The first-ever national look at homelessness in Canada suggests at least 200,000 people experience it every year.

The State of Homelessness in Canada report finds that on any given night, about 30,000 people are in shelters, sleeping outside, being protected from domestic violence or in prison or hospital.

The report says that costs taxpayers about $7 billion a year.

The study marks the first time researchers have looked at homelessness on a national level.

Report author Stephen Gaetz says this kind of research means authorities will be able to actually measure progress in solving the problem.

The report make five recommendations, including increasing the supply of affordable housing and making chronic homelessness a priority for action.

The Canada Border Services Agency is warning of a possible telephone scam.

The CBSA says it has recently learned that people indicating they’re employed at the agency’s Border Information Service have been calling Canadians and requesting personal information and payment over the phone.

It says the CBSA BIS call centre is a free information service for general inquiries regarding CBSA programs and services.

The federal agency adds that the unit is not designed nor is it mandated to make phone calls requesting personal information or payment over the phone.

It says anyone receiving such calls should immediately contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre toll free at 1-888-495-8501.

Ludhiana District Congress Committee president Pawan Dewan said that the Punjabis interested in immigration to Canada must always adopt the legal route.

Dewan, who returned from his two week to US and Canada said he was told by the Conservative MP from Don Valley East (Ontario), Jeo Daniel that the legal route was the best and the safest.
He was honoured by Daniel during his visit to Canada.

He said, there were a lot of Punjabis settled and working in Canada. He pointed out, once people land there after completing all the procedural formalities it becomes easy for them to settle down there and find work.

Dewan said, the Canadian MP was all praise for the hardwork and dedication the Punjabi community has shown in building up Canada. He said, he found during his visit that the Punjabis were respected a lot and this was the reason that people who go from here feel at home in Canada.

The Congress leader also raised the issue of harassment with the Punjabis during the immigration and urged the MP to look into the matter.

The District Congress president said, there was great scope for cooperation in different areas between Canada and India particularly Punjab and hoped that it will benefit the people of both the countries. Among others Amardeep Aulakh, Jarnail Grewal and Gurdeep Singh Jhajj were also present on this ocassion.

Punjabi Book Fair is now open in Surrey. Organized under the banner of Chetna Publishers and BC Cultural Foundation, the annual fair was inaugurated by a prominent progressive Punjabi scholar, Dr. Sadhu Singh.

Singh is a leftist scholar based in Surrey, who made Canada his home following threats from religious fundamentalists during 1990s. He is highly critical of fanaticism and lost a very close friend to extremist violence in Punjab. His work includes translation of a book on the Ghadar Party, a group of Indian rebels- who had launched an armed struggle against the British occupation of India in 1913. These rebels were based in Canada and US. On the occasion of the Ghadar Party centenary, Dr. Singh formally opened the book fair that will continue until July 31, 2013 and will be open from 10 am-7 pm seven days a week. His own book, Ghadar Party Da Itihas is also available at the fair.

The local authors, whose books are being sold at the fair include, Mohan Gill, Harbhajan Hans, Harsimran Randhawa, Nadeem Parmar, Surjit Brar, Inderjeet Sidhu, Harpreet Sekha, Jarnail Singh Sekha and Sadhu Binning. Most of these authors write poetry and fiction. The most notable non fiction book Nastak Bani is about atheism written by Sadhu Binning.

Part of Highway 1 shut down

Flood watches have been issued for rivers and creeks in BC’s west and east Kootenay region and smaller waterways in both the upper and lower Columbia regions.

The BC River Forecast Centre says as torrential rain continues to drench the entire lower portion of the province, from 100 Mile south to the US border and from the Fraser Valley east to the Alberta boundary.

According to the centre, as much as 130 millimetres of rain has fallen over the last 48 hours in the Columbia and Kootenay, with 20 to 70 millimetres recorded in the Boundary, Okanagan and Thompson regions.

Environment Canada predicts conditions will ease within hours everywhere but in southeastern BC.
The storm is blamed for multiple washouts that have cut Highway One in Alberta, forcing the closure of the route east of Golden. It’s not clear when it will reopen.

You can find them in almost any public place these days. They keep an eye on roads, parks, and businesses, but do surveillance cameras belong in the classroom?

New research that suggests half of British Columbians are actually fine with the idea.

Polling done by Ipsos Reid Public Affairs for Avigilon, a leading high-def surveillance company, finds 50 per cent of us would prefer our kids or the children of our friends, go to school with cameras, over a school without any.

David McKay runs BCIT’s Forensic Video and Surveillance Technology lab and isn’t surprised by the findings. “I think what’s happening is schools and school officials are realizing that video surveillance systems can be one of the key pieces in order to provide safety in schools and for children.”

But he does admit there is a fine line to walk here. “There’s a reasonable expectation of privacy and that needs to be weighed out based on… the added value of the security that is going to be [there] so that information is secure and it’s only used for incidences where the evidence is required.”

For those who still have misgivings about cameras in the classroom, McKay maintains even if surveillance doesn’t act as a deterrent, at the very least it provides documentation for police, if and when trouble strikes.

On the other hand, more than one-quarter surveyed believe having doors locked all the time is the most effective measure.

Vancouver School Board Chair Patti Bacchus doesn’t think cameras belong in the classroom just yet.

“We’ve had this conversation over the years and really a feeling that we don’t want to go down that road of creating a sense of fear, whether it’s metal detectors and locking all the doors or putting in cameras,” she explains. “Our schools are some of the safest places for students to be.”