Bullay Shah Academy, Masjid Auliyah Allah and Fiji Islamic Centre hold conference on sacrifice of Imam Hussain(RA)

Event photographs at Pg 11

By: Tuaha Younas

Bullay Shah Academy, Masjid Auliyah

Allah and Fiji Islamic Center brought the community together to commemorate the lives and sacrifice of Imam Hussain (AS) and Ahl-e-Bayat at Karbala in a spiritual gathering on Saturday, July 22, 2023. The event was attended by a large number of men, women and children, representing a healthy cross section of the community.

The proceedings began with a solemn recitation of the Holy Quran and was marked by nasheed recitations by Br. Salis, Br. Muzammil and Br. Ijaz Hussain who presented trib- utes to the august household of Ahl-e-Bayat, honouring their sacrifice for Islam. Imran Khan, acting as MC, graciously welcomed the attendants along with Aseem Akhtar, President of Fiji Islamic Centre.

Pir Afzal Ahmed Naqshbandi stirred the love of Ahl-e-Bayt in a moving address. He started by introducing Ahl-e-Bayt to those present. He reminded everyone that the love for the Household of Holy Prophet PBUH, just like the love for Him is the cornerstone of Islam. One cannot purify oneself and rise through the spiritual ranks without the two. Indeed, the love for the Household of the Holy Prophet PBUH is an essential part of the our faith. He said that the easiest way to become a pious Muslim and gain purity of thought and action is through nurturing the love of Ahl-e-Bayat in one’s heart and emulating their example. He ended his address by paying tribute to their great sacrifice for the ummah Imam Syed Badiuddin Soharwardy spoke about the importance of engaging the youth and children and introducing Imam Hussain A.S. and his noble message to them in terms that they can relate with. He pointed that our youth neither hold the same world view as our elder generation nor do they follow the same lingua franca. It is important, therefore, to connect with them in a way the understand if we want them to follow the message of Imam Hussain A.S. Dr. Syed Ismail Qadri stressed to the partici- pants that love and respect of Ahl-e-Bayt is a basic requirement of Islam. He urged the attendants to rise above sectarianism and focus on the unifying message of Imam Hussain A.S. He narrated events from the life of Holy Prophet PBUH to highlight his love for his Ahl-e-Bayt, urging everyone to emulate His noble sunnah.

In the end, Bob Ibrahim thanked the participants for attending the event. He said that the events of Karbala are the greatest tragedy in the history of mankind and leave great implications and lessons for us all. Commemorating and remembering these events help us remember as well as pass on these lessons to our youth.

Surrey Fusion festival sees record attendance at 16th annual event, July 22-23

Event photographs at Pg 11

On July 22-23, The Surrey Fusion Festival–Western Canada’s largest multicultural festival at Holland Park with the highest record-breaking attendance in 16 years. What an incredible first and second day from 11 am-10 pm at the Surrey Fusion Festival, the ultimate celebration of food, music, and culture. The 2023 theme was “Dance Around The World” through traditional and contemporary dance demonstrations across 50 cultural pavilions and eight stages. Plus, who can forget about the food? It was on display at 40 food and art pavilions, where organizers showcased how people come together to celebrate and build

By: Benjamin Shingler, Rukhsar Ali

We’re in ‘uncharted territory’ with heat and extreme weather events models can’t always predict. The heat has been unprecedented, and extreme weather, from wildfires to floods, are ravaging various corners of the world. Data suggests last week was the hottest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

By: Lori Culbert

n difficult times for attracting doctors to family practice, B.C. has filled all its training slots. The University of B.C. will begin in July to train 186 recent medical school graduates to become family physicians, filling all of its available residency spots at a time when there is a severe shortage of primary-care doctors across Canada.

It’s an important milestone because nearly one million British Columbians do not have a family doctor, and those that do fear they may lose their general practitioner to retirement or burn out.

While training positions for new family physicians have increased in Canada, other provinces were unable to fill all their positions — indicating that not enough new doctors across the country are interested in this type of medicine, despite the demand for their services.

In this province, several factors helped UBC attract enough candidates, including the government’s agreeing back in October to improve how family doctors are paid, said bridges between cultures. “Surrey Fusion 2023 was the best festival ever successful.

We are so proud to offer a world-class, multicultural event to the community in Surrey,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “On behalf of the Council, I thank all volunteers, pavilion organizers, and attendees for participating in the festival. I would also like to thank our presenting sponsor, Coast Capital, for their continued support over the last 16 years.” Surrey Fusion Festival began on Saturday with the Parade of Cultures, which showcased all pavilion organizers as they marched from the SFU Celebration Stage to the Concord Pacific World Music Stage. Performers included Jessia, Wesli, DJ, Shub and Gurnam Bhullar were live at the Surrey Fusion Festival. The two-day festival featured live performances

Temperatures have soared across much of southern Europe and the southern United States, while powerful rain storms led to flooding in Vermont, India, Japan — and Montreal on Thursday.

At the same time, Canada has already surpassed the record for the total area burned in a wildfire season.

This follows the hottest June on record, with

IDr. Roger Wong, vice-dean of education in the faculty of medicine. But he cautioned all the efforts being made in B.C. to mitigate the primary-care crisis will not produce instant results, as it will take at least two years for these 186 graduates to complete their training. “I remain hopeful that the situation will improve in British Columbia. I recognize that it takes time because medical education and training takes time,” Wong said.

The B.C. College of Family Physicians says being a family doctor is challenging because of the administrative demands of running an office, which takes time away from patients, and the “chronic underfunding of proper, comprehensive” health care. Similar complaints are heard across the country and shed light on the lacklustre recruitment statistics.

The Canadian Resident Matching Service, which matches new med school grads with specialization training, says there were 1,629 family medicine positions available in 2023 across Canada, by far the medical discipline with the highest number of training spaces. In late April, though, the organization announced it was unable to fill 100 of those spots after doing two placement rounds. And that’s a big blow, given that 6.5 million Canadians don’t have a family doctor or nurse practitioner they see regularly. Quebec was unable to fill 73 of its familymedicine training positions, and Alberta on eight stages, yoga and meditation, dance battles, an Indigenous Village, a sensoryfriendly space, and a Family Fun zone.

Additional activities included Bhangra, powwow and giddha dance lessons, an Indigenous marketplace, and amusement rides. Attendees captured candid moments and had the opportunity to taste food from around the world at almost 30 cultural food pavilions. Surrey Fusion Festival met health and safety guidelines as set out by the Provincial Health Officer, Worksafe BC, Fraser Health, and appropriate industry associations. This event was possible in part by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. The Pakistani Food and Pakistani Boutique stalls were also at the Fusion Festival Sur- unprecedented sea surface temperatures and record low Antarctic sea ice coverage.

“There’s a lot of concern from the scientific community and a lot of catch up in the scientific community trying to understand these incredible changes we’re seeing at the moment,” said Michael Sparrow, head of the WMO’s world climate research program. Sourse:cbc.ca had 22 openings left, according to data provided to Postmedia by the service. Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had a small number of spots left vacant, while B.C., Manitoba and Saskatchewan filled theirs.

Birth-to-death care

Dr. Marisa Levesque is one of the 186 new medical school grads who has chosen to pursue family medicine through UBC.

Raised in Vernon, she completed her UBC medical degree in Kelowna and has now been matched with a rural family medicine residency. She will do her first year of training at Kelowna General Hospital and in various family practices in the Okanagan, followed by months-long stints in rural towns in her second year. While she has heard the criticisms about family medicine, she said she was drawn to the work after doing her medical school rotations with different types of physicians.

“I’ve met a lot of family doctors who really enjoy their careers, so I saw a lot of what’s possible to love about your career in family medicine,” Levesque said. “It’s the breadth of birth-to-death care. I want to be able to be involved in caring for neonates, caring for pediatric populations, for adults, for geriatric populations, to palliative care.” rey and also participated in Prade. They received an overwhelming response from fresh Chicken, Tikka, Kabab, and in Pakistani cloths, Crafts, Jewellery, etc. Mr. Malik Afzal’s family and his volunteer team did a great job.

Since her main experience with doctors, before entering medical school, was visiting family physicians while growing up, it felt natural to pursue this discipline.

The Miracle Media Group congratulates the entire Mayor Brenda Locke team, Surrey Police volunteers, and Sponsors to make history. Also Thank you, Mayor, Council, and Kwantlen First Nation for contributing words to the Welcome Ceremony at #SurreyFusionFestival.

“My family doctors were wonderful. I always felt like I could turn to them for anything,” Levesque said. “I found my people doing family medicine rotations. I really felt like I was being welcomed into a team and they were really engaged with teaching and really helping me take ownership of patient care.” She is happy, though, that the B.C. government has acknowledged some of the challenges that face family doctors. Now, instead of receiving $30 to $40 a visit regardless of the reason for the patient’s illness, they will be paid based on time spent with patients, the complexity of their issues, how many people they see in a day, and the total number of patients attached to their practices. She also knows there is a desperate need for the work she can do after her two-year training. “When I tell people I’m going into family medicine, (they say), ‘Well in two years I’ll be your patient.’ Because there are so few people here who have steady access to a family doctor,” Levesque said. “I do hear that a lot.” UBC has the highest number of family-medicine training positions of any Canadian university, followed by the University of Toronto with 165 and the Université de Montréal with 163. However, right now, it is the only university in B.C. to do this training, compared to Ontario, which has six schools offering a total of 538 spots, and Quebec with four institutions with 514 openings...Source: vancouversun.com

Bullay Shah Academy, Masjid Auliyah Allah and Fiji Islamic Centre hold conference on sacrifice of Imam Hussain(RA

Surrey Fusion best festival ever attendance at 16th annual event, July 22-23