Yvonne Ramlall was recently nominated for the 2019 Canadian Orthopaedic Nurses Association (CONA) 2019 Excellence in Orthopaedic Nursing Award. She has been an Orthopaedic Nurse for the past 18+ years, a member of the CONA for the past 16 years and is on the Executive Board of the Toronto Chapter.
Yvonne attends National Conferences and is on the planning committee for the CONA Toronto Chapter annual conferences. She has presented her published studies locally, nationally and at International orthopaedic conferences; next stop is Osaka, Japan.
A third research study of hers was recently accepted for publication in the International Journal of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing (IJOTN) in the UK.
The National Board for CONA reviewed the applications for the 2019 Conference Awards and she was selected to receive the Excellence in Orthopaedic Nursing Practice Award which was recently presented to her at the National CONA conference in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Toronto – Hundreds of people gathered at Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s constituency office on the morning of May 24 to deliver a petition in support of Jobandeep Singh Sandhu, and to call for permanent resident status on arrival for all migrants and students. Those gathered called for an end to rules that limit migrant students’ ability to work.
Jobandeep Singh Sandhu was arrested two years ago by the OPP without having broken any criminal laws, and handed over to immigration enforcement. It is unclear if racial profiling was involved or how the OPP came to know that Mr Sandhu was at that time working more than the 20 hours per week that his permit allowed. Mr Sandhu’s story has touched a nerve with hundreds of students coming forward to complain about abuse and mistreatment.
“I came to Canada with a dream, to study, to settle here, to build a life for me and my family, and I had no choice but to work while studying, like so many other people,” says Jobandeep Singh Sandhu. “Now I am being punished for working too hard, and I’m calling on Canada to grant me a temporary resident permit, and ensure fairness and justice for other students like me.”
Jobandeep Singh Sandhu was a few days away from finishing his mechanical engineering technician, when he was arrested without a traffic violation by the OPP. Unless a temporary resident permit is granted, he faces deportation on June 15th, 2019.
“It makes no sense to arbitrarily pick a random number and limit people like Jobandeep’s ability to work to just those hours, we can’t have a multi-tiered economy, or different laws for different people, we need a single system and that means permanent resident status on arrival for all migrants, including students”, says Syed Hussan, Coordinator of the national Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC). MWAC includes self-organized groups of migrant workers in agriculture, domestic work, and students.
357,230 new study permits were issued in 2018. Full time migrant students at public post secondary institutions can work 20 hours off campus while enrolled full time, those in private institutions require a work permit. While in school, most students must work to pay exorbitantly high fees and to pay off agents who arranged the schooling.
“Student workers are suffering, we pay all the taxes, but are excluded from healthcare and decent housing, we face wage exploitation and abuse, and most of us do not get permanent resident status,” says Varunpreet Singh, Migrant Student Organizer, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. “Everyone including migrant students should have the same rights, and that means full labour rights, the same fees, and permanent resident status from day one, that’s just fair.”

On Saturday June 8, 2019 at Wildwood Park (Paul Coffey Park), Area A, 3430 Derry Road East, Mississauga (Derry & Goreway)from 12:00 noon to 8:30pm. For info, call Rai at R&S Cargo Express Inc, 416-738-8078.

Saturday June 29, 2019 from 10AM to dusk, rain or shine at Thomson Memorial Park, Picnic Area ‘B’. Bring the entire family to meet/greet and eat with old friends. For info: Mike Mangar 647-473-7843; Email: mike1943@msn.com;
Whitee Samaroo 416-508-9515; Jet Ramjit 416-633-4730; Channo 905-420-2433; Azad Khan 647-281-1951; Susan Mangar 416-291-7843.

By Harry Ramkhelawan
Twenty-year-old Guyana-born Alicia Nathalie Sims is a unique role model for her peers, her local community and the Canadian society at large. For one thing, she is a young female coming from a little known third world country that's still struggling to make an imprint on the world stage. Then, she has an abiding interest and expertise in an activity that does not generate the same amount of interest nor is it as popular as the other "sports" reported in the media or seen on television.
Alicia is an enthusiastic follower and avid student of the sport of karate, a discipline she inherited from her father Michael Sims who has been a practitioner of this oriental system of unarmed combat in Guyana before immigrating to Canada.
Alicia started her training in karate at the age of four, "first shadowing my dad and what I saw in karate movies, and then learning Shotokan at the YMCA dojo in Guyana."
Alicia came to Canada at age 9 and had to make changes demanded by her new environment, but her commitment to karate remained constant and unshaken.
In Canada, she began to train in the Kempo style of karate under different instructors and the mix of karate trainings continued until she was 16, by which time she had begun competing in local circuits.
An earlier instructor in Canada recommended Alicia to one of her current instructors who taught her the rules of the World Karate Federation and introduced her into the world of karate recognized on a global platform. From that point, she underwent vigorous training to relearn fighting in a completely new style, while trying to retain what she knew of her other styles.
In Ontario, Alicia fought first at a provincial and then national level. She was top of her weight categories for three years, once in +68kg women and U21 female, and then (after dropping two weight categories), she was top of -61kg for women and U21 female for two years.
Being the provincial champion meant she was able to compete at the national level. At her third national competition this past May, she landed on the national roster. These results qualified her to represent Canada as a national athlete at the international tournament in the Montreal Series A.
"I am privileged to be one of the only Guyanese to be representing Canada in an individual sport," Alicia said.
This is not the first time that Alicia has had the privilege of representing Canada. In 2014, she was chosen as a Canadian youth ambassador by the US Consulate to go to the US. During her time as an ambassador, she implemented a program in the community that allowed her to raise funds for children unable to afford to compete in karate.
Alicia expressed her conviction that she "believed that it is a valuable experience as it teaches confidence and allows one to explore the possibility of where their own hard work and talent can take them, and to see where they fit into the world."
When not competing in karate, as a student at the University of Toronto, Alicia is completing her undergraduate education, majoring in Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, and double minoring in Political Science and English. She hopes to go on to study law and practice in the entertainment field.
"Balancing school and karate is delicate, and I hardly have time for things not related to either of the two," the young champion advises.
Alicia expresses her gratitude for her entire team of supporters who have gotten her to this point and have allowed her to keep growing. She singles out her parents for their support, her dad "being my coach in the gym for years, and my mom, my nutritionist and cheerleader." She is grateful to her instructors who recognized her potential and were willing to undertake the task of training her in their styles; her personal trainer for improving her strength and conditioning; her sponsors, including her cousin Lionel who always supports her, and those from the Guyanese domino team in Canada that continue to fund her tournaments. "If not for them, I could have not had the opportunities I did," she gratefully acknowledges.
"Now that karate is in the Olympics, hopefully with continuous hard work I will be competing there," is Alicia's enduring wish.

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