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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament his security agencies are pursuing “credible allegations” (CBC) of a potential link between “agents of the Indian government” and the June murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“In 2021,1.5 million people in Canada reported being Black, up from 1.2 million five years earlier, and more than 300 different ethnic or cultural origins were reported in the Census of Population,” according to Statistics Canada. “While the education and labour market experiences of Black people in Canada are just as diverse as the Black population, the socioeconomic conditions of this population, including rates of employment and earnings, are generally lower than the non-Indigenous, non-racialized population. This is true even after accounting for differences in age and education.”
StatCan »
Police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), increased for the second consecutive year, up 4% in 2022. The Violent CSI rose in 2022, reaching its highest point since 2007. The Non-violent CSI also increased in 2022 but remained lower than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the much respected Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s passports based on official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 🇨🇦 Canadians can claim the world’s 7th-most valuable passport this year – up from 8th last year. Canada had been ranked 8th since 2021.
In a bit of a shakeup, 🇯🇵 Japan has been knocked off the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years and bumped into 3rd place. 🇸🇬 Singapore is now officially the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇹 Italy, and 🇪🇸 Spain all move up into 2nd place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, and Japanese passport holders join those of six other nations — 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇫🇷 France, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg, 🇰🇷 South Korea, and 🇸🇪 Sweden — in 3rd place with access to189 destinations without a prior visa.
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Vienna has retained its crown as the world’s most liveable city, according to Economist’s annual index.
The 2023 Global Liveability Index quantifies the challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle and standard of living in 173 cities worldwide. The 2023 Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking has also included three Canadian cities among the worlds top 10 most liveable. Australia and Switzerland each have 2 entries. Denmark, Japan, and New Zealand each had one city in the top rankings.
1. Vienna 🇦🇹
2. Copenhagen 🇩🇰
3. Melbourne 🇦🇺
4. Sydney 🇦🇺
5. Vancouver 🇨🇦
6. Zurich 🇨🇭
7. Calgary 🇨🇦 (tie)
7. Geneva 🇨🇭 (tie)
9. Toronto 🇨🇦
10. Osaka 🇯🇵 (tie)
10. Auckland 🇳🇿 (tie)
The Desjardins report confirms that our aging demographics makes the case for increased immigration if we want to grow Canada’s economy.
The Canadian Press via National Observer »
Canada’s population grew by more than one million people last year, a record for the country. Its total population grew by 2.7 per cent, the fastest rate since 1957.
The strong population growth comes as the Liberal government eyes higher annual immigration targets, which would see the country welcome 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025.
Proponents of higher immigration argue that the labour market is able to absorb more workers, and the country needs more working-age Canadians to support the tax base as more people retire.
“We need immigration at a relatively high rate, actually, in order to offset the economic impacts of aging _ to be able to pay for the health care that Canadian seniors are going to need,” Bartlett said.
Meanwhile » China too needs immigrants
China is entering a severe demographic crisis.
For several centuries, the Asian nation has been the most populous country in the world. But it is now shrinking. In 2022, the country registered more deaths than births, and it will soon be surpassed by India in total population size – indeed, many demographers believe this has already occurred.
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