right.
The Liberals know that Canadians will not continue to be supportive of refugee resettlement. Reports about the government being caught off guard by the large number of children each Syrian family had in tow would cast doubts about the whole manner of bringing them in, starting from the vetting process.
Keeping both public perceptions and capacity constraints in mind, the government has astutely kept in abeyance its own economic growth council's recommendation to raise annual immigration levels to 450,000 over the next five years.
However, it is doubling down on bringing in economic immigrants. Early on, Ottawa indicated that it would be more positively inclined towards international students becoming permanent residents, with McCallum terming them as "the perfect immigrants."
The Express Entry immigration selection system, the key change to the economic immigration stream made by the previous government, is now being seen as a tool to also promote family reunification. The idea is to give candidates with family members already in Canada additional points.
Discounting citizenship
The unsettling thing about the emphasis on immigration levels is the indifferent attitude towards the very feature that makes our system unique: one of the shortest paths to citizenship, that over 80 per cent of immigrants eagerly choose to take. At least until recently.
The number of citizenship applicants has plummeted for the second year in a row after the more than a doubling in the application fee from $300 to $630. For a while it was $200, after being at $100 for a long time.
Evidently, citizenship applications are down. Only 36,000 citizenship applications were received from January to June this year, a little more than one-third of the number for the same period last year, according to data obtained for policy analysis by Andrew Griffith, a retired immigration department director-general. In 2015, a total of 130,000 applications were submitted compared to an average of 200,000 in the previous years.
While $630 itself is a hefty sum, the actual cost incurred could be much more if one includes the fee (around $200) for a language proficiency test that many applicants would need to take, and further for the Canadian passport (minimum $120). And, in the case of persons from source countries like India that do not allow for dual citizenship, the expenses add up. The fee to process the giving up of Indian citizenship and obtaining a new visa would take the costs to well over $1,500.
Imagine a family of four needing to spend $6,000 when struggling economically to put roots in a new country. No one is suggesting that citizenship should come cheap, but forcing those on the cusp of becoming citizens to bear the whole cost of the process is rather unfair. Especially when the government is ready to waive or subsidize fees for refugees. How much more do new Canadians need to do to become citizens of a country they cheerily chose?
More importantly, isn't ultimate citizenship the whole point of welcoming new immigrants in the first place?
Whereas the Liberals were critical of all the changes to immigration rules made by the Harper government, they were coy about reviewing the citizenship fee during the election campaign. Now that they hold the reins and are reviewing Bill C6 to amend the Citizenship Act, there is still no mention of any adjustment to the fee.
While tax-paying permanent residents are already an underclass unable to vote even in local elections, this disenfranchisement is now set to grow and become a permanent feature of our polity. It calls into question our own understanding of democracy and surely not something we should be proud of.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by all NCM columnists and contributors are the author's alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of New Canadian Media.
Commentary by Howard Anglin
There are some ideas so daft that it takes a very smart person to think of them. Or, in the case of a new proposal to triple Canada's population to 100 million by the end of the century, it takes an entire committee of smart people.
The authors of this particular idea are the fourteen members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Advisory Council on Economic Growth, who issued their first report last week. To most Canadians, the idea is so preposterous as not to bear analyzing. Crumple it up and start again. But, as these are supposed to be serious thinkers — selected, according to a government press release, "because they are recognized, forward-thinking individuals in their respective fields" — it's worth taking their proposal at face value.
Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of management consulting giant McKinsey & Co and the committee's chief advocate of "a Canada of 100 million," worries that without significant population growth, Canada's international "relevance" will suffer. This is an odd thing to say, and an even odder thing to care about. How many Canadians, waking in the dark this morning, bundling their children into winter jackets and out the door to school, give two pucks for Canada's "relevance"?
The disconnect between Mr. Barton, who lives in London, and the concerns of most Canadians was described in a recent column by Peggy Noonan as "something we are seeing all over, the top detaching itself from the bottom, feeling little loyalty to it or affiliation with it."
"In Manhattan," she says, "I see the children of the global business elite marry each other and settle in London or New York or Mumbai." Having lived in London, New York, Washington DC and Ottawa (though not Mumbai), I've seen this phenomenon up close. Mr. Barton and his transnationalist peers think of Canada in terms of personal convenience and corporate expediency; to most Canadians, it means their home and community.
According to the Canadian Press, Mr. Barton believes "the world would benefit from a larger version of Canada's stable, diversified democracy and economy" — but in the same breath he admits that 100 million "is a big number" that "would obviously change the country considerably."
He fails to explain why we should believe Canada would remain the peaceful, pluralist society we currently enjoy after we added 65 million new people. Or why we would risk our remarkable and (looking around the world) extremely rare security and prosperity for … for what? "Relevance?"
There is no reason to think a Canada of 100 million would be a better place to live and good reasons to think it wouldn't. Of the twenty countries with the highest per capita GDP, only the United States has more than 100 million people. Most have fewer than 10 million.
The bias against size carries across other national virtues. Happiness? Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland. Income equality? Sweden, Hungary, Norway. Reputation? Sweden, Canada, Switzerland. See a pattern?
The Trudeau government's own immigration policy belies the Advisory Council's assumption that more immigration will result in net economic benefits. Under the previous government, economic immigration as a percentage of overall immigration approached 67 per cent; under the new government, it has fallen to 53 per cent. In other words, there is a lot that can be done by better selecting immigrants within existing levels before we consider increasing intake.
It's true we are a large country, with plenty of open space, but recent immigration has not filled that emptiness and future immigration is likely to follow the established paths to our cities and suburbs. Even at current, historically high immigration levels, Canada's population is projected to grow by more than 20 million in the next 35 years. Are you ready for a Toronto of 20 million and a Vancouver of 10 million?
None of this will affect the members of Trudeau's Advisory Council. For them, immigration is something that happens elsewhere. The acres of tract housing sprawling into farmland and greenbelts around our major cities are glimpsed by these people only in the minutes before takeoff and landing. Hopping between leafy downtown enclaves and luxury hotels, they won't feel the strain on our roads, hospitals and schools, or the deterioration of our built and natural environments.
Industry Minister Navdeep Bains has already cautioned that he is hearing pushback from Canadians. This isn't surprising. The government's own polling shows only 8 per cent of Canadians think immigration should increase, while three times as many believe it is already too high. And that was before the Trudeau government increased annual levels to 300,000 already this year.
A government ignores clear public opinion at its peril — and at the nation's. Significantly increasing immigration levels in defiance of the clear preference of Canadians, including recent immigrants, invites a sharp public backlash of the kind we've seen in the United States, the U.K. and Europe. Those who decry Trumpism should be the most vocal opponents of this proposal.
Unlike management consultants, citizens ask questions that are beyond the Advisory Council's remit. Questions like: What will it mean to be Canadian after we've added 65 million new people? What holds our society together when immigration is so rapid that integration becomes impossible?
However smart the Advisory Council members may be, it's average Canadians who are displaying common sense. They know that size is not a meaningful measure of national success. And they have seen from experience that when immigration is accelerated too quickly, multiculturalism becomes a centrifugal force — no longer holding successive waves of immigrants in a stable tension but driving us apart.
Howard Anglin was the chief of staff to Canada's minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2011 to 2013.
By arrangement with ipolitics.ca
Commentary by Pradip Rodrigues in Mississauga
Last week, Canada's innovation minister Navdeep Bains all but conceded that the Liberals needed to craft a positive message about boosting the number of immigrants into Canada. In other words those in favour of a massive increase need to put a spin on it. There is resistance to that idea from sections within the Liberal party as well as from Canadians worried about the effect more immigrants will have on their job prospects, let alone their children's job prospects.
Following public consultations with Canadians coast to coast, Immigration minister John McCallum not so long ago insisted that wherever he went, Canadians were telling him they wanted more immigrants. Some might have literally been begging, especially in immigrant-rich places like Brampton.
It is the position of many Liberals, the business community and the elite at large who are for a massive intake of new immigrants, refugees, foreign students who they insist are needed to fill labour shortages. Any day now a new three-year immigration plan is expected to be unveiled, and it looks increasingly likely that the annual number of immigrants for 2017 will be a lot higher than in previous years. By the end of 2016, Canada will have welcomed well over 300,000 immigrants.
A minority favour higher immigration levels
In a Nanos Research poll conducted in August 39 per cent of Canadians felt Ottawa should accept fewer immigrants in 2017 than in 2016, 37 per cent were satisfied with the current levels and just 16 per cent thought we should accept more immigrants.
But then again, a Canadian, both old and new is for or against higher or lower immigration levels depending on their current financial situation, their social status and place on the food chain.
If the Canadian is a new immigrant trapped in a precarious work cycle or at the mercy of temp agencies, talk about Canada's desperate shortage of workers and the need to import more immigrants would seem like a cruel and ongoing joke, after thousands of immigrants made that fateful decision to immigrate based on such 'reports' only to find themselves unemployed or underemployed.
Immigration is favoured by the elite
If you are a corporate CEO or business owner who stands to gain richly by bringing in skilled workers rather than invest and train young Canadians, increasing immigrant levels is in your interest.
The Liberal elites who often happen to be civil servants with job security and generous pension plans , university professors, media professionals and the affluent who aren't threatened by waves of immigrants love the idea of a human flood. It makes for a feel good story about great success of Canada's stunning diversity, generosity and multiculturalism. It contributes to a sense of national identity.
Neither are their jobs threatened by immigrants who won't 'qualify' as they lack 'Canadian experience' and the demographic composition of their neighborhoods won't be affected by immigrants seeking jobs and homes.
Currently there are many media commentators who are encouraging the government to heed experts and business leaders who support higher immigration levels. In other words, they infer that the tremendous pushback against the idea comes from less educated and racist Canadians. Some media commentators might almost want to call them 'deplorables' for their anti-immigrant mentality. After all how can Joe Sixpack know what's good for the country?
In earlier times it was easier to defer to elites and experts on complex issues like the economy, there were few questions raised by the 50 per cent or so of the population who either had an average IQ, lower education and fewer skills. The reason was many of them had decent to well-paying jobs in manufacturing and the trades that didn't require a college degree. But in 2016 this is not the case.
Technology is eliminating job categories
More jobs than ever before require complex skills and higher education. Even a car mechanic needs to be computer savvy and it may not hurt to have programming skills in the future.
But even if free training is available, can a person without the aptitude and mental agility master complex change? This new technological age is especially cruel to those in the arts as well as those not cut out for higher education.
There are millions of Canadians and Americans, mostly men who are currently unemployed, stagnating at dead-end jobs or have simply stopped looking for work. These are victims of technology changes and outsourcing. While the new report released recently by the Conference Board of Canada discusses the affect of an aging population on the economy and the need for higher immigration levels may have some merit, it simply baffles those at the lower end of the food chain. And no one pushing for more immigration seems to have taken into account the fact that technology is set to get rid of entire job categories . Between outsourcing and redundancy hundreds of thousands of jobs could disappear just as immigrants appear over the horizon.
Prepare for short-term employment
Our Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently told Canadians to prepare for an era of short-term employment he also noted that some people will see their jobs disappear in the years to come — truck drivers and receptionists, for instance.
So on one hand Canadians who want to work will find themselves working even less if at all and on the other hand we are reminded or a looming labor crisis.
As I write this column, there are thousands of Canadians trapped doing jobs they hate simply because there are few options out there. There are any number of university-educated millennials struggling to find jobs or hold down jobs that barely utilize their skills. Barristers are baristas at coffee shops in Toronto. Walk into temp agencies and you will find an endless stream of educated and mostly new immigrants hoping to luck out with a dead end job.
Big corporations may talk about the need for more highly-skilled immigrants, but they won't promise not to ship jobs off to India and China when its convenient or more economical.
Most immigrants compete in crowded job categories
And one problem with skilled workers is that while they come into Canada as the principle applicant, they bring along spouses who may in all probability have skills that aren't in high demand, in which case he or she will end up competing for scarce jobs with other Canadians. So technically for every one immigrant with skills, comes another who will join the crowded general job category. This could end up depressing wages at the lower end of the job market, naturally or add to the unemployment numbers. Why would a small businessman want to give his employees a livable wage that is well above minimum wage when there are any number of new immigrants and foreign students willing to work for less? Late last month a report from new survey from Aon Hewitt, a Human Resource firm, said Canadians could forget about getting a raise in 2017. They ofcourse refer to those in the private sector. Civil servants and others can expect good raises, not surprisingly, these are the ones most in favor of bringing in more immigrants.
Even brown Canadians are wary of increasing the number of immigrants, unless ofcourse they have family who've applied for immigration or student visas. There was a time small businessmen loved new immigrants who were willing to work for minimum wage and absolutely no medical benefits, now many of them are keen on a steady supply of foreign students. Why? Who else will work for $6 an hour?
Republished with permission
Commentary by David Cohen in Montreal
I feel compelled to comment on the case of Maryam Monsef, Liberal MP and federal Minister of Democratic Institutions, who has been caught up in a story about the location of her birth 32 years ago. Monsef, an Afghan citizen who arrived in Canada at age 11, was born in Iran.
She had previously believed she was born in her country of citizenship, Afghanistan. Her documentation had stated that this was the case — documentation that had been submitted by her mother all those years ago.
Do you remember when you were 10 or 11 years old? Did you decide what school you went to or where you lived? Probably not. And if your parents decided when you were a child that the family would emigrate, or flee hardship, did you decide what your destination would be, and how you would get there? Hypothetically, if you were 10 or 11 and somebody, such as a parent, was submitting a form on your behalf, would you ask to review it for accuracy?
And if it turns out that somebody made an incorrect assertion on a form submitted on your behalf more than two decades ago, should you suffer the consequences of a decision that you yourself never made?
Of course not.
Stoking a fire
Some editorial media outlets in Canada have taken this situation and made a disingenuous effort to stoke a fire. For example, in an opinion piece in the Toronto Sun, the author writes: the Trudeau government actively revokes citizenship from people who provide false info on their applications. Now the question is whether democratic reform minister Maryam Monsef is going to receive the same treatment if it turns out her citizenship application contained false information. The article goes on to mention the possibility of Monsef being deported.
Apart from giving her a government Ministry that doesn't exist (it's democratic institutions, not democratic reform), the article errs in a more sinister way. Yes, citizenship may be revoked from individuals who knowingly provide false information, but Monsef herself, at least to the best of our knowledge, never submitted the application. Her mother did. And so there is a leap of logic.
The fact of the matter is that few people in Canada can go back more than a couple of generations before an immigration story forms part of the family tree. We are, by and large, an immigrant nation. Some of these immigrants arrived from states of flux, from changing situations in the regions of the world from which they came.
How does it matter?
There are almost certainly stories and situations similar to Monsef's own story across the country. In many cases, it is likely that the person at the centre of it all doesn't even know the full story.
Remember this: if we are talking about punishing Monsef, it would be a vicarious punishment handed out to someone who did not make a decision when she was 10 or 11 years old. And in the end, how does it even matter where she was born?
And also remember that she is a remarkable woman, who, in her so far short career, has shown nothing but resilience and intelligence. She has had to in order to get where she is now.
Attorney David Cohen is a senior partner at Campbell Cohen (www.CanadaVisa.com). Read more of his blogs at http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-blog/
-- Canada's economic development minister Navdeep Bains at a Public Policy Forum economic summit


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Saturday, January 17, 2009
Violence in the ER
I've been mulling over writing this post for quite a while because it has taken me some time to mentally process the events myself. As a new graduate to nursing and especially to the ER, I have been repeatedly told that unfortunately violence is a part of the ER. Just Google the topic and there will be a plethora of links to studies and personal stories. The sight of security guards rushing down a hallway to subdue a violent patient, or seeing several nurses using restraints on old people with dementia to protect themselves against random hits and kicks are now little more than mundane sights. I feel that I've also learned to deal with the verbal assault unleashed at me by the mentally ill and/or ignorant bigots. Angry patients who are denied their favourite medications or simply told to leave usually part by threatening to find me after work and giving me what I deserve – I don't think twice about them any longer mainly because the security guards are amazing people who go above and beyond their duty and actually walk me to the subway station if I ask them. This changed abruptly when I saw one of my patients who previously threatened to find me after work sitting on a subway seat in front of me and looking at my direction though not seeing me. I felt a wave of nausea so intense that I ran out of the train at the next stop where I proceeded to throw up two days worth of gastric contents into a garbage can. I paced the stop wildly and let two trains pass by before I shakily stepped into the next one. Despite the fact that I'm tall and quite strong physically, the knowledge of my vulnerability to violence both inside and outside the ER struck me like a shard of glass. While I haven't turned into a completely paranoid basket case (yet), I'm much more prone to walking a lot faster than I did before, scanning the subway car for faces that I might recognize and sudden bouts of fierce palpitations when I see a random person sharing an inconsequential detail with a previous patient of mine. Perhaps the toughest lesson that nursing has to offer is that of balance - abandoning myself to either paranoia or recklessness will serve no purpose other than destroying my sanity (which is prone to random lapses in presence). The question that I now struggle with is how do I maintain my vigilance while not caving into complete madness?
3 comments:
I'll beat them up for you and protect you lady!
- January 17, 2009 at 6:42 PM
welcome to the insane side of nursing... yes I've had to put people in restraints... I love them! ... but seriously when it comes to your safety and the patients you will love them... I have had patients kick me, push me, other staff members have been hurt so badly they are out on medial leave. Not good. Always protect yourself and expect the unexpected.
- January 24, 2009 at 6:20 AM
Pretty worthwhile data, lots of thanks for your post.
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- January 25, 2012 at 8:14 AM
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text:
(from 2012) NS BULLITEN FROM AN OVERSEAS NATIONAL-SOCIALIST COMRADE! MUST READ!
Are YOU a Non-Aryan Who is Sympathetic Toward Our Struggle? You Can Help
Today, according to the latest U.S.
Census - only 23% of the American population under the age of 18 is WHITE. Already,
four U.S. states are MAJORITY NON-WHITE, and 10% of all counties in America
are MAJORITY NON-WHITE. World-wide, White women of child-bearing age comprise
only 3% of the earth's population. Do these FACTS disturb you? They should.
Currently, America has an estimated 20 MILLION brown, mestizo ILLEGAL ALIENS who have INVADED OUR NATION - this evil, corrupt Judeo-Capitalist system - where basically 3% of the population, control 85% of the nation's wealth, are demanding and will eventually grant "amnesty" to these foreigners. Why?
Because they want a cheap, slave-like work force - where decent wages and benefits will be a thing of the past. All in the name of selfishness and greed. Every year, our White children's expected life-style - is declining - compared to the previous generations. Once these illegals ARE granted "citizenship", by LAW - they are allowed to bring into our country - ALL their "extended families". This means not only their usual very LARGE amount of children - but, mom, pop, grandma, grandpa and who have you.
By 2025 - given only CURRENT population trends, coupled with this "amnesty" - WHITE AMERICA will be a total MINORITY in a nation that WAS ONCE THEIR BIRTHRIGHT! Does this please you? "HOW" do you think a White MINORITY will be TREATED - once it's an established fact? Do you think that life for your children, and their children will be "business as usual"?
If you are tired of being blamed for all the world's problems - simply because you are White. If you are fed up with a government that is more concerned about everyone and everything on this planet - EXCEPT the well-being of the people who FOUNDED and BUILT America - the WHITE WORKING CLASS population, and are intelligent and clear-sighted enough to see REALITY when it stares you in the face - JOIN WITH US.
American National Socialists are NOT "monsters" as portrayed by the systems controlled media - we are White men and women who care deeply for the future of our children in a decadent, corrupt world gone mad. A world where decency is "wrong" - and "perversion" is more than "acceptable" - why, it's a preferred "lifestyle choice"!
National Socialists reject the materialist chains that bind the minds of so many, and realize that there IS more to life than acquiring vast amounts of high-interest debt - in the mad race to gather together like pack-rats, more and more plastic junk made in China.
To a National Socialist, things like PRIDE, HONOR, LOYALTY, COURAGE, DISCIPLINE, and MORALITY - actually MEAN something. Like our fore-fathers, we too are willing to SACRIFICE to build a better world for our children whom we love deeply, and like them as well - we are willing to DO ANYTHING NECESSARY to ACHIEVE THAT GOAL.
We are your brothers and your sisters, we are your fathers and your mothers, your friends and your co-workers - WE ARE WHITE AMERICA, just like YOU! Your enemies in control attempt with their constant "anti-nazi" propaganda - to persuade you that "they" are your "real friends" - and that WE, your own kin, are your lifelong enemies. Yet, ask yourself THIS - "WHO" have you to "THANK" for ALL the PROBLEMS FACING YOU? The creatures who HAVE been in total CONTROL - or - those of us resisting the evil? The TRUTH is right there in front of you - DON'T be afraid to understand it and to ACT upon it! You hold the FUTURE - BRIGHT or DARK - in YOUR hands, and TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
Are YOU a TALKER or do YOU make a difference now?
If so, you can contact us at:
and Pictures from One of Our Public Indoor Rallies*
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Brand new online editions of Mein Kampf, This Time the World, and
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These new versions provide quick jumps between chapters as well as having numbered paragraphs for quick reference when studying these great literary works!
Hitler's book Mein Kampf, an ideological
blueprint for healthy, Aryan survival...Download Here! (PDF)
Ford's work on "The World's Foremost Problem,"
The International Jew....Download Here! (PDF)


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Glass recycling in Anchorage is closer to becoming a reality once again.
After almost three years of having no place to recycle glass, the group Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling is preparing to roll out a program giving Anchorage residents the chance to start making deposits again.
All the pieces are still coming together according to ALPAR Executive Director Mary Fisher, but the group hopes to have glass recycling in place by late summer.
But don't start collecting glass quite yet, she warned. ALPAR still has to work out a few more details. And the company in charge of handling the glass -- Central Recycling Services -- first must process 800 tons of glass leftover when the previous Anchorage glass recycler discontinued operations.
"That's another factor that's creating the need for us to wait to roll this new collection program out," Fisher said. "We're very adamant that the (current) glass has to go . . . before we start a collection program."
Glass to road, construction projects
Most critical, Central Recycling Services is still looking for a glass buyer. The Municipality of Anchorage, one prospect, recently approved the use of 10 percent aggregate crushed glass for use in certain road construction applications. The state has not yet decided how much recycled glass can be used in its construction projects. But Fisher said approval is near, with the state still awaiting Federal Highway Administration support.
Kauai Alpha, recycling director at Central Recycling Services, declined to answer questions about the program until glass recycling is available to Anchorage residents.
In 2009 glass recycling in Anchorage ceased when the sole operator of a glass-processing facility, E.K. Industries, discontinued operations. The company sold sandblasting glass to a shipyard in Seward, but the amount of recycled glass came in faster than it could be processed. The company went through multiple owners, according to Fisher. Even with subsidies from ALPAR, the city couldn't make a profitable go of glass recycling.
In the early 1990s, before E.K. Industries, the city shipped glass out of state, even though the costs were extreme. Glass is messy to transport, Fisher said. It can't be bundled. Even if ground down, glass is essentially sand, which is already abundant.
Crushed or pulverized
Processing recycled glass starts by loading it into a hopper that feeds glass through a pulverizer or crusher. The machine breaks the glass into small pieces without sharp edges. It's then moved through a machine that clears out debris and sorts by size what remains.
Jeanne Carlson, recycling coordinator for the municipality, said the goal in recycling glass is to avoid moving it far. A heavy product of low value, glass ideally should be collected near where its processed.
"The more you move it, the more you end up with a losing proposition," she said.
According to a 2010 report produced by the municipality in conjunction with the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, about 20-30 tons of glass was collected weekly before recycling ended in Anchorage. That's almost 1,500 tons a year, or enough to fill 500 typical dump trucks.
Still, that's only a small fraction of the glass waste in Anchorage. Using national figures, Anchorage could produce about 15,000 tons of glass -- or 5 percent of the city's overall 301,000 tons of waste that are deposited in the landfill each year. Fisher said that with a new glass recycling program, 10 to 30 percent of the glass used by Anchorage residents is expected to be deposited in community drop offs.
Anecdotal evidence
Gary Busse, general manager of Midnight Sun Brewing Company, saw a 27 percent uptick in his growler sales from 2009 to 2010, but doesn't have any hard numbers proving that residents are buying more half-gallon beer growlers instead of bottles to reduce glass waste. In 2009, the brewery moved to its new "shiny digs" in South Anchorage, Busse said, and overall sales increased.
Anecdotally, Busse said he hears from customers who say their growler increase is due to the lack of recycling options. Last July, in fact, the brewery started canning beer. Aluminum recycling is still available in the city, a factor that played into Midnight Sun's decision to offer cans.
"We definitely recognized that people wanted it," Busse said. "Once Anchorage stopped recycling glass we realized there might be some reluctance to purchase bottles."
Pamela Hatzis started a "take a penny, leave a penny" growler recycling program when she opened the La Bodega growler bar in April. Instead of adding glass to Anchorage landfills by selling their own growlers, Hatzis' decided to ask people to donate the containers they weren't using. Growlers can be forgotten, she said, and people hoping to reduce waste sometimes end up with more containers than they need.
"Good intentions often turn into more glass," she said.
Hatzis, a co-owner, has had a "really positive" response to the program. She often hears from customers concerned about purchasing more glass.
She's also noticed brewers responding to glass recycling concerns. When Hatzis opened La Bodega six years ago, the store carried only one craft beer. Now that number is up to 50.
Broken Tooth Brewing Co., which produces beer for the popular Moose's and Bear Tooth restaurants, announced in February it planned to sell canned beer. Part of the reason: the lack of glass recycling in Anchorage.
Recycled glass: Is it marketable?
Last year, Central Recycling Services received $85,000 from the city to study how to recycle difficult materials like rubber tires and glass. They were the only Anchorage group that received money to study glass recycling, Carlson said.
Whether there will be more grant opportunities in the future is hard to say.
In March, the Anchorage Assembly voted to reduce the recycling surcharge on every ton of garbage deposited at the landfill from $3 to $1.50 starting in April. The city's recycling office is trimming back and Carlson wasn't sure what that would mean for Anchorage in terms of future grants on hard to recycle materials.
"It won't be as big as it used to be," she said. "It's not clear if the grant program will continue."
Also unclear is what the demand for Alaska glass aggregate products will be. Fisher said many construction companies aren't aware of the potential uses -- including fill and back-spill materials that can be used to fill holes created by such construction projects as bridges, buildings, and bike paths.
Fisher, with ALPAR, and Central Recyling are working to market the product to engineers and contractors. Time will tell if they're effective.
"It really all depends on the success of the program," Fisher said, "and it depends completely on our ability to market it."
Contact Suzanna Caldwell at suzanna(at)alaskadispatch.com


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Campaign that helps 11 local programs $6,000 short.
Loyal supporters have responded very well to the Pratt County United Fund, but the umbrella campaign that supports 11 agencies working to improve the quality of life in the community is currently $6,000 short of the goal.
Rick Abrams, a member of the board of directors, credits the shortfall to the economy, but is hopeful that the additional $6,000 can be raised.
"We encourage everyone to think of us this time of year," he said.
Contributions can be mailed to 114 N. Main, Pratt, KS 67124.
Businesses are typically the largest contributors, but smaller amounts from many people make a big impact. While most of the non-profit organizations do their own fund-raising as well, United Fund is always an important part of their budgets.
Programs and services supported by Pratt County United Fund include:
• Boy and Girl Scouts, with an equal amount for each organization.
• Family Crisis Center, located in Great Bend, which provides services for local victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
• Pratt Cannonball Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross, which provides disaster assistance, bloodmobiles and health and safety programs. A cadre of trained volunteers is ready to aid families affected by disaster.
• South Wind Hospice cares for the physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients and their families in their homes or at the South Wind Hospice House.
• Pratt Teen Center serves as a safe gathering place for middle school youth and provides activities for teens through high school age.
• Kansas Children's Service League provides foster home care and education for preschoolers.
• Retired and Senior Volunteer Program utilizes the skills of retired and semi-retired people who give more than half a million dollars in services back to the community each year.
• Salvation Army provides emergency and crisis assistance for utilities, rent, food and clothing and for special programs such as school supplies, glasses and prescriptions.
• United Cerebral Palsy of Kansas offers training and rehabilitation services for Pratt County children who are affected by the disease.
• Counseling Center deals with alcohol and drug abuse in adults and children both as information for deterrent and help in problem cases.
• Pratt Senior Center provides noon meals, fellowship and recreation for senior citizens.
All the money raised stays in Pratt County.
, and administrative expenses are minimal.


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Sales of single-family homes and condominiums kept climbing in Massachusetts last month as more buyers decided to take advantage of historically low interest rates, according to numbers released Thursday.
There were 3,791 single-family homes sold in September, an 8 percent increase compared with the same month last year, according to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate. Between January and September, single-family home sales rose nearly 22 percent compared with the same period in 2011.
The condo market fared even better, with 1,609 units sold in September, a 23 percent increase compared with the same month in 2011. Year-to-date, there have been 14,641 condo sales, 27.5 percent more than during the first three quarters of last year, Warren Group said.
"Home sales have reached the highest level in nine quarters, a strong sign that consumers have regained some confidence in the economy and are making home purchases with more enthusiasm,'' said Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief executive of Warren Group.
But median home prices did not improve with sales. The median price for single-family homes fell to $277,000, a 4.5 percent drop compared with September 2011. The median price between January and September fell 1.6 percent to $290,000, meaning half of the homes sold at a higher price than $290,000 and half sold for less.
The median price for condos was essentially flat in September, remaining at $275,450, just 0.16 percent off compared with September 2011, according to Warren Group. Between January and September, the median condo price rose to $279,000, 1.5 percent higher than
last year.
John Ranco, a senior sales associate at Hammond Residential Real Estate in Boston's South End, said properties at all price levels are selling.
In its latest report, the S&P/Case-Shiller home prices index, which measures repeat home sales, showed Boston-area home prices increasing between April and July.
"Generally, you are looking at staircase effect on pricing,'' Ranco said. "They are all generally pointing upward."
Still, prices last month lagged despite increased competition caused by a continued drop in the number of homes for sale. Inventory of single-family homes fell 21 percent in September compared with the same month last year, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which also released data Thursday. The number of condos on the market also fell by 30.5 percent in September, compared with the year before, the association said.
Some local housing specialists are raising the possibility of a slowdown in sales over the next few months. Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economist at Northeastern University, said that an increase in the state jobless rate and the struggling economy could put a damper on the market.
Ranco said some potential buyers and sellers are likely waiting out the presidential election to see whether it has an effect on the economy.
"We are noticing a little bit of a breather in the market,'' he said.


text:
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 - 23 April 1616 / Warwickshire)
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Sonnets Xiv
MY love is strengthen'd, though more weak in seeming;
I love not less, though less the show appear:
That love is merchandised whose rich esteeming
The owner's tongue doth publish everywhere.
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|2010-08-27, 06:15
|Link #301
Member of DOLLARS
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: In the magical land of Moonswell pass
Age: 23
Rainbowman why did you put Robin having King's haki as a definite I don't find anything intimidating about her and neither do most other people in the manga, she is quite insecure and afraid, something that isn't in most leaders and I doubt would be in someone with King's haki.
Common themes associated with people with king's haki: Charismatic, intimidating, strong, leadership abilities.
I'm guessing Garp and Dragon will also be users of king's haki, since angry Garp is the most intimidating thing next to an angry minotaur and dragon hybrid.
I would laugh if Buggy becomes the next Shichibukai or Supernova.
|2010-08-27, 10:41
|Link #304
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 1431 Highland Drive
|2010-08-27, 19:03
|Link #307
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: In your mom's pants
As far as what crew member will get what kind of haki, my thoughts are:
Luffy- all 3, Rayleigh will see to that.
Zoro- He has already shown traces of mantra, but he will need the armor type to protect his nakama. I don't think he will get the conqueror's color, his willingness to subjugate himself to Mihawk shows me that he doesn't have a conqueror's ambition.
Sanji- armor type, no real reasoning behind this, other than the fact that he will need it in the new world.
Nami- Mantra, being able to predict things would make her an even better navigator than she is now. I also think she might have conqueror's since she seems very adept at manipulating people.
Robin- I don't see her learning any haki, armor type would make her too hax, but maybe she will get mantra just to be a little stronger for the new world.
Franky- None, he should be getting more than enough new fire power when he finishes upgrading himself in Vegapunk's lab.
Usopp- I don't think he will learn more than one type and i'm leaning towards the armor type since he's training with Hercules(un) and we've already seen the damage haki imbued projectiles do. I think mantra would be another good choice for him though since it would let him predict his targets' movements which would improve his overall accuracy.
Brooke- Conqueror's, I think it would go well with his music. He could be like the pied piper.
Chopper- Maybe mantra?
|2010-08-27, 19:53
|Link #308
Member of DOLLARS
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: In the magical land of Moonswell pass
Age: 23
Luffy and Zoro's willingness to take pain just to protect their friends I mean Luffy and Zoro can really take pain especially Zoro I'm surprised he beat those baboons with those injuries, is a trait that a lot of leaders have.
I'm sure Roger would rather die if it would save his crew, IIRC he laid waste to someone's fleet for insulting his friends
|2010-08-28, 13:38
|Link #309
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 1431 Highland Drive
|2010-08-30, 03:23
|Link #311
Senior Member
|2010-08-30, 20:38
|Link #313
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Funny you should mention this, because in recent years Araki kind of retconned Hamon (or ripple, whichever you prefer) by implying that it might have been a sort of Stand power. If you put that into consideration, then yeah, you could say that those two Stands may represent those forms of Haki. Still, you have to wonder which type of Haki would fit any of the more obtuse Stand powers like Crazy Diamond, Pearl Jam, Gold Experience (not Requiem), Superfly, Cheap Trick, D4C, and.... hell, just about every Stand from Stone Ocean?
Anyway, there's something I've been rather curious about..... since Haki has officially been established to literally be "will" power, I wonder if this means that we'll see an "empty" type of Haki appear at some point? To be more specific, I'm talking about a type of Haki that carries no "feeling" behind it, which would make it harder to fight against, due to a lack of "presence". To use an example from a different manga, I'll reference Lone Wolf and Cub, where the titular lone wolf Ogami Itto can kill his opponents while erasing his Sakki (bloodlust). I just think it would be interesting if Oda introduces some villains at some point who can make themselves completely devoid of emotion when they fight, which would make them a completely unpredictable match for the Straw-Hats.....
|2010-08-30, 21:00
|Link #314
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: East Cupcake
^You don't even have to go back to Lone Wolf to get an example of what you are talking about. Seta Soujiro (of Rurouni Kenshin...of which Oda was an assistant on) was one of Himura Kenshin's greatest foes specifically because he fought without emotions.
|2010-08-30, 21:10
|Link #315
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
^Sure, I could've mentioned Kenshin, but I just wanted to use an example from a superior series. Heck, I could even reference the artificial humans from DB who have no ki to sense for another example (like #17, #18, #16, etc.). Still, I was thinking more along the lines of human characters rather than robots or cyborgs.....
|2010-08-31, 11:23
|Link #317
Absolute Haruhist!
Join Date: Mar 2006
Age: 31
I've explained such things last time, in the previous pages, but let me try to put things into perspective again.
While Haki is said to be one's will, it is not so simple, the word has 2 components, 'Ha' and 'Ki'. 'Ha' means 'ambition', 'domination' among other meanings. 'Ki' is the word that means a person's will, lifeforce, the atmosphere or feeling given by the person, place or object.
Put together, Haki means 'the will to dominate', meaning one's ambition.
There literally 100s of other types of Ki, Sakki which means killing intention, 'Yuuki' which means courage, 'Touki' which means fighting spirit, 'Genki' which is health, 'Yaruki', willingness to do something, 'Jaki', evil intention, 'Youki', ghostly presence etc. etc.
As you can see Ki forms the basis of everything that is spiritual, emotional, intentions and other things that can be felt. And when I said Ki also means the atmosphere, it doesn't just mean emotional atmosphere, it literally means the atmosphere itself, 'Tenki' means weather.
Ok, back at the question, you can relate those Stands to the types of Haki that Oda created, just like you can relate Sharingan as a type of observational Haki. This is all because all these manga authors base their ability mechanics on the oriental concept of Ki.
But Stands are closer to Ki itself than Haki, each Stand user's Stand is a direct manifestation of their will and intentions, meaning they represent different types of Ki. If someone has lots of Sakki, killing intention, he will probably manifest a Stand that's murderous. You can even say Weather Report is literally a manifestation of 'Tenki', weather.
On a type of Ki that carries no feeling, its called 'Kuuki'. The word literally means 'empty ki', which also means 'empty air/atmosphere'. Normally its used to describe all the atmosphere around us, they are simply 'empty' atmospheres, a mixture of gases in space waiting for things to affect and give them a Ki. I'll get back to that but first I'll talk about how Ki doesn't just describe or work with humans, its in everything.
Let's say you see a very old and creepy looking house at night, it looks like a haunted house, because it has this ghostly atmosphere. That's right, that house has 'Youki', a ghostly presence/atmosphere. And like I said, there's 100s of 'Ki', you can literally slap any word together with Ki and describe anything. That minefield has a dangerous Ki, the girl has a kawaii Ki, the food is delicious and has a Ki that makes you hungry, something like that.
And back at 'Kuuki', the most recent description of Kuuki I've heard was in Blazblue. Shishigami Bang a Super Ninja who can sense Ki, was fighting Noel Vermillion, a cyborg who enters a robotic trance when in danger or battle.
Bang told Noel at the end of the fight that he sensed no Sakki(killing intention in her) and that's why he stopped fighting. He then said that Noel felt rather empty, void of emotions when she fights, it feels just like fighting 'Kuuki', air itself.
This means that this opponent is completely unpredictable, you're hitting air, you're hitting nothing, you don't know what you'll get.
Quite a long and maybe confusing post, not sure if it helps.
|2010-08-31, 12:32
|Link #318
Not Enough Sleep
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 42
Ku Lung's writing was especially adapt at these Ki battles. Most of his fights usually starts off with a staring contest and a battle of Ki.
Last edited by Xellos-_^; 2010-08-31 at 13:14.
|2010-08-31, 13:12
|Link #319
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
I wonder how mantra and move-predictment can be countered (other then having far superior speed, ala first fight of Lee & Sasuke, but that already means you won) .. presumably logia-nullifying haki can be countered with armor haki (Akainu vs Vista) and kings haki by just having a strong haki of your own (obviously you cannot just knock out top tiers like that)
maybe the above post is the answer
I remember Luffy vs Enel, but that srsly won't work for anyone except Luffy probably and at best it got a few hits on Enel, that's all .. someone like Mihawk would shred him to pieces the moment he closes his eyes like that
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text:
Sept. 28, 2008
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Following a 2-2 outing, the Engineers finished in fourth place at the MIT Invitational this past weekend. MIT swept Bridgewater State College (25-12, 25-18, 25-7) and Bates College (25-22, 25-21, 25-11) in pool play on Friday. The Engineers (10-8) dropped a five set-thriller to Connecticut College (20-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 22-20) before falling to Springfield College (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) in the third-place match. Alex May represented the Cardinal and Gray on the All-Tournament Team.
In the opener against Bridgewater State, Barden Cleeland posted 10 kills on 16-errorless attempts for a .625 hitting percentage. Jenny Li connected on six of her eight hitting attempts as Kelly Schulte compiled five kills in two sets. May picked up five kills and six digs while Cecily Joujon-Roche notched four kills and two blocks. Lindsay Hunting led the defense with 10 digs as Katrina Ellison totaled seven digs. Cathy Melnikow finished with 27 assists and two aces.
May posted 10 kills, a .529 hitting percentage, and six digs versus Bates. Ellison added eight kills and a .412 hitting performance while Cleeland contributed a team-high four blocks. In two sets Joujon-Roche tallied six kills on eight attempts and two blocks. Schulte racked up five aces as Melnikow totaled 28 assists, five aces, and three blocks. Hunting registered eight digs while Natasha Jensen chipped in five digs.
In Saturday's semifinal match with Connecticut College, May tallied 19 kills, 16 digs, and four blocks while Ellison posted 10 kills, a .588 hitting percentage, seven digs, and five blocks. Cleeland totaled eight kills and six blocks as Schulte recorded nine kills and five aces. Melnikow finished with 46 assists and a team-high seven aces.
May wrapped up the weekend with 15 digs, 10 kills and two blocks against Springfield. Cleeland had nine kills and four blocks while Ellison notched eight digs and seven kills. Li rounded out the attack with six kills as Hunting registered 13 digs and two aces. Melnikow capped off the match with 34 assists, eight digs, and two aces.


text:
"Med mine eventyr (Tak, kære, unge ven, for hver en dag)" [Danish title] is number 2444 in the Hans Christian Andersen Center's register of Andersen's literary works, i.e. no. 944 in the category poems (the range 1501 - 2900). BFN 1194.
"Med mine eventyr (Tak, kære, unge ven, for hver en dag)" [Danish title] was first published 1879. Further information: Digterens danske Værker 1822-1875 number 1194.
The work was published as a part of Samlede Skrifter af H. C. Andersen. - Tre og Tredivte Bind [Danish title]. (Number 1035. BFN 1079. Category/genre: Collected and miscellaneous writings).
Show this work in its context: all new Andersen publications from 1879.
In modern Danish on p. 662 in Johan de Mylius (editor): H.C. Andersen. Samlede digte ('Collected poems', Copenhagen, 2000).


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Categories: Scalers & Curettes : Curettes
Universal Curettes – 13/14 Columbia, Universal Application, Standard, Double End - Hu-Friedy Mfg Co. Inc.
The Hu-Friedy universal curettes are designed with 2 cutting edges and a rounded toe for use on all surfaces, making narrow pockets and furcations easier to reach and clean.
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After weeks of being inside and itching to get out and have some fun, the scouts of Boy Scout Troop 139 in Waterman traveled to Shabbona Lake Jan. 18 for some fishing. This was no everyday fishing trip; the boys, pelted with snow and blasted by wind, were bundled in layers of clothing carefully planned to keep the below-freezing temperatures at bay.
On the frozen lake, 18 inches of ice separated the boys from the fish beneath. Assistant Scoutmaster Tim Tausch, Eagle Scout, helped each boy prepare a homemade ice fishing pole for the trip days before.
The boys carried their supplies onto the lake and set up an ice fishing hut to shield them from the elements. Though no fish were caught, the trip was a huge success; the Scouts learned a lot and are more prepared to compete in the upcoming Klondike Derby, when they will use their scouting skills in an overnight campout competition against other troops in the Three Fires Council Kishwaukee District.
The troop plans to take high-adventure trips to Florida and Minnesota, funded by a Feb. 2 drive-thru pork chop dinner and a March 7 fish fry.


text:
|"...and when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter"
Then the other day a cleaning crew was at their house and was sorting out the jungle that the garden had turned into making it likely that something is about to happen with the house. The conversation I had with Mrs. Sunshine went something like this:
Salaryman: I guess they'll sell the house, the wife probably need the money for herself and the kids now that the husband is gone?
Mrs. Sunshine: (matter of factly) Actually there was an insurance included in the contract, so if the breadwinner dies the insurance pays off the loan, so she should be ok.
Salaryman:(surprised) Huh? That's great actually, I didn't realize that but good to know that you and the baby don't have to struggle with that if anything would happen to me.
Mrs. Sunshine: (neutral) Yeah, I thought so too...
(a few seconds of ominous silence)
Salaryman: (jokingly, on the surface) So I guess I should be a bit careful, huh?
Mrs. Sunshine: (not letting anything show) Why?
Salaryman: Well, if you would murder me you could get a lot of money through that insurance!
Mrs. Sunshine: (immediately without a second of hesitation) Yeah, I totally know, but I just don't wanna go to jail?
Salaryman:(feeling constructive) Well you could murder me in a sneaky way, I would totally murder me if I were you! Why not some rare poison that the police is too dumb to figure out?
From now on Toddler Sunshine will have a bit of everything I eat, just to be safe. The whiskey and chili oil might be a tad bit too early for her, but it's for the common good!


text:
PRCC time-plot for
PRCC time-plot for
Figure 5:
(a) and
(b) PRCC plots computed on
. PRCC values are calculated with respect to the number of melanoma cells (
), plotted over time (blue lines). PRCC time plot of Dummy parameter (red lines) is shown for comparison. Greyed areas represent the plot portions where correlation is significant


text:
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Converted unto the LordDownload the message in English
Download the message in Chinese
Faith, Family, Relief
New sisters of the Church—including Young Women entering Relief Society, sisters returning to activity, and new converts—need the support and friendship of visiting teachers. "Member involvement is vital to convert retention and in bringing less-active members back into full activity," said Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. "Capture the vision that the Relief Society … can become [one of] the most powerful friendshipping resource[s] we have in the Church. Reach out early to those being taught and reactivated, and love them into the Church through your organization."1
As members of Relief Society, we can help new members learn basic Church practices, such as:
- Giving a talk.
- Bearing testimony.
- Living the law of the fast.
- Paying tithing and other offerings.
- Participating in family history work.
- Performing baptisms and confirmations for their deceased ancestors.
"It takes attentive friends to make new members feel comfortable and welcomed at church," said Elder Ballard.2 All of us, but especially visiting teachers, have important responsibilities to establish friendships with new members as a way of helping them become firmly "converted unto the Lord" (Alma 23:6).
From the Scriptures2 Nephi 31:19–20; Moroni 6:4
From Our History"With the ever-increasing number of converts," said President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), "we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with 'the good word of God' (Moroni 6:4)."3
Visiting teachers are in a position to help those they watch over. Friendship often comes first, as it did for a young Relief Society sister who was the visiting teacher of an older sister. They had been slow in building a friendship until they worked side by side on a cleaning project. They became friends, and as they talked about the Visiting Teaching Message, they were both nurtured by "the good word of God."
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) said Relief Society "is a vital part of the kingdom of God on earth and … helps its faithful members to gain eternal life in our Father's kingdom."4
What Can I Do?
- Do I pray for my companion and ask that the Spirit will guide us as we minister to our sisters?
- In what ways do we serve each sister we watch over so that she knows we truly care about her?
- M. Russell Ballard, "Members Are the Key," Liahona, Sept. 2000, 18; Ensign, Sept. 2000, 13.
- M Russell Ballard, Liahona, Sept. 2000, 17; Ensign, Sept. 2000, 14.
- Gordon B. Hinckley, "Every Convert Is Precious," Liahona, Feb. 1999, 9; "Converts and Young Men," Ensign, May 1997, 47.
- Joseph Fielding Smith, in Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 97.
Suggested handout Download English file here
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