New Toronto MP inspires Chinese students

Zhiyong Huang, a member of Geng Tan’s election team, said the community needs equal political status within the population. “Tan is an opportunity for our Chinese community to get our rights.”

Brad: Didn’t know you were missing any rights. It certainly doesn’t seem that way, seeing as there are no restrictions on foreigners buying up our residential real estate markets., as well as having the ability to post non-official foreign language signage to the degree that our communities loose their unique Canadian identity. Read more

Royal Bank of Canada scraps limit on size of newcomer mortgages

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – The Royal Bank of Canada scrapped an internal limit on mortgage loan size for immigrants in the spring to tap into surging demand for financing on multi-million dollar houses by newcomers to Vancouver.

Wealthy buyers, mostly from China, are fueling a booming mortgage business in Vancouver, where the median price for a detached home on the desirable west side jumped 31 percent to C$2.87 million ($2.19 million) in the last two years.

RBC, Canada’s largest bank, removed its C$1.25 million cap on loans to borrowers with no local credit history in May, said Christine Shisler, the bank’s Director of Multicultural Markets, who works with an immigrant clientele. Read more

Muslim Liberal candidate defiant in face of hateful slurs

Appalled by racist messages in an election campaign increasingly marred by anti-Muslim attacks, the Grit candidate for London-Fanshawe refused to let the incident bring him down. After reporting the vandalism to police, he’s been pressing on with his political campaign.

“I’m not going to be discouraged. I’m going to carry on what I’m doing because that’s why I put my name forward in this riding,” said Ramal, who immigrated to Canada from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley region in 1989.

But racism being unleashed during an election campaign was a new and unsettling experience for Ramal, who previously served as an Ontario MPP and has never before suffered such prejudice. Read more

B.C. Premier Christy Clark visits China in a bid to foster stronger trade relationships

China missions: Premier Christy Clark of B.C. and Kathleen Wynne, her Ontario counterpart, both visit China next week as they try to foster stronger trade relationships with the Asian giant. Chinese leaders recently committed to doubling the size of the economy by 2020 from 2010 levels — and both premiers will be seeking to capitalize on those growth ambitions. Read more

White Nationalists Gather On Halloween To Discuss How Oppressed They Are

WASHINGTON — The 150-plus white men who gathered on Halloween to discuss their shared European heritage and identity insisted they don’t think they’re better than other races.

They’re simply different, they said. They’re “white advocates” and “identitarians.” “Racial idealists” or “racial communitarians.” The label “white supremacists,” to them, is a political “scare term” created by liberals and groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center to undercut “legitimate” white interests.

The conference, called “Become Who We Are,” invited other white people to gain this race consciousness so their revolution can move off Twitter, blogs and online journals and into the mainstream. Read more

Diverse Liberal caucus has 38 of 46 visible minorities elected

McKenna is part of what may be the most diverse governing caucus of MPs that voters have ever sent to Parliament Hill.

 At 44, McKenna is also part of the biggest demographic group in the Liberal caucus, with 82 of those elected falling in the 30-to-49 age range. The second largest is the 50-64 group, with 68 MPs, according to a Maclean’s magazine analysis. McKenna is also one of 50 women to be elected to the Liberal caucus.

The Liberals also have 38 of the 46 visible minorities elected to the House of Commons.

Read more