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Expanded Services To Help Newcomers Find Work In Ontario

McGuinty Government On The Side Of Newcomers Who Want The Opportunity To Succeed

BRAMPTON, ON, Sept. 21 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is breaking down barriers to help internationally trained individuals find work in Ontario, Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and Mike Colle, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, said today.

Bentley and Colle were attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Brampton, where Accessible Community Counselling and Employment Services (A.C.C.E.S.) is one of three new sites providing Job Connect services for adults, with a special focus on helping newcomers.
"The McGuinty government is committed to helping newcomers succeed," said Bentley. "The employment services provided by Job Connect can help them find positions that match their education and skills."

Approximately 125,000 newcomers arrive in Ontario each year. The majority are highly trained - more than half of those arriving in the past two years have university degrees - but many struggle to find jobs that match their skills and abilities. Job Connect provides services to help over 15,000 newcomers a year develop pathways to employment commensurate with their education and skills.

This year, the government has invested $10 million to expand Job Connect services, including $1 million to fund the three new Job Connect centres. The new sites are located in communities that were formerly underserved in relation to the size of their newcomer populations.

Expanding Job Connect complements the work done by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to break down barriers to the internationally trained. "Newcomers with global experience come to Ontario each year, and we want them to be able to contribute their knowledge and expertise to our economy," said Colle. "That's why our government has introduced a number of

ground-breaking initiatives including Bill 124, the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act - to make sure everyone has a fair opportunity to work in their field." "Every year Brampton attracts a large and growing pool of skilled immigrants," said Linda Jeffrey, MPP Brampton Centre.

"These expanded services will give newcomers the tools to contribute significantly to our province's economy." Ensuring fair admission procedures to the regulated professions and helping place newcomers in jobs are just two of the ways the McGuinty government is breaking down barriers for internationally trained individuals in Ontario.

Other initiatives include:
- Negotiating the first ever Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement,
which quadruples federal spending on language training and settlement services to $920 million over five years
- Doubling the number of training and assessment positions for internationally trained medical graduates. In the past two years, more doctors' certificates have been issued to international medical graduates than to Ontario graduates
- Investing over $34 million in more than 60 bridge-training programs, helping more than 6,000 newcomers improve their language skills, prepare for exams and work in their field sooner
- Launching a website, OntarioImmigration.ca, which provides information on the job market, how to find work in specific fields, settlement information for different communities and even how to get a driver's license.
"By helping newcomers use their skills and talents we help them succeed," said Bentley, "and that makes Ontario succeed as well."

Rainbow Scholarship an Investment in Community

The Windsor Pride Committee announced Thursday that its fundraising efforts exceeded the original target, and the Salvagio Vonatti Rainbow Award—an annual scholarship for outstanding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students at the University of Windsor—has attracted a total of $17,000 for its endowment.~

The award was established five years ago by former computer science student Salvagio Vonatti, and operated on the basis of individual annual donations. After Vonatti was shot January 10 outside a club in Detroit in what police called a hate crime motivated by homophobia, the Windsor Pride Committee set out to endow the scholarship to ensure its permanence.

“It’s important for us to invest in the future of our community. There is no better way then to help a gay student get a great education right here in Windsor,” then-chair Dani Bobb said this summer. Vonatti is in hospital, continuing his recovery from the shooting. Metropolitan Community church is collecting donations. Click Here to donate

 

If you are a Christian and want to be in a place where all are accepted equally, you might want to visit. Every Sunday afternoon Christian church service at 1:30 p.m. at 1680 Dougall Avenue Windsor,Ontario in the Westminster United Church for Metropolitan Community Church. We accept everyone who wants a relationship with God. It does not matter if you are gay, or Asian, or Thai, or Jewish, or black only that you want to be accepted and loved as a child of God.

If you are not an Metropolitan Community Church member, but would like to get our e-mailings, see http:// www.mccwindsor.ca. Thank you and have a great and blessed day. We really are all God’s children when we spread our spiritual love to everyone male and female. Working together we can accomplish much more than we ever dared to dream. If you have questions, check out our web site or call the church office. We perform same sex marriages according to the laws of Ontario, Canada.
519-977-6897

Come and pray for what is important in your life or what is missing. We will help you get over. We are also taking donations for the Sal Venotti fund. see http://www.mccwindsor.ca

Serving Windsor Spiritually and Continuously for 20 years

According to The Windsor Star 5-29-2006, Windsor is the number three city in Ontario for day trip destinations. Main destinations are the Casino and Pelee Island Winery.
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In the News Today 4-21-2008

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REMINDER: WIFF SCREENS

Thursday, April 24, 7 pm

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Le Scaphandre et le papillon
 
France 2007; Director: Julian Schnabel; French w/English subtitles; 112 minutes
Winner Best Director — 2007 Cannes Film Festival
Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-eELc1Ae48
Once a successful fashion editor and carefree womanizer, Jean-Dominique Bauby awoke one day to find himself
a prisoner in his own body. He had been paralyzed by a massive stroke that rendered him powerless to move anything
except his left eyelid. Based on Bauby’s memoir, it is filmmaker and

artist Julian Schnabel’s finest work, cementing
his reputation as an artist of supreme achievement.
Art Gallery of Windsor
401 Riverside Drive West    Phone 519-977-0013
Tickets: $10 per person (includes Gallery admission)
Advance tickets available in the AGW’s Gift Shop, 519-977-1400
 
All films will be presented in 35mm
 
Sponsored in part by
 
CASINO WINDSOR        THE WINDSOR STAR

During a smog advisory, there are a number of actions that you can
take to help spare the air.

Travel tips - all year round:
- leave your car at home - walk, cycle, carpool or take public transit
- tele-conference instead of driving to meetings
- limit car trips by doing all your errands at once, and do
not let your engine idle
- keep your car well tuned, check your tire pressure and
drive at moderate speeds
Health tips:
- avoid exposure to vehicle exhaust fumes
- consult your doctor for specific health advice
- wear light clothing at work while air conditioning is reduced
- avoid strenuous exercise in the heat of the day
Electricity saving tips:
- save electricity at home by setting your air conditioner
temperature a few degrees higher (health permitting) and turning
off lights you are not using
Other pollution reduction tips:
- leave lawn mowing for another day
- restrict the use of gasoline-powered equipment
- delay using oil-based paints, solvents and cleaners

 2007 Southwest Economic Assembly: Partners in Prosperity

What is the Southwest Economic Assembly?
The Southwest Economic Assembly (SWEA) is an annual event, which serves the purpose of building Ontario’s economy in the Southwest Region through strong regional leadership and cooperation. This region has many strengths. The challenge facing us is to capitalize on those strengths by thinking both regionally and internationally, and acting together to take our rightful place in the global marketplace. For additional information on the SWEA initiative and mission and details on the Southwest Region of Ontario, visit the official SWEA website at www.swea.ca
What is the 2007 Southwest Economic Assembly, Partners in Prosperity? Where can I find more information on the 2007 SWEA Conference program?
You may access the brochure web version at http://www.swea.ca/assembly.htm

Child Poverty -Food Banks- What Time is Dinner in Windsor,Ontario?
by Diane Knaus

When was the last time you invited your neighbors into your home for a meal? How are they really doing these days? Are their jobs adequate, can they afford to feed their families? Do your neigbours have clothes that are warm enough and not full of holes? Can they get the medications that they need on a regular basis? When was the last time you had a heart to heart talk with your neighbor?

330,491 Hungry People in Ontario Last Year

According to the Ontario Hunger Report, 330,491 people have been served as of last year in Ontario from the food banks. A number of food banks closed or were at risk of closing in 2006, including agencies in communities such as Wasaga Beach, Pars, and Minden.

40 per cent are Ontario’s children

“The real face of hunger is not what we might expect,” said Adam Spence, Executive Director of the OAFB. “It transcends definitions of geography. The problem cuts through our towns, cities, and neighbourhoods. No matter where you live, hunger can be found next door.” More people turn to food banks in Ontario than any other province. There are over 330,000 Ontarians served by food banks each month. Since 2001, the number of Ontarians served by food banks has increased by 18.6 per cent. What is most striking is who is hardest hit by hunger: over 40 per cent are Ontario’s children, almost 20 per cent are Ontarians with disabilities, and 17 per cent are working Ontarians. This translates to over a hundred thousand children being hungry in Ontario every month.

How Much Money has the Federal Government Spent on Alleviating this Problem
$0.00. The Federal Government Promised to spend Money to Eliminate Child Poverty Problem 17 years ago. They Have Done Nothing to Date -We Have An Empty Promise.

Over 2.9 million meals a month are being served by the Canadian Association of Food Banks with no monies from the Federal government received.

People who need food assistance can go to their local churches for additional information on the local food banks locations and their hours of operation. Referrals can also be received from the Social and Health Services Department, legal and community organizations such as the Kiwanis club etc.

With job layoffs in the car manufacturing plants so prevalent in Windsor area, and the ripple effect on jobs from that, we should expect to see more food banks struggling to meet peoples needs. A January headline said that Ford Motor Company lost US $5.8 billion dolars in the last quarter of the year. Many people are on layoff status from their employers in the Windsor area due to this alone.

What Time is Dinner

What type of dinner is your neighbors favorite, can you remember? When are you going to invite them over? Do you ever go grocery shopping together? Buy them something that you know they like once in a while? Do they have children, what do they like to eat? You know it is just like anything else, we all need to refocus on what is really important to us and our social contacts.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to have a potluck, invite many neighbors so you can enjoy all of them and get caught up on their lives. Not everyone has to bring a dish, only those who can, or want to. Neighbors helping each other is a great way to break the ice and alleviate some stresses.. You could always tailor the get together to help in other ways, maybe a clothing exchange as well, or job tips, contacts of people who can help.

According to the Ontario Association of Food Banks “When compared to the world’s richest countries, Canada falls in the bottom quarter for child poverty, ranking 19 of 26 nations.’

The organization is a network of over 100 communities across Ontario, and has been in service to the communities since 1992.

The low income rate means that a family who spends more than 63 % of their income on food, shelter, clothing and other necessities would be living below the poverty level.

Jumpstart Community Nourishment Program

Nourishment Program:  The main goal of this organization is to create universal access to nutritious food for all children in Windsor and Essex County. Nutrition is a fundamental determinant of healthy child development and good nutrition enhances a child’s ability to learn. Jumpstart is a coalition of several community organizations consisting of five main partners, The Greater Essex County District School Board, Windsor-Essex District Catholic School Board, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and the United Way/Centraide of Windsor-Essex County.

Youth & Family Resource Network of Essex County

Community Food Co-op Program:  This would be a continuation of a program in the towns of Kingsville, Leamington and Harrow to provide healthy, essential food to an estimated 200 low-income families and their children up to age 17 at a low cost by utilizing purchase agreements with local suppliers and community partnerships. Seniors and other individuals on a low or fixed income will be able to participate if they meet the “means test”.  Food might be delivered at no cost to increase accessibility.

Windsor Community Children's Fund

Birth to Six Parental Support Coalition (Windsor) a.k.a. Ready-Set-Go!
Sewing For Life/Growing Gardeners-Growing Together:  This program will help 4–6 year old children learn the basics of container vegetable gardening, teaching them to grow and care for fruit, herbs and vegetables from seed.  During this course they will also do related crafts and activities about food and nutrition.  Volunteer high school students will be available for troubleshooting and advice.  The target group is families of low-income.

Windsor Goodfellows Club

Shoe & Boot Program:  This initiative will provide up to 1150 requests for shoes and/or boots for children from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 who are from low-income families.

Jumpstart Community Nourishment Program

County Schools Nourishment Program:  This program will run during the school year, September 2005 to June 2006 and September 2006 to December 2006 and in partnership with all School Boards. The principal of universal access to food is fundamental to the program, and Jumpstart would ensure that all children have access to nutritious food regardless of the ability to pay. The target population is families of low income

Unemployed Help Centre/Housing Information Services

Keep The Heat Energy Assistance Program:  This program will provide financial assistance to prevent the turn-off of utilities and provide coats for children in the Windsor and Essex County area for an estimated 250 low-income families.  The public and affected families are educated about energy conservation and provided with tools such as window insulation kits.

East Windsor Community Service Centre (Drouillard Place)

Food Co-op Program:  This is a continuation of a food co-op that services low-income families/residents in Windsor East. It works in partnership with Co-ops servicing the west end and county.  It plans to increase participation by 25 percent through extended community outreach/promotion, and the funds include an impact assessment by the University of Windsor.
Food co-ops are different than food banks. A food co-op provides foods at lower prices usually for an annual fee, plus your weekly amount that you spend. Many times it is cheaper to buy grocieries there than the grocery stores.

If you would like to donate canned food, you may do so at the Unemployed Help Centre or call them 519-944-4900 for additional information.
1256 words Published by the Scoop newspaper Wndsor,Ontario February 2007

Updated editions of Arts Council -

Windsor & Region's Arts Notes are always available here:

Arts Council - Windsor & Region

Artspeak Gallery

1942 Wyandotte Street East
Windsor, ON N8Y 1E4
519-252-6855

Photography by Diane Knaus

darlin and marlows shoes

See Wedding Photography by Diane Knaus

Other “Community” Events

Every Sunday morning hykes for dykes womens walking group with pets/kids 10:30 a.m.

Every Sunday Metropolitan Community Church Services in Windsor 1:30 p.m. at Tecumseh and Dougall inside the Westminster United Church

Every third Monday eveinigs 6:30 pm Pride Committee Meetings

Every third Tuesday Mixed dinner club 6:30 pm Dinner

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Dianes' Windsor Blog

What is Important in Windsor at The Moment?

A heineous crime of breaking a puppys legs results in its death is on the minds of Canadians and Windsorites today. The long arm of control and merciless aggression to provide food reaches from China to Canada in the form of a student who has committed such atrocities in Windsor. Many sudents do not have much money for expenses, did this one not have enough for food? Did he resort to cruelty because he was hungry? We all know that is no excuse for such extreme torture.

In China eating dog is a cottage industry. At the moment we do not know what motive a chinese student had for breaking all four of a four month old puppys legs, which resulted in its death. But the question that remains is why? Was the student hungry? Would he stoop so low as to eat a puppy?

This I have to tell you disgusts me to no end! Having grown up in the U.S. and taught that pets are precious and loving, this to me is a tortuous thought. I would hope that the laws in Canada protect pets from being used as food items.

This type of action is just the tip of the iceberg as far as eating dog meat goes. I suspect it is even more widespread than we know about at the moment.

The City of Windsor

• 400 City Hall Square East, Windsor (Ontario Works, Housing & Children's Services)
• 215 Talbot Street East, Leamington (Ontario Works and Children's Services)
The Executive Director of Ontario Works is
Susan Ellis
Phone: (519) 255-5200 ext. 5230
Email: sellis@city.windsor.on.ca

The Executive Director of Housing & Children's Services is Keith Lucas
Phone: (519) 255-5200 ext. 6239
Email: klucas@city.windsor.on.ca

AIDS Committee of Windsor 1052 Drouillard Rd., Windsor, Ontario, N8Y 2P8

Phone:  519-973-0222 or in the 519 area code 1-800-265-4858
Youth Line: 519-973-7671
Fax: 519-973-7389

Youth hotline 1-800-268-9688

Teen Health Center of Windsor

Open Monday 9am-6pm

Tuesday 9am-8pm

Wednesday 9am-6pm

Thursday 9am-8pm

Friday 9am-5pm

New phone line initiated 11-24-2007

211 Windsor-Essex was officially launched to the public on November 22, 2007 at the Ciociaro Club in Oldcastle. The 211 phone system allows residents to obtain information about a wide range of community topics, including children's services, language classes, family counselling, legal assistance, home support and more ~ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with service in over 150 languages.

211
· Information about social, community, health and government services (including all government levels: municipal, provincial and federal), for all of Windsor and Essex County.
· Common questions: "Where can I find a local food bank?" "I'm a newcomer to Canada, where can I find employment training?" "Where can I find a marriage counsellor?"
· Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
311
· Municipal information and services provided by the City of Windsor to residents or visitors in Windsor.
· Common questions: "What are my property taxes for 2007?" "There is a pothole on my street, can I have it filled?"
· Available Monday to Friday 7am-10pm and Saturday 8am-4pm.
911
· In case of police, fire or medical emergency, always call 911, no matter where you are.


Triangle Foundation provides free and confidential assistance to crime and discriminations victims through its victim services office at 313-537-3323
TO SUPPORT THE WORK OF TRIANGLE FOUNDATION, VISIT www.tri.org TODAY!

The World Health Organization in Geneva Switzerland, reports that more than one billion people-one sixth of the world's population-live in extreme poverty, lacking safe water,proper nutrition, basic health care and social services to survive.

 

 

Information With Integrity U 4-20-2008

This site produced in Windsor, Ontario Canada, and Baltimore, Maryland USA

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