Asian

Phillipine welfare officer found dead in Maylasia. A social welfare officer assigned to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was found dead in his apartment Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur identified the fatality as Finardo G. Cabilao, a social welfare officer based in Malaysia since 2008.

It said Cabilao failed to report to work for two straight days, prompting Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Victoriano Lecaros to dispatch the Embassy’s administrative officer to his residence and check on his condition.

The administrative officer and other staff members found Cabilao dead in his apartment.

Embassy officials immediately reported the incident to the DFA, the local police authorities, and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

Malaysian police authorities are now investigating the incident.

The DFA has informed the deceased officer’s mother unit, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which in turn notified Cabilao’s family of his death.

The Philippine Embassy, DFA, DSWD and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will extend full assistance to the family.

Following the incident, Ambassador Lecaros has instructed Embassy staff members to take security and safety measures.

as of 08/07/2009 6:29 PM

Recession Relief Fund needed, coalition says.
As donations decline in the current recession, “demand is increasing. Food Bank usage is rising and drop-ins are seeing greater numbers requiring services says the declaration to the Recession Relief Coalition.
      The declaration calls for a Recession Relief Fund, which will provide support for agencies, such as food banks, drop-ins, shelters and employment centres, providing essential services to our most vulnerable people, including money for a National housing Program.
       The Coalition is seeking action in the next federal budget to maintain and improve voluntary and government services for vulnerable people. The group points out that donations are down and the assets of charitable foundations have shrunk as a result to the stock market deterioration.
        "Unless the Federal Government steps up to close the funding gap, many agencies will have to lay-off staff, close programs and in some cases will not be able to survive" said Bill Morari, President, The Rotary Club of Toronto.
          The coalition has more than the support of more than 100 organizations and individuals and is seeking Canada wide support.

Ontario to upload welfare costs but not too fast The $1.5 billion cost burden of social welfare costs will be uploaded from municipalities to the Ontario government over, at a snail"s pace, the next 10 years, according to a consensus report issued by the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review.
        The Harris government in one fell swoop a decade ago downloaded these services.
                  Ontario Works benefits and court security costs, drug benefits will begin in 2008, and the Ontario Disability Support program in 2009.
                  Little is said in the report on the cost of housing program that runs into the hundreds of million ($300 million for the City of Toronto).
                  The report results from the deliberations of the Ontario government, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the City of Toronto.

How BC dropped its welfare time
limits and remained punitive 080804
The British Columbia government started out to impose time limits on welfare in 2001. It failed to carry through on its promise when faced with opposition from community groups, public servants and the threat of growing public sentiments against the policy, according to study by Bruce Wallace & Tim Richards. By autumn 2003 the government withdrew from this policy.
        “In retrospect, Wallace and Richards write, “the failure of the implementation of time-limited welfare did not significantly shift the Liberal government’s punitive welfare reform agenda.” They add, “The government’s target of a thirty percent reduction in the welfare budget and caseloads was achieved through other elements of welfare reform, particularly the new rule that required two years of financial independence in order to be eligible for welfare, and a new required wait of three weeks before a person could apply for benefits. In this sense, the resistance to welfare time-limits was only a limited and partial victory”
        Welfare time limits were unprecedented in Canada when the government made its announcement. Legislation was passed by the legislature, which included provisions that certain classes of recipients would have their monthly benefits reduced or eliminated if they remained on income assistance for more than 24 months in a 60-month period.
            The government changed its policies because the efforts of community groups and activists in anti-poverty efforts became broad public concerns. Questions also rose among municipal councils, school board, religious groups, media and a widening public. The government was unable to respond in a way that gave satisfactory answers.
            However the Ministry of Employment and Income staff also created problems. They pointed out the limits would apply to those who were least likely to find and keep jobs. This would widen public opposition to the government’s approach. Attempts to define exemptions to the time limits. “This internal opposition did not oppose welfare time limits in principle, but rather only in relation to classes of recipients that in the government’s view merited exemption from its application.”
                        The authors point out that the opposition achieve a limited and partial victory. The report, The Rise and Fall of Welfare Time Limits in British Columbia, states. “It is profoundly important that the welfare time limits policy failed.”
         The authors of the study are: Bruce Wallace, a community-based researcher in Victoria, and Tim Richards, a Senior Instructor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria. It was published by the Vancouver Island Public Interest Reseaarch Group.

Where an immigrant to Canada obtains a university degree, affects the individual’s employment experience after their arrival, a Statistics Canada study shows. Asian-educated immigrants have a more difficult time finding jobs.

In three provinces — Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec — the employment rate among university-educated immigrants who arrived prior to 1997 was close to that of their Canadian born counterparts, with one notable exception: for the 61,000 Asian-educated immigrants in Ontario who arrived prior to 1997, their employment rate was below that of their Canadian born counterparts.

Over one-third of immigrants to Canada have a university degree. However, the country in which they received their degrees affects obtaining a job. Those educated in Western countries generally have higher rates of employment than those educated elsewhere, Statistics Canada reports.

· Employment gap between foreign-educated immigrants and Canadian born is smaller for immigrants who had been in Canada longer;

· High employment rates are reported for Ontario and British Columbia immigrants with a Canadian degree, but low in Quebec;

The study, "The Canadian immigrant labour market in 2007: Analysis by region of postsecondary education," is now available as part of The Immigrant Labour Force Analysis Series (71-606-XWE2008004, free). labour@statcan.ca)

Canada's food banks are a growth industry
Since Canada’s first food bank opened in 1981, as a “temporary program”, the number of food banks and users of the banks have grown. Currently, more than 720,000 Canadians are assisted by community food banks every month

In June 2008, 460,040 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits, up 0.5% from May. Regular benefit payments totalled $732.5 million in June. Compared with June 2007, the number of Canadians receiving regular benefits declined 3.0%, with the same decrease posted for both men and women.

Athabasca University offers accredited distance education programs and courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels.