JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
222 kilograms of tobacco seized at Sask. border point-[CBC]-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
A Calgary man has been charged with smuggling after 220 kilograms of tobacco was seized at a Saskatchewan-U.S. border crossing.It's the biggest tobacco bust on the Prairies in at least five years, the Canada Border Services Agency says.CBSA officers seized the tobacco April 6 as the man, 56, was coming into Canada at North Portal, Sask., north of North Dakota.He was charged June 3 with smuggling, making false statements, failing to report imported goods, and willfully evading the payment of duties on imported goods pursuant to the Customs Act.He was also charged with unlawful possession under the Excise Act.Last year, CBSA officers in Saskatchewan made 45 seizures of undeclared tobacco products, the agency says.Across Canada, the CBSA seized 24,137 cigarette cartons, 134 cigars, and 45,067 kilograms of other tobacco products in 2015.
Musquash man criticized for protest against Canadian flag-[CBC]-June 13, 2016-YAHOONEWS
A man in Musquash is protesting the Canadian flag by displaying it upside down, and has upset some neighbours in the process.Ivan Morgan, 78, hangs four Canadian flags upside down on his fence, in plain view of the road, to deliberately show his disrespect for the Maple Leaf.He said he believes the current flag does not represent the freedom and rights of Canadians."I want to show I don't have any use for the red Maple Leaf flag," said Morgan."When you see a red maple leaf, what do you see? A dead maple leaf. Canada is not dead. But a lot of the politicians running Canada are brain dead."Morgan said the current flag was not the flag under which his father and grandfather fought in the Korean War and the two World Wars.He said the rightful Canadian flag should be the Red Ensign, the flag used until 1965. Morgan said he is a former member of the armed forces.Doesn't care what neighbours think-Neighbours have protested about his display of upside-down Canadian flags on a wire fence facing the South Musquash Road.But Morgan said he does not care what people think and won't take the flags down.James Irving, the grounds supervisor at Branch 69 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Saint John, said he understands why some people are still attached to the Red Ensign. "He has a point because we left thousands of boys and girls, men and women overseas under the Union Jack. It was the flag they died for and died under," he said.Irving said many older veterans respect the old flag but they also know that a lot of soldiers lost their lives under the new flag as well.He said he thinks those veterans would not agree with Morgan's stance against the Maple Leaf flag."They would be utterly appalled," he said."For what we did in Afghanistan that's the flag they were under. So he is disrespecting the 183 boys and girls we brought home from Afghanistan, and Somalia, the three or four that passed away there. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, that's the flag they all went under."Irving said the flags might end up hurting Morgan."Being a veteran myself I just have to look at it and say shame and sad. There is no point to it," he said.
Democratic Party's computers breached by Russian hackers-[The Canadian Press]-Jack Gillum, Deb Riechmann And Julie Pace, The Associated Press-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON - Sophisticated hackers linked to Russian intelligence services broke into the Democratic National Committee's computer networks and gained access to confidential emails, chats and opposition research on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, people familiar with the breach said Tuesday.The firm, CrowdStrike Inc., said the DNC asked it to investigate a suspected breach of its systems, which began as early as last summer. CrowdStrike said it quickly found traces of two of the best adversaries in the hacking arena, both tied to the Russian government.The newly revealed attacks join a host of high-profile digital breaches affecting current and past White House hopefuls, underscoring vulnerabilities in digital networks that increasingly hold sensitive data about political candidates, their opponents and their donors.DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called the incident serious and said the committee moved quickly to "kick out the intruders and secure our network." The DNC said donor, financial and personal information did not appear to have been accessed by the hackers.But an individual knowledgeable of the breach said at least one year's worth of detailed chats, emails and opposition research on Trump were stolen. That kind of research, a staple of political campaigns, often contains detailed information — sometimes factual and sometimes specious — about a candidate's personal and professional history.The individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the breach, said DNC officials first learned about the hack in late April when its technology staff discovered malware on its computers.CrowdStrike reported Tuesday that one group of hackers was able to execute computer code remotely on systems running Microsoft Windows. Another was capable of recording keystrokes.Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said last month that U.S. officials have seen indications of foreign hackers spying on the presidential candidates. He said the U.S. intelligence community expects more cyber threats against the campaigns.Foreign hacking was rampant during the 2008 presidential election, and President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were targets of Chinese cyberattacks in the 2012 campaign. In 2008, Obama and Republican nominee Sen. John McCain were also targeted.CrowdStrike said one of the hacking groups identified in the DNC attack, dubbed Cozy Bear, had previously infiltrated unclassified networks at the White House, the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Another group detected, called Fancy Bear, had targeted private and public sector networks around the world since the mid-2000s. The two groups involved in the DNC hacking had penetrated the system separately, CrowdStrike said.Dmitri Alperovitch, CrowdStrike's co-founder and chief technology officer, said the hackers specifically targeted the DNC's research department and obtained opposition documents prepared about Trump. He said the firm is confident the DNC's network has eliminated the threat.But, Alperovitch said, "the Russians' interest in the political campaign will not stop at this incident. We fully expect that they will try to get back in."A representative from the Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return phone calls and emails seeking comment Tuesday.The incident was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post."It should come as no surprise to anyone that political parties are high-profile targets for foreign intelligence gathering," said Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, who co-founded the House's cybersecurity panel. "Nonetheless, it is disconcerting that two independent operations were able to penetrate the DNC, one of which was able to stay embedded for nearly a year."Cybersecurity experts have previously told The Associated Press that neither Trump's nor Hillary Clinton's campaign networks are secure enough to stop attacks. Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state raised questions of how well her personal system was protected from intrusions; her campaign has said there's no evidence it was breached.___Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackgillum
Feds spent $25.6M in hotels, transportation and furnishings for Syrian refugees-Dene Moore-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
The federal government spent more than $15 million on hotels alone to house Syrian refugees after announcing last December its ambitious plan to resettle 25,000 displaced Syrians.The total sum disclosed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada this week comes to $25.6 million in external contracts from mid-December to the end of March.From Dec. 21 to the end of March, the immigration department housed refugees in at least 17 different hotels in major cities across the country.The largest bill was from the Quality Hotel and Suites Toronto Airport East, which received $2.96 million, followed by the $2.53 million paid to the Quality Hotel Dorval.The Sheraton Guildford Hotel received $1.995 million; the Travelodge $2.147 million; and Travelodge Aeroport de Dorval, $1.945 million.With critics suggesting the federal government simply did not have the capability to undertake the massive resettlement, the department engaged defence contractor Logistik Unicorp Inc. on Dec. 7 – a contract worth $5.274 million.The department spent a total of $7 million on transportation, including flights, taxis and bus service, and $3 million on furniture for the refugees – for a total of $25.6 million.The department was not able to immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo Canada News.Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel says she’s frustrated with the way the plan has unfolded so far.“I think they went into this without a real plan,” she tells Yahoo Canada News.“I feel like this government took a lot of nice, glossy photos on the front end of this and they really haven’t thought about the transition of these refugees, their lives in Canada, over the long term.”Rempel is part of a parliamentary committee studying the refugee response, with a report likely next fall.“We’ve had refugees come into committee and talk about how they’re living in bug-infested apartments. We know that many refugees spent an extended amount of time in hotels,” she says.Refugees have testified that they’ve had trouble accessing language training and finding jobs.Committee members asked officials and the minister last week for a tally on hotel spending and were told they didn’t have the information, Rempel says.Meanwhile, private sponsor groups have told the committee that they had apartments available that they’ve now released because they did not have families to put in them.“So there’s absolutely no co-ordination,” Rempel says.The Liberals originally estimated the entire initiative would cost $250 million.“It’s significantly more than $250 million. It’s nearing a billion with no end in sight,” she says.Last week, Immigration Minister John McCallum defended the expenses under questioning in the House of Commons.NDP MP Jenny Kwan pointed out that the federal government spent more than $2.3 million to renovate Canadian military bases, which were to serve as temporary lodging for the Syrian refugees.“They were never used, because at the last minute, the government changed course and decided to house the refugees in hotels at the cost of over $14 million,” Kwan said during question period on Friday.“Mr. Speaker, I am afraid the honourable member is missing the forest for the trees,” McCallum replied.“The good news is that those military bases were set up as a contingency. The fact that we did not need them meant that the government saved tens of millions of dollars. We were scheduled to spend $319 million, but we actually spent $136 million less than was predicted. Therefore, we saved a lot of money.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to bring 25,000 government-sponsored refugees to Canada by the end of 2015.Logistical challenges forced the government to postpone that date to the end of February and expand the target to all Syrian refugees, including those sponsored privately.Based on internal government documents, CBC has previously reported that the actual sum of commercial flights to bring refugees to Canada tallied $30 million in the same period.The Liberal government initially earmarked $678 million over six years for the resettlement of 25,000 Syrians. Another $245 million was promised in the spring budget to bring an additional 10,000 displaced Syrians to Canada this year.
Filipino man claims death threats from members of powerful Christian church-[CBC]-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
A Filipino man has applied for refugee status in Canada claiming the lives of his young family have been threatened by members of what he calls a "cult-like" Christian church in the Philippines — and he alleges to CBC News he's still being stalked in Metro Vancouver.Lowell Menorca, 39, a former un-ordained minister in the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), or Church of Christ, brought his allegations to the CBC in his first major English language interview.His case has generated headline news coverage in the Philippines.Iglesia Ni Cristo is the third largest faith in the Philippines after Catholicism and Islam, and it has hundreds of churches around the world, including many in Canada.The INC preaches these are "the last days," and only its members will be saved. According to the church's doctrines, to be expelled means losing your salvation.Menorca says the INC expelled him after a split developed among descendants of the man who founded the church. He says he was suspected of being an anonymous blogger who had accused INC leaders of overspending and corruption.Menorca believes the leadership has wasted vast amounts of money on things such as a private Airbus jetliner (since sold) and the construction of the Philippine Arena, the biggest covered stadium in the world, built to celebrate the INC's centennial in 2014.He alleges he was illegally detained by Church officials, arrested by police and then hit with more than 40 lawsuits for libel for speaking out about his alleged treatment from the church."This is an orchestrated effort by the church to intimidate me," says Menorca, "to put me behind bars, ultimately to silence me."But officials with the Iglesia Ni Cristo call Menorca's claims "fabricated" and "devious."They say he's fleeing prosecution, not persecution, in the Philippines, and they expect the Canadian government to deny his refugee application.The INC flew it's San Francisco-based supervising attorney to Vancouver to answer the CBC's questions about the case."It's so obvious to see that he's fabricated this whole story", says Rommel V. San Pedro."In the end, the Canadian government is going to see through all of these allegations, and see there's no threat here.""We can tell you there is no corruption inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo."But Menorca claims he has proof church supporters have threatened his life and the lives of his pregnant wife and two-year-old child.Alleged threat to daughter-Menorca's battle with the church came to a head three months ago in the Philippines.On March 6 — the night before he was to appear at a court hearing against the INC — he claims a family member discovered a photo on the windshield of his car, parked at a safe house.The family portrait, possibly lifted from Menorca's social media postings, had a red "x" through the face of his two-year-old daughter Yurie — and the warning "March 7, 2016, Say Goodbye."It was signed "Mandirigma," Tagalog for "warriors"— a term often used online by some who purport to be defenders of the church."When I saw it, it literally crumbled my world" says a tearful Menorca."I really didn't want to stand by and watch if they're really going to push through with it, so that moment we decided that we would leave the country."That night, he flew his family to Vietnam.But he claims the intimidation continued.Within hours, Menorca says photographs were posted on a Facebook site that appears to target those expelled from the INC, showing his family on the plane and at the airport terminal.Comments in Tagalog and English accompanied the pictures. Among them: "You can run but you can't hide" and "You will not be able to escape, you are an animal, you are evil!!!"Intimidation continues in B.C.: Menorca-Menorca said his family next fled to Thailand, seeking a safe haven.But while he had a valid Visa to the US, his daughter and his pregnant wife Jingky did not.Menorca says he eventually made the difficult decision to board a flight to Seattle that routed through Vancouver. When he landed on Canadian soil he immediately approached immigration officials and sought refugee status in the hope he can bring his wife and child here.However, he claims he has continued to be harassed by INC members here in Metro Vancouver, where there are nine congregations, according to the church's website.Photographs of Menorca recently shopping in a local shopping mall were posted by another Facebook user who appears to be an INC follower.Again, accompanying comments — seen by CBC News — said things such as:"Watch your back, someone is behind you".One poster writes: "Exact location(?)"The response: "Guildford and Metrotown".CBC News messaged the Facebook users who had posted images of Menorca in the mall.One poster referred all questions to the western Canada ecclesiastical division of the INC.Menorca also has video he says is of four burly Filipino men from Washington State who arrived unannounced at a recent Burnaby prayer meeting organised by dissidents of the church — including Menorca.Church says Menorca "fabricates"-When asked about these incidents, including the apparently secretly-taken photographs of Menorca, the INC's North American lawyer again dismisses Menorca's version of the events."He makes up all these stories. He fabricates them … He's very ingenious. I mean, very devious" says Rommel V. San Pedro."Who's not to say Menorca didn't get his friends to take a picture, "X" out his daughter's face, put it on the car, and allege that members of the church did that.""You can easily make up identities on Facebook and then create a scenario or create an image of something like that happening. But who's to say that's members of the Church of Christ?"San Pedro says the numerous libel cases launched against Menorca in the Philippines are from individuals, and church leaders "don't really care about Menorca.""We care about our members. Our Lord Jesus Christ said if one sheep goes off, the shepherd goes after that lost sheep. And we have members who have been affected, confused by his rhetoric, confused by his fabrications," he said."What we're doing is we're visiting the members and we're explaining to them what he's doing, and we're encouraging our members to stay strong in the faith."Controversy within the church-The INC was founded in 1914 by Felix Manalo, who claimed to be the last messenger of God.The founder's grandson, Eduardo V. Manalo, is now the executive minister of the church.The Philippine press has reported his siblings have raised issues over his authoritarian leadership, and have been fenced off within the church's central compound. The internal dispute remains on-going.Eduardo V. Manalo, known as "EVM", is revered by his supporters.A Youtube music video, produced by INCMedia Services, is entitled "I am One with EVM", and includes the lyrics, "Appointed by God in these last days, is our Church Administrator," and "For the church he will give his very life, and so we will remain on his side."Leonora Angeles, associate professor at the University of BC's Institute of Social Justice, says the INC has encouraged a cult-like veneration of its leader."Observers of the church might say it has some cult-like characteristics ... you also have a very authoritarian leadership. What the inner circle dictates, everyone must follow."Church lawyer Rommel V. San Pedro denies the INC is a cult."To label an organization as a cult is unfair. Why do we say we're the one true church? Our teachings ... every single doctrine can be found in the Bible."Church has 'vast influence': expert-CBC News also sought out an expert on the INC in the Philippines.Ramon Casiple, executive director of the independent nonprofit Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, has studied the church's influence on its members and on Philippine politics.He says he doesn't discount the possibility the church's leadership has come down "swiftly and hard on whom they thought were the propagators of those stories" alleging corruption and lavish spending by the INC's leaders."There is a definite division," he says, referring to the split within the church, "But we don't know how far the division is going because the church is basically secretive and that's one of the basic tenets — that they don't go public on anything internal," says Casiple.He believes the fears of Menorca and other alleged INC church members who have been expelled are "well founded because of the vast influence of the church on the politicians here, and on the military and police and even local officials."Menorca has claimed to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board that he's not safe in the Philippines, because he alleges police and government officials are often INC members, or heavily influenced by the church, since the INC encourages its parishioners to "block vote" — delivering key votes in tight races.That gives the small church a large influence, according to his refugee claim.Menorca hopes the Canadian government will take all of this into account, when the Immigration and Refugee Board hears his application for refugee status.Through tears, he remembered how he was treated here, when he arrived at Vancouver airport."The officer told me, 'You came to the right country.' I just felt some kind of relief, that hopefully this country will protect people like me, can protect my family, my wife and my daughter.""I'm hoping that Canada can be a safe refuge for people who have been oppressed, by a church of all things."The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada will rule on the validity of Menorca's claims and allegations, later this summer.
A Calgary man has been charged with smuggling after 220 kilograms of tobacco was seized at a Saskatchewan-U.S. border crossing.It's the biggest tobacco bust on the Prairies in at least five years, the Canada Border Services Agency says.CBSA officers seized the tobacco April 6 as the man, 56, was coming into Canada at North Portal, Sask., north of North Dakota.He was charged June 3 with smuggling, making false statements, failing to report imported goods, and willfully evading the payment of duties on imported goods pursuant to the Customs Act.He was also charged with unlawful possession under the Excise Act.Last year, CBSA officers in Saskatchewan made 45 seizures of undeclared tobacco products, the agency says.Across Canada, the CBSA seized 24,137 cigarette cartons, 134 cigars, and 45,067 kilograms of other tobacco products in 2015.
Musquash man criticized for protest against Canadian flag-[CBC]-June 13, 2016-YAHOONEWS
A man in Musquash is protesting the Canadian flag by displaying it upside down, and has upset some neighbours in the process.Ivan Morgan, 78, hangs four Canadian flags upside down on his fence, in plain view of the road, to deliberately show his disrespect for the Maple Leaf.He said he believes the current flag does not represent the freedom and rights of Canadians."I want to show I don't have any use for the red Maple Leaf flag," said Morgan."When you see a red maple leaf, what do you see? A dead maple leaf. Canada is not dead. But a lot of the politicians running Canada are brain dead."Morgan said the current flag was not the flag under which his father and grandfather fought in the Korean War and the two World Wars.He said the rightful Canadian flag should be the Red Ensign, the flag used until 1965. Morgan said he is a former member of the armed forces.Doesn't care what neighbours think-Neighbours have protested about his display of upside-down Canadian flags on a wire fence facing the South Musquash Road.But Morgan said he does not care what people think and won't take the flags down.James Irving, the grounds supervisor at Branch 69 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Saint John, said he understands why some people are still attached to the Red Ensign. "He has a point because we left thousands of boys and girls, men and women overseas under the Union Jack. It was the flag they died for and died under," he said.Irving said many older veterans respect the old flag but they also know that a lot of soldiers lost their lives under the new flag as well.He said he thinks those veterans would not agree with Morgan's stance against the Maple Leaf flag."They would be utterly appalled," he said."For what we did in Afghanistan that's the flag they were under. So he is disrespecting the 183 boys and girls we brought home from Afghanistan, and Somalia, the three or four that passed away there. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, that's the flag they all went under."Irving said the flags might end up hurting Morgan."Being a veteran myself I just have to look at it and say shame and sad. There is no point to it," he said.
Democratic Party's computers breached by Russian hackers-[The Canadian Press]-Jack Gillum, Deb Riechmann And Julie Pace, The Associated Press-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
WASHINGTON - Sophisticated hackers linked to Russian intelligence services broke into the Democratic National Committee's computer networks and gained access to confidential emails, chats and opposition research on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, people familiar with the breach said Tuesday.The firm, CrowdStrike Inc., said the DNC asked it to investigate a suspected breach of its systems, which began as early as last summer. CrowdStrike said it quickly found traces of two of the best adversaries in the hacking arena, both tied to the Russian government.The newly revealed attacks join a host of high-profile digital breaches affecting current and past White House hopefuls, underscoring vulnerabilities in digital networks that increasingly hold sensitive data about political candidates, their opponents and their donors.DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called the incident serious and said the committee moved quickly to "kick out the intruders and secure our network." The DNC said donor, financial and personal information did not appear to have been accessed by the hackers.But an individual knowledgeable of the breach said at least one year's worth of detailed chats, emails and opposition research on Trump were stolen. That kind of research, a staple of political campaigns, often contains detailed information — sometimes factual and sometimes specious — about a candidate's personal and professional history.The individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the breach, said DNC officials first learned about the hack in late April when its technology staff discovered malware on its computers.CrowdStrike reported Tuesday that one group of hackers was able to execute computer code remotely on systems running Microsoft Windows. Another was capable of recording keystrokes.Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said last month that U.S. officials have seen indications of foreign hackers spying on the presidential candidates. He said the U.S. intelligence community expects more cyber threats against the campaigns.Foreign hacking was rampant during the 2008 presidential election, and President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were targets of Chinese cyberattacks in the 2012 campaign. In 2008, Obama and Republican nominee Sen. John McCain were also targeted.CrowdStrike said one of the hacking groups identified in the DNC attack, dubbed Cozy Bear, had previously infiltrated unclassified networks at the White House, the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Another group detected, called Fancy Bear, had targeted private and public sector networks around the world since the mid-2000s. The two groups involved in the DNC hacking had penetrated the system separately, CrowdStrike said.Dmitri Alperovitch, CrowdStrike's co-founder and chief technology officer, said the hackers specifically targeted the DNC's research department and obtained opposition documents prepared about Trump. He said the firm is confident the DNC's network has eliminated the threat.But, Alperovitch said, "the Russians' interest in the political campaign will not stop at this incident. We fully expect that they will try to get back in."A representative from the Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return phone calls and emails seeking comment Tuesday.The incident was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post."It should come as no surprise to anyone that political parties are high-profile targets for foreign intelligence gathering," said Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, who co-founded the House's cybersecurity panel. "Nonetheless, it is disconcerting that two independent operations were able to penetrate the DNC, one of which was able to stay embedded for nearly a year."Cybersecurity experts have previously told The Associated Press that neither Trump's nor Hillary Clinton's campaign networks are secure enough to stop attacks. Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state raised questions of how well her personal system was protected from intrusions; her campaign has said there's no evidence it was breached.___Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackgillum
Feds spent $25.6M in hotels, transportation and furnishings for Syrian refugees-Dene Moore-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
The federal government spent more than $15 million on hotels alone to house Syrian refugees after announcing last December its ambitious plan to resettle 25,000 displaced Syrians.The total sum disclosed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada this week comes to $25.6 million in external contracts from mid-December to the end of March.From Dec. 21 to the end of March, the immigration department housed refugees in at least 17 different hotels in major cities across the country.The largest bill was from the Quality Hotel and Suites Toronto Airport East, which received $2.96 million, followed by the $2.53 million paid to the Quality Hotel Dorval.The Sheraton Guildford Hotel received $1.995 million; the Travelodge $2.147 million; and Travelodge Aeroport de Dorval, $1.945 million.With critics suggesting the federal government simply did not have the capability to undertake the massive resettlement, the department engaged defence contractor Logistik Unicorp Inc. on Dec. 7 – a contract worth $5.274 million.The department spent a total of $7 million on transportation, including flights, taxis and bus service, and $3 million on furniture for the refugees – for a total of $25.6 million.The department was not able to immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo Canada News.Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel says she’s frustrated with the way the plan has unfolded so far.“I think they went into this without a real plan,” she tells Yahoo Canada News.“I feel like this government took a lot of nice, glossy photos on the front end of this and they really haven’t thought about the transition of these refugees, their lives in Canada, over the long term.”Rempel is part of a parliamentary committee studying the refugee response, with a report likely next fall.“We’ve had refugees come into committee and talk about how they’re living in bug-infested apartments. We know that many refugees spent an extended amount of time in hotels,” she says.Refugees have testified that they’ve had trouble accessing language training and finding jobs.Committee members asked officials and the minister last week for a tally on hotel spending and were told they didn’t have the information, Rempel says.Meanwhile, private sponsor groups have told the committee that they had apartments available that they’ve now released because they did not have families to put in them.“So there’s absolutely no co-ordination,” Rempel says.The Liberals originally estimated the entire initiative would cost $250 million.“It’s significantly more than $250 million. It’s nearing a billion with no end in sight,” she says.Last week, Immigration Minister John McCallum defended the expenses under questioning in the House of Commons.NDP MP Jenny Kwan pointed out that the federal government spent more than $2.3 million to renovate Canadian military bases, which were to serve as temporary lodging for the Syrian refugees.“They were never used, because at the last minute, the government changed course and decided to house the refugees in hotels at the cost of over $14 million,” Kwan said during question period on Friday.“Mr. Speaker, I am afraid the honourable member is missing the forest for the trees,” McCallum replied.“The good news is that those military bases were set up as a contingency. The fact that we did not need them meant that the government saved tens of millions of dollars. We were scheduled to spend $319 million, but we actually spent $136 million less than was predicted. Therefore, we saved a lot of money.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to bring 25,000 government-sponsored refugees to Canada by the end of 2015.Logistical challenges forced the government to postpone that date to the end of February and expand the target to all Syrian refugees, including those sponsored privately.Based on internal government documents, CBC has previously reported that the actual sum of commercial flights to bring refugees to Canada tallied $30 million in the same period.The Liberal government initially earmarked $678 million over six years for the resettlement of 25,000 Syrians. Another $245 million was promised in the spring budget to bring an additional 10,000 displaced Syrians to Canada this year.
Filipino man claims death threats from members of powerful Christian church-[CBC]-June 14, 2016-YAHOONEWS
A Filipino man has applied for refugee status in Canada claiming the lives of his young family have been threatened by members of what he calls a "cult-like" Christian church in the Philippines — and he alleges to CBC News he's still being stalked in Metro Vancouver.Lowell Menorca, 39, a former un-ordained minister in the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), or Church of Christ, brought his allegations to the CBC in his first major English language interview.His case has generated headline news coverage in the Philippines.Iglesia Ni Cristo is the third largest faith in the Philippines after Catholicism and Islam, and it has hundreds of churches around the world, including many in Canada.The INC preaches these are "the last days," and only its members will be saved. According to the church's doctrines, to be expelled means losing your salvation.Menorca says the INC expelled him after a split developed among descendants of the man who founded the church. He says he was suspected of being an anonymous blogger who had accused INC leaders of overspending and corruption.Menorca believes the leadership has wasted vast amounts of money on things such as a private Airbus jetliner (since sold) and the construction of the Philippine Arena, the biggest covered stadium in the world, built to celebrate the INC's centennial in 2014.He alleges he was illegally detained by Church officials, arrested by police and then hit with more than 40 lawsuits for libel for speaking out about his alleged treatment from the church."This is an orchestrated effort by the church to intimidate me," says Menorca, "to put me behind bars, ultimately to silence me."But officials with the Iglesia Ni Cristo call Menorca's claims "fabricated" and "devious."They say he's fleeing prosecution, not persecution, in the Philippines, and they expect the Canadian government to deny his refugee application.The INC flew it's San Francisco-based supervising attorney to Vancouver to answer the CBC's questions about the case."It's so obvious to see that he's fabricated this whole story", says Rommel V. San Pedro."In the end, the Canadian government is going to see through all of these allegations, and see there's no threat here.""We can tell you there is no corruption inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo."But Menorca claims he has proof church supporters have threatened his life and the lives of his pregnant wife and two-year-old child.Alleged threat to daughter-Menorca's battle with the church came to a head three months ago in the Philippines.On March 6 — the night before he was to appear at a court hearing against the INC — he claims a family member discovered a photo on the windshield of his car, parked at a safe house.The family portrait, possibly lifted from Menorca's social media postings, had a red "x" through the face of his two-year-old daughter Yurie — and the warning "March 7, 2016, Say Goodbye."It was signed "Mandirigma," Tagalog for "warriors"— a term often used online by some who purport to be defenders of the church."When I saw it, it literally crumbled my world" says a tearful Menorca."I really didn't want to stand by and watch if they're really going to push through with it, so that moment we decided that we would leave the country."That night, he flew his family to Vietnam.But he claims the intimidation continued.Within hours, Menorca says photographs were posted on a Facebook site that appears to target those expelled from the INC, showing his family on the plane and at the airport terminal.Comments in Tagalog and English accompanied the pictures. Among them: "You can run but you can't hide" and "You will not be able to escape, you are an animal, you are evil!!!"Intimidation continues in B.C.: Menorca-Menorca said his family next fled to Thailand, seeking a safe haven.But while he had a valid Visa to the US, his daughter and his pregnant wife Jingky did not.Menorca says he eventually made the difficult decision to board a flight to Seattle that routed through Vancouver. When he landed on Canadian soil he immediately approached immigration officials and sought refugee status in the hope he can bring his wife and child here.However, he claims he has continued to be harassed by INC members here in Metro Vancouver, where there are nine congregations, according to the church's website.Photographs of Menorca recently shopping in a local shopping mall were posted by another Facebook user who appears to be an INC follower.Again, accompanying comments — seen by CBC News — said things such as:"Watch your back, someone is behind you".One poster writes: "Exact location(?)"The response: "Guildford and Metrotown".CBC News messaged the Facebook users who had posted images of Menorca in the mall.One poster referred all questions to the western Canada ecclesiastical division of the INC.Menorca also has video he says is of four burly Filipino men from Washington State who arrived unannounced at a recent Burnaby prayer meeting organised by dissidents of the church — including Menorca.Church says Menorca "fabricates"-When asked about these incidents, including the apparently secretly-taken photographs of Menorca, the INC's North American lawyer again dismisses Menorca's version of the events."He makes up all these stories. He fabricates them … He's very ingenious. I mean, very devious" says Rommel V. San Pedro."Who's not to say Menorca didn't get his friends to take a picture, "X" out his daughter's face, put it on the car, and allege that members of the church did that.""You can easily make up identities on Facebook and then create a scenario or create an image of something like that happening. But who's to say that's members of the Church of Christ?"San Pedro says the numerous libel cases launched against Menorca in the Philippines are from individuals, and church leaders "don't really care about Menorca.""We care about our members. Our Lord Jesus Christ said if one sheep goes off, the shepherd goes after that lost sheep. And we have members who have been affected, confused by his rhetoric, confused by his fabrications," he said."What we're doing is we're visiting the members and we're explaining to them what he's doing, and we're encouraging our members to stay strong in the faith."Controversy within the church-The INC was founded in 1914 by Felix Manalo, who claimed to be the last messenger of God.The founder's grandson, Eduardo V. Manalo, is now the executive minister of the church.The Philippine press has reported his siblings have raised issues over his authoritarian leadership, and have been fenced off within the church's central compound. The internal dispute remains on-going.Eduardo V. Manalo, known as "EVM", is revered by his supporters.A Youtube music video, produced by INCMedia Services, is entitled "I am One with EVM", and includes the lyrics, "Appointed by God in these last days, is our Church Administrator," and "For the church he will give his very life, and so we will remain on his side."Leonora Angeles, associate professor at the University of BC's Institute of Social Justice, says the INC has encouraged a cult-like veneration of its leader."Observers of the church might say it has some cult-like characteristics ... you also have a very authoritarian leadership. What the inner circle dictates, everyone must follow."Church lawyer Rommel V. San Pedro denies the INC is a cult."To label an organization as a cult is unfair. Why do we say we're the one true church? Our teachings ... every single doctrine can be found in the Bible."Church has 'vast influence': expert-CBC News also sought out an expert on the INC in the Philippines.Ramon Casiple, executive director of the independent nonprofit Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, has studied the church's influence on its members and on Philippine politics.He says he doesn't discount the possibility the church's leadership has come down "swiftly and hard on whom they thought were the propagators of those stories" alleging corruption and lavish spending by the INC's leaders."There is a definite division," he says, referring to the split within the church, "But we don't know how far the division is going because the church is basically secretive and that's one of the basic tenets — that they don't go public on anything internal," says Casiple.He believes the fears of Menorca and other alleged INC church members who have been expelled are "well founded because of the vast influence of the church on the politicians here, and on the military and police and even local officials."Menorca has claimed to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board that he's not safe in the Philippines, because he alleges police and government officials are often INC members, or heavily influenced by the church, since the INC encourages its parishioners to "block vote" — delivering key votes in tight races.That gives the small church a large influence, according to his refugee claim.Menorca hopes the Canadian government will take all of this into account, when the Immigration and Refugee Board hears his application for refugee status.Through tears, he remembered how he was treated here, when he arrived at Vancouver airport."The officer told me, 'You came to the right country.' I just felt some kind of relief, that hopefully this country will protect people like me, can protect my family, my wife and my daughter.""I'm hoping that Canada can be a safe refuge for people who have been oppressed, by a church of all things."The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada will rule on the validity of Menorca's claims and allegations, later this summer.
