Refugee/Migrant Crisis
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Despite an all-out push by the Trudeau government to “build more homes, faster,” new estimates from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. show that home construction is actually poised to go down for the foreseeable future.
This — coupled with an immigration rate that remains at historic highs — means that skyrocketing rents and real estate prices are set to continue until at least the next federal election.
“Rents will rise and vacancy rates will fall,” reads the forecast. Meanwhile, the sale prices of homes will be pushed “beyond previous peak levels.”
Across the country, rents are already at all-time highs, while real estate affordability has never been worse.
The absolute best-case scenario for 2024 is that the country records 232,267 housing starts — a deficit of 8,000 homes compared to 2023. But more likely is a “baseline” scenario of 224,485, which represents a decrease of 16,000 homes.
The nine-year tenure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already corresponded with a meteoric increase in housing prices. This trend has attracted recent international attention, with a profile in The Economist, a British weekly magazine, noting that when Trudeau took power in 2015, Canadians earning the median income could cover mortgage costs with 39 per cent of their pay, 25 percentage points lower than the proportion of income paid now.
But the grim news from CMHC comes after months of aggressive Trudeau government messaging that they are working to turn the corner on housing unaffordability. Every few days features Trudeau making a public appearance at another ribbon-cutting for a condo development or housing project built with federal assistance.
The release of the CMHC forecasts, in fact, corresponded with a statement out of the Prime Minister’s Office that included the line “we’ve taken bold action to build more homes, faster, improve access to housing, and make homes more affordable — and we need to do more.”
Canada is home to the most acute housing shortage of any country in the G7. According to 2023 estimates by the CMHC, Canada would need to build at least four million additional housing units to bring affordability to where it was in 2004.
But even at 2023 rates of homebuilding, Canada wasn’t even coming close to patching up its housing gap. In fact, it wasn’t even building sufficient homes for the more than one million newcomers now streaming into the country each year.
According to the most recent numbers by Statistics Canada, the country’s population grew by one million over a single nine-month period in 2023.
Canada is now among the top five fastest-growing countries on Earth, a distinction it shares exclusively with high-birthrate nations in the developing world, such as Syria or South Sudan.
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This — coupled with an immigration rate that remains at historic highs — means that skyrocketing rents and real estate prices are set to continue until at least the next federal election.
“Rents will rise and vacancy rates will fall,” reads the forecast. Meanwhile, the sale prices of homes will be pushed “beyond previous peak levels.”
Across the country, rents are already at all-time highs, while real estate affordability has never been worse.
The absolute best-case scenario for 2024 is that the country records 232,267 housing starts — a deficit of 8,000 homes compared to 2023. But more likely is a “baseline” scenario of 224,485, which represents a decrease of 16,000 homes.
The nine-year tenure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already corresponded with a meteoric increase in housing prices. This trend has attracted recent international attention, with a profile in The Economist, a British weekly magazine, noting that when Trudeau took power in 2015, Canadians earning the median income could cover mortgage costs with 39 per cent of their pay, 25 percentage points lower than the proportion of income paid now.
But the grim news from CMHC comes after months of aggressive Trudeau government messaging that they are working to turn the corner on housing unaffordability. Every few days features Trudeau making a public appearance at another ribbon-cutting for a condo development or housing project built with federal assistance.
The release of the CMHC forecasts, in fact, corresponded with a statement out of the Prime Minister’s Office that included the line “we’ve taken bold action to build more homes, faster, improve access to housing, and make homes more affordable — and we need to do more.”
Canada is home to the most acute housing shortage of any country in the G7. According to 2023 estimates by the CMHC, Canada would need to build at least four million additional housing units to bring affordability to where it was in 2004.
But even at 2023 rates of homebuilding, Canada wasn’t even coming close to patching up its housing gap. In fact, it wasn’t even building sufficient homes for the more than one million newcomers now streaming into the country each year.
According to the most recent numbers by Statistics Canada, the country’s population grew by one million over a single nine-month period in 2023.
Canada is now among the top five fastest-growing countries on Earth, a distinction it shares exclusively with high-birthrate nations in the developing world, such as Syria or South Sudan.
FIRST READING: Rents, home prices set to get way worse until at least the next election — National Post
An all-out Trudeau government push to 'build more homes, faster' appears to be doing nothing
They are waiting. As it stands commercial real estate just cracked the 20% vacancy rate which by this time next year will hit 35-40%. Converting commercial into residential is cheaper and quicker than building from scratch....
The next bank crash is just months away...
Six children of Canadian mother to be repatriated from Syrian detention camp
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Anja Karadeglija
Published Apr 09, 2024 • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — Six children, but not their Canadian mother, will be repatriated to Canada from a detention camp in Syria.
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who represents the mother, says Global Affairs Canada is planning the return of the children, who are between the ages of five and 12.
He says the government is working with the Polarization Clinic in Montreal, which supports families affected by radicalization. The clinic will receive the children, who don’t have family in Montreal and will likely end up placed in foster care if the mother is not back in the country.
Greenspon says the mother is now out of the camp and wants to return to Canada to be with her children. “Presumably her intention is to find her way back,” he said.
The federal government has refused to repatriate the woman, whose identity is not public, because officials believe she poses a security risk, according to Greenspon.
He said the government has repatriated other Canadian women from Syrian detention camps and put in place measures to address that risk, such as placing them under terrorist peace bonds.
The family is among many foreign nationals in Syrian camps and prisons run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Although the federal government decided not to facilitate the woman’s return, it offered repatriation assistance to her six children, leaving her to decide whether to send the children to Canada on their own or keep them with her in the squalid al-Roj camp.
Greenspon said “the mom was given an impossible choice.”
There is no timeline for when the children will arrive in Canada, but Greenspon said he is optimistic the government will “move expeditiously to bring the children home to safety.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Anja Karadeglija
Published Apr 09, 2024 • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — Six children, but not their Canadian mother, will be repatriated to Canada from a detention camp in Syria.
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who represents the mother, says Global Affairs Canada is planning the return of the children, who are between the ages of five and 12.
He says the government is working with the Polarization Clinic in Montreal, which supports families affected by radicalization. The clinic will receive the children, who don’t have family in Montreal and will likely end up placed in foster care if the mother is not back in the country.
Greenspon says the mother is now out of the camp and wants to return to Canada to be with her children. “Presumably her intention is to find her way back,” he said.
The federal government has refused to repatriate the woman, whose identity is not public, because officials believe she poses a security risk, according to Greenspon.
He said the government has repatriated other Canadian women from Syrian detention camps and put in place measures to address that risk, such as placing them under terrorist peace bonds.
The family is among many foreign nationals in Syrian camps and prisons run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Although the federal government decided not to facilitate the woman’s return, it offered repatriation assistance to her six children, leaving her to decide whether to send the children to Canada on their own or keep them with her in the squalid al-Roj camp.
Greenspon said “the mom was given an impossible choice.”
There is no timeline for when the children will arrive in Canada, but Greenspon said he is optimistic the government will “move expeditiously to bring the children home to safety.”
Six children of Canadian mother to be repatriated from Syrian detention camp
Six children, but not their Canadian mother, will be repatriated to Canada from a detention camp in Syria.
Makes sense . Pull out your wallet .Six children of Canadian mother to be repatriated from Syrian detention camp
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Anja Karadeglija
Published Apr 09, 2024 • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — Six children, but not their Canadian mother, will be repatriated to Canada from a detention camp in Syria.
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who represents the mother, says Global Affairs Canada is planning the return of the children, who are between the ages of five and 12.
He says the government is working with the Polarization Clinic in Montreal, which supports families affected by radicalization. The clinic will receive the children, who don’t have family in Montreal and will likely end up placed in foster care if the mother is not back in the country.
Greenspon says the mother is now out of the camp and wants to return to Canada to be with her children. “Presumably her intention is to find her way back,” he said.
The federal government has refused to repatriate the woman, whose identity is not public, because officials believe she poses a security risk, according to Greenspon.
He said the government has repatriated other Canadian women from Syrian detention camps and put in place measures to address that risk, such as placing them under terrorist peace bonds.
The family is among many foreign nationals in Syrian camps and prisons run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Although the federal government decided not to facilitate the woman’s return, it offered repatriation assistance to her six children, leaving her to decide whether to send the children to Canada on their own or keep them with her in the squalid al-Roj camp.
Greenspon said “the mom was given an impossible choice.”
There is no timeline for when the children will arrive in Canada, but Greenspon said he is optimistic the government will “move expeditiously to bring the children home to safety.”
Six children of Canadian mother to be repatriated from Syrian detention camp
Six children, but not their Canadian mother, will be repatriated to Canada from a detention camp in Syria.
Ottawa to provide $132 million to help people fleeing civil war in Sudan
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Apr 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Canada will provide $132 million in aid for people fleeing Sudan’s yearlong civil war and facing “famine-like conditions,” International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said Friday.
“The sheer scale of the needs, the displacement and the looming hunger really defines Sudan as the crisis of our time,” Hussen said at an announcement in Toronto.
“This cannot become the forgotten crisis, so we must continue to support the people of Sudan.”
The funding includes just over $100 million in humanitarian aid for Sudanese who have fled to neighbouring countries, as well as those stuck in Sudan amid widescale violence.
That aid includes housing, shelter and sanitation services for the more than 8.5 million people who have been displaced since duelling factions of Sudan’s military wings started fighting in the streets of Khartoum.
“We’re looking at looming famine-like conditions. Almost 25 million people, including 11 million children, are now in desperate need of humanitarian aid,” Hussen told reporters.
He said the rest of the funding will go toward development projects, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health for women in Sudan and South Sudan, and other projects in the Central African Republic, Chad and Ethiopia.
The Liberals insist they are deeply concerned about the crisis in Sudan, but have faced mounting criticism for not following peers in issuing sanctions on those supporting warlords.
The NDP has been calling on the Liberals for months to exert diplomatic pressure on those fueling the crisis. Green Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedneault said in a letter Thursday that global impunity during the Darfur genocide, which started in Sudan in 2003, is now being replicated as Sudanese starve.
The announcement comes ahead of a conference in Paris on Monday _ the one-year anniversary of the conflict — aimed at getting the world closer to meeting the humanitarian needs created by the crisis.
The United Nations says Sudan needs US$2.7 billion to deal with humanitarian needs but has received just six per cent of that target.
Hussen’s office says Canada plans to participate in the conference in Paris, but has not said who will attend the event, which occurs on the eve of the federal budget release.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Apr 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Canada will provide $132 million in aid for people fleeing Sudan’s yearlong civil war and facing “famine-like conditions,” International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said Friday.
“The sheer scale of the needs, the displacement and the looming hunger really defines Sudan as the crisis of our time,” Hussen said at an announcement in Toronto.
“This cannot become the forgotten crisis, so we must continue to support the people of Sudan.”
The funding includes just over $100 million in humanitarian aid for Sudanese who have fled to neighbouring countries, as well as those stuck in Sudan amid widescale violence.
That aid includes housing, shelter and sanitation services for the more than 8.5 million people who have been displaced since duelling factions of Sudan’s military wings started fighting in the streets of Khartoum.
“We’re looking at looming famine-like conditions. Almost 25 million people, including 11 million children, are now in desperate need of humanitarian aid,” Hussen told reporters.
He said the rest of the funding will go toward development projects, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health for women in Sudan and South Sudan, and other projects in the Central African Republic, Chad and Ethiopia.
The Liberals insist they are deeply concerned about the crisis in Sudan, but have faced mounting criticism for not following peers in issuing sanctions on those supporting warlords.
The NDP has been calling on the Liberals for months to exert diplomatic pressure on those fueling the crisis. Green Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedneault said in a letter Thursday that global impunity during the Darfur genocide, which started in Sudan in 2003, is now being replicated as Sudanese starve.
The announcement comes ahead of a conference in Paris on Monday _ the one-year anniversary of the conflict — aimed at getting the world closer to meeting the humanitarian needs created by the crisis.
The United Nations says Sudan needs US$2.7 billion to deal with humanitarian needs but has received just six per cent of that target.
Hussen’s office says Canada plans to participate in the conference in Paris, but has not said who will attend the event, which occurs on the eve of the federal budget release.
Ottawa to provide $132 million to help people fleeing civil war in Sudan
"This cannot become the forgotten crisis, so we must continue to support the people of Sudan."
Uh-oh!
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Half of that is what our veterans were asking for. But that was too much for turdOWE.Ottawa to provide $132 million to help people fleeing civil war in Sudan
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Dylan Robertson
Published Apr 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — Canada will provide $132 million in aid for people fleeing Sudan’s yearlong civil war and facing “famine-like conditions,” International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said Friday.
“The sheer scale of the needs, the displacement and the looming hunger really defines Sudan as the crisis of our time,” Hussen said at an announcement in Toronto.
“This cannot become the forgotten crisis, so we must continue to support the people of Sudan.”
The funding includes just over $100 million in humanitarian aid for Sudanese who have fled to neighbouring countries, as well as those stuck in Sudan amid widescale violence.
That aid includes housing, shelter and sanitation services for the more than 8.5 million people who have been displaced since duelling factions of Sudan’s military wings started fighting in the streets of Khartoum.
“We’re looking at looming famine-like conditions. Almost 25 million people, including 11 million children, are now in desperate need of humanitarian aid,” Hussen told reporters.
He said the rest of the funding will go toward development projects, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health for women in Sudan and South Sudan, and other projects in the Central African Republic, Chad and Ethiopia.
The Liberals insist they are deeply concerned about the crisis in Sudan, but have faced mounting criticism for not following peers in issuing sanctions on those supporting warlords.
The NDP has been calling on the Liberals for months to exert diplomatic pressure on those fueling the crisis. Green Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedneault said in a letter Thursday that global impunity during the Darfur genocide, which started in Sudan in 2003, is now being replicated as Sudanese starve.
The announcement comes ahead of a conference in Paris on Monday _ the one-year anniversary of the conflict — aimed at getting the world closer to meeting the humanitarian needs created by the crisis.
The United Nations says Sudan needs US$2.7 billion to deal with humanitarian needs but has received just six per cent of that target.
Hussen’s office says Canada plans to participate in the conference in Paris, but has not said who will attend the event, which occurs on the eve of the federal budget release.
Ottawa to provide $132 million to help people fleeing civil war in Sudan
"This cannot become the forgotten crisis, so we must continue to support the people of Sudan."
Should have immigrated to Russia. Or China.
North Carolina student, 16, suspended for 'alien' comment, mom says
Author of the article
ostmedia News
Published Apr 18, 2024 • 1 minute read
A North Carolina mother says her 16-year-old son was suspended from school for referring to “aliens without green cards” during a vocabulary assignment.
Lexington mom Leah McGhee says her child received a three-day out-of-school suspension last week after asking for clarification from his teacher for the term “alien.”
“Like space aliens or aliens without green cards?” the student asked, according to McGee, reports U.S. broadcaster Sinclair Group’s Crisis in the Classroom.
The mother claimed that a classmate heard the comment and threatened her son.
According to Central Davidson High School assistant principal, the comment was “racially insensitive” and disrespectful to Hispanic students.
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question,” the boy said, according to McGee. “I wasn’t speaking of Hispanics because everyone from other countries need(s) green cards, and the term ‘illegal alien’ is an actual term that I hear on the news and can find in the dictionary.”
The student is apparently worried that the suspension being on his school record would affect his chances at receiving a pole vaulting scholarship.
“If this was handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone,” McGhee told The Pete Kaliner Show. “I feel that the negligence of the administration’s decision has fueled the injustice of suspension for a student who simply asked for clarification to a teacher’s instructions.”
McGee said she was able to appeal the suspension to the school board as it was less than 10 days.
“We love Central Davidson High School and we are thankful that our child has such a wonderful school to attend,” McGhee wrote. “However, we feel that this label of racism is extremely excessive.”
wpde.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article
ostmedia NewsPublished Apr 18, 2024 • 1 minute read
A North Carolina mother says her 16-year-old son was suspended from school for referring to “aliens without green cards” during a vocabulary assignment.
Lexington mom Leah McGhee says her child received a three-day out-of-school suspension last week after asking for clarification from his teacher for the term “alien.”
“Like space aliens or aliens without green cards?” the student asked, according to McGee, reports U.S. broadcaster Sinclair Group’s Crisis in the Classroom.
The mother claimed that a classmate heard the comment and threatened her son.
According to Central Davidson High School assistant principal, the comment was “racially insensitive” and disrespectful to Hispanic students.
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question,” the boy said, according to McGee. “I wasn’t speaking of Hispanics because everyone from other countries need(s) green cards, and the term ‘illegal alien’ is an actual term that I hear on the news and can find in the dictionary.”
The student is apparently worried that the suspension being on his school record would affect his chances at receiving a pole vaulting scholarship.
“If this was handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone,” McGhee told The Pete Kaliner Show. “I feel that the negligence of the administration’s decision has fueled the injustice of suspension for a student who simply asked for clarification to a teacher’s instructions.”
McGee said she was able to appeal the suspension to the school board as it was less than 10 days.
“We love Central Davidson High School and we are thankful that our child has such a wonderful school to attend,” McGhee wrote. “However, we feel that this label of racism is extremely excessive.”
NC student, 16, suspended for referring to 'aliens without green cards,' mother says
'We feel that this label of racism is extremely excessive,' the mother said.
wpde.com
North Carolina student, 16, suspended for 'alien' comment, mom says
A North Carolina mom says her 16-year-old son was suspended from school for referring to "aliens without green cards" during an assignment.
No mention of what happened to the classmate that threatened him?North Carolina student, 16, suspended for 'alien' comment, mom says
Author of the article
Published Apr 18, 2024 • 1 minute read
A North Carolina mother says her 16-year-old son was suspended from school for referring to “aliens without green cards” during a vocabulary assignment.
Lexington mom Leah McGhee says her child received a three-day out-of-school suspension last week after asking for clarification from his teacher for the term “alien.”
“Like space aliens or aliens without green cards?” the student asked, according to McGee, reports U.S. broadcaster Sinclair Group’s Crisis in the Classroom.
The mother claimed that a classmate heard the comment and threatened her son.
According to Central Davidson High School assistant principal, the comment was “racially insensitive” and disrespectful to Hispanic students.
“I didn’t make a statement directed towards anyone; I asked a question,” the boy said, according to McGee. “I wasn’t speaking of Hispanics because everyone from other countries need(s) green cards, and the term ‘illegal alien’ is an actual term that I hear on the news and can find in the dictionary.”
The student is apparently worried that the suspension being on his school record would affect his chances at receiving a pole vaulting scholarship.
“If this was handled properly in the classroom, it could have easily been used as a teachable moment for everyone,” McGhee told The Pete Kaliner Show. “I feel that the negligence of the administration’s decision has fueled the injustice of suspension for a student who simply asked for clarification to a teacher’s instructions.”
McGee said she was able to appeal the suspension to the school board as it was less than 10 days.
“We love Central Davidson High School and we are thankful that our child has such a wonderful school to attend,” McGhee wrote. “However, we feel that this label of racism is extremely excessive.”
NC student, 16, suspended for referring to 'aliens without green cards,' mother says
'We feel that this label of racism is extremely excessive,' the mother said.North Carolina student, 16, suspended for 'alien' comment, mom says
A North Carolina mom says her 16-year-old son was suspended from school for referring to "aliens without green cards" during an assignment.
Feds don’t ’care if they die,’ says lawyer helping Canadian children held in Syria
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Jim Bronskill
Published Apr 22, 2024 • 3 minute read
OTTAWA — Five Canadian children are languishing in a squalid detention camp in northeastern Syria after Ottawa denied their mothers permission to come to Canada, says a lawyer fighting in court on behalf of the families.
The development is the latest setback for Canadians among the many foreign nationals in ramshackle centres set up after the war-ravaged region was wrested from militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Lawyer Asiya Hirji said she sought temporary resident permits in February last year for two women with Canadian children in al-Roj camp, and heard last month they had been refused on security grounds.
One of the mothers has a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. The other mother has a nine-year-old girl and boys aged seven and five. Her oldest boy has a serious eye condition that requires medical treatment.
Neither mother is a Canadian citizen. The Canadian fathers of the children are no longer in the families’ lives.
Hirji, supervising lawyer at the University of Toronto law faculty’s legal clinic, said the women signed confessions under duress in Syria — information Canada should not rely on.
She is now pursuing a Federal Court review of Canada’s permit denial decision.
“In all security cases, they are very careful about what they are disclosing to the applicants,” she said. “And so it results in a very protracted process.”
A civil society delegation that visited Syrian prison camps last August called on Ottawa to provide immediate consular assistance to Canadian detainees and to swiftly repatriate all citizens wishing to return to Canada.
Delegation members, including Sen. Kim Pate and former Amnesty International Canada head Alex Neve, also urged the government to issue temporary permits to ensure that non-Canadian mothers and siblings of Canadian children can travel to Canada.
The delegation said Canada is complicit in a serious international human-rights failure through a policy of essentially warehousing thousands of foreign nationals, more than half of them children.
A recent Amnesty International report said men, women and children in the detention facilities endure inhumane conditions, in some cases including beatings, gender-based violence and torture.
An estimated 11,500 men, 14,500 women, and 30,000 children are held in at least 27 detention facilities and the al-Roj and al-Hol camps, the report said.
Hirji said she has repeatedly asked Global Affairs Canada to facilitate medical treatment for the five Canadian children she is trying to help, without success.
“I do not think that they care if they die,” Hirji said.
“It’s just heartwrenching that we’re just letting this happen. Kids don’t ask to be born. And so we have a responsibility to do what’s in the best interests of children.”
Non-Canadian parents of Canadian children may ask that their children be repatriated to Canada without them, and the federal government evaluates these requests on a case-by-case basis, said Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod.
Canadian consular officials remain “actively engaged” with Syrian Kurdish authorities and international organizations operating in the region, as well as civil society groups for information on and assistance to Canadian citizens in the camps, MacLeod said.
“Due to privacy considerations, we cannot comment on specific cases or potential future actions.”
Hirji said that for the Canadian mothers, sending their children to Canada alone amounts to an impossible choice.
“Do they commit their children to a lifetime of emotional trauma? Or do they keep them with them and try to protect their emotional health at the detriment of their physical health?”
Canada has arranged for the repatriation of several other Canadian women and children from detention in Syria.
One Canadian woman from Quebec was denied help from Ottawa to return to Canada on security grounds, but has since managed to leave al-Roj camp. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
The woman’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, says Ottawa has agreed to help her six young children, who are also citizens, come to Canada.
“I have very definite instructions from her to bring her children home as quickly as possible, and it looks like Global Affairs is moving in that direction,” Greenspon said.
A specialized clinic in Montreal is “ready to step in” to assist the children once they return, he added.
As for the mother, Greenspon said “the hope is that she will be able to find her way to a Canadian consulate and eventually find her way home.”
Greenspon is also one of the lawyers behind a court effort to secure the repatriation of four Canadian men being held in Syria.
In November, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the men’s challenge of a Federal Court of Appeal ruling that said Ottawa is not obligated under the law to help them return.
The top court is being asked to reconsider its decision.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Jim Bronskill
Published Apr 22, 2024 • 3 minute read
OTTAWA — Five Canadian children are languishing in a squalid detention camp in northeastern Syria after Ottawa denied their mothers permission to come to Canada, says a lawyer fighting in court on behalf of the families.
The development is the latest setback for Canadians among the many foreign nationals in ramshackle centres set up after the war-ravaged region was wrested from militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Lawyer Asiya Hirji said she sought temporary resident permits in February last year for two women with Canadian children in al-Roj camp, and heard last month they had been refused on security grounds.
One of the mothers has a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. The other mother has a nine-year-old girl and boys aged seven and five. Her oldest boy has a serious eye condition that requires medical treatment.
Neither mother is a Canadian citizen. The Canadian fathers of the children are no longer in the families’ lives.
Hirji, supervising lawyer at the University of Toronto law faculty’s legal clinic, said the women signed confessions under duress in Syria — information Canada should not rely on.
She is now pursuing a Federal Court review of Canada’s permit denial decision.
“In all security cases, they are very careful about what they are disclosing to the applicants,” she said. “And so it results in a very protracted process.”
A civil society delegation that visited Syrian prison camps last August called on Ottawa to provide immediate consular assistance to Canadian detainees and to swiftly repatriate all citizens wishing to return to Canada.
Delegation members, including Sen. Kim Pate and former Amnesty International Canada head Alex Neve, also urged the government to issue temporary permits to ensure that non-Canadian mothers and siblings of Canadian children can travel to Canada.
The delegation said Canada is complicit in a serious international human-rights failure through a policy of essentially warehousing thousands of foreign nationals, more than half of them children.
A recent Amnesty International report said men, women and children in the detention facilities endure inhumane conditions, in some cases including beatings, gender-based violence and torture.
An estimated 11,500 men, 14,500 women, and 30,000 children are held in at least 27 detention facilities and the al-Roj and al-Hol camps, the report said.
Hirji said she has repeatedly asked Global Affairs Canada to facilitate medical treatment for the five Canadian children she is trying to help, without success.
“I do not think that they care if they die,” Hirji said.
“It’s just heartwrenching that we’re just letting this happen. Kids don’t ask to be born. And so we have a responsibility to do what’s in the best interests of children.”
Non-Canadian parents of Canadian children may ask that their children be repatriated to Canada without them, and the federal government evaluates these requests on a case-by-case basis, said Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod.
Canadian consular officials remain “actively engaged” with Syrian Kurdish authorities and international organizations operating in the region, as well as civil society groups for information on and assistance to Canadian citizens in the camps, MacLeod said.
“Due to privacy considerations, we cannot comment on specific cases or potential future actions.”
Hirji said that for the Canadian mothers, sending their children to Canada alone amounts to an impossible choice.
“Do they commit their children to a lifetime of emotional trauma? Or do they keep them with them and try to protect their emotional health at the detriment of their physical health?”
Canada has arranged for the repatriation of several other Canadian women and children from detention in Syria.
One Canadian woman from Quebec was denied help from Ottawa to return to Canada on security grounds, but has since managed to leave al-Roj camp. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
The woman’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, says Ottawa has agreed to help her six young children, who are also citizens, come to Canada.
“I have very definite instructions from her to bring her children home as quickly as possible, and it looks like Global Affairs is moving in that direction,” Greenspon said.
A specialized clinic in Montreal is “ready to step in” to assist the children once they return, he added.
As for the mother, Greenspon said “the hope is that she will be able to find her way to a Canadian consulate and eventually find her way home.”
Greenspon is also one of the lawyers behind a court effort to secure the repatriation of four Canadian men being held in Syria.
In November, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the men’s challenge of a Federal Court of Appeal ruling that said Ottawa is not obligated under the law to help them return.
The top court is being asked to reconsider its decision.
Feds don’t ’care if they die,’ says lawyer helping Canadian children held in Syria
Five Canadian children are languishing in Syria after Ottawa denied their mothers permission to come to Canada, says a lawyer.