And the weather is not the least of them. I was told in advance to remain beware of it. Montreal weather could in the least be unpredictable. The beautiful Montreal summer is slowly dissipating into fall and finally winter -- the brute winter. Over the next few days, Montreal could be expected to be even harsher than Toronto. The entire week, rains and thunderstorms are to be expected, weather forecasts indicate.

I don't seem to have a problem with it. For a change, this weather is not bad -- at least to me. To be fair -- I rather enjoy it. For someone coming from Arabia, rains are a source of inspiration. It brings happiness. There is touch of romance associated to it. Yet I have a problem on this occasion. In a bid to keep my boarding and lodging costs to the minimum -- as per the instructions of my editor -- I decided to put up in a hotel that is almost a kilometer away from Palais des Congress, Montreal, where the congress is taking place. Now in normal conditions, with the mild Canadian sun in bloom, that would have been a pleasure -- but not -- while it's raining and is chilly out there. And that is exactly I am faced with at this hour -- courtesy indeed my editor's instructions. What else could I say?

And when one attends such gatherings, in these turbulent times, security is bound to be there in abundance. To some it may be nauseating. The WEC 2010 can be no different. Each one of us had different badges permitting access to the required areas only. Yet some had problems. Despite having access rights, computer glitch did not permit some the right to enter an area they were supposed to be. The system was somehow not showing the cards to be valid for that area. I am not sure how the issue was resolved, yet it was nauseating -- and indeed time consuming. Thanks God, this did not happen to me. My badge was read properly by the computer.

It is the day two of the Montreal Congress. After having spent a few hours at the Convention Center and after filing my stories, I had some time and indeed energy left in me. It was time to enjoy and explore Montreal, from Notre Dame Basilica to the Bonsecours Market, everything was worth exploring. The only constraint was the dissipating energy levels.

In the evening, I have been invited to dinner by the acting Pakistani Consul General in Montreal Dr. Usman Chachar and his wife Sofia -- good old friends from my younger days. I am indeed looking forward to meeting them this evening and enjoying dinner at some desi restaurant -- which are to be found in abundance here in Montreal as well as in most parts of the globe.

While talking to the large, vibrant immigrant community, especially from our part of the world, the New York Islamic community center issue, seems to be leaving a permanent scar. The high drama that continued to take place in and around Florida and in other parts of the US, around the 9/11 anniversary, and the insistence by some on burning the holy Qur'an has stunned many here. One could definitely see concerns around. Is it an incident in isolation or could this be the beginning of a new, more, oppressive era? The question lingering on the minds of the large Muslim, immigrant community in Canada was: Would there be any impact on the neighboring Canada?

Although not many expected the influence coming here any soon, yet it could not be written off entirely, others argued. During the last few days, I overheard concerns being expressed and discussed all around. After all we live in an integrated and interconnected world.

Yet, some were ready to see at least some positive out of this entire debate. An immigrant, originally from India, felt if the current crisis could bring about some sort of unity amongst the new Muslim immigrants living in this part of the world, so that they could at least begin the month of Ramadan and celebrate Eid on the same day. That would in itself be a great achievement -- a tall order indeed when seen in the overall perspective.

Ciao from Montreal for the time being!