NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the temporary immigration measure was “woefully inadequate” and “continues to neglect Lebanese Canadian family members who are still in grave danger and desperate to get to safety.”
“Canadian citizens and their spouses and children in Lebanon are desperate to get to safety and it’s unconscionable that Canadian family members must consider leaving their spouse or children behind,” she said in an e-mailed statement.
For over a year, Ottawa has been urging Canadians to leave Lebanon for their own safety. But for some, with Lebanese husbands and wives, the decision comes with an impossible choice: Do they leave the war-torn country for security in Canada, or stay so their loved ones are not left behind?
Among the Canadians who feel they have no option but to stay is James Kairouz, a financial adviser whose pregnant Lebanese wife, Mia, is unable to accompany him to Canada.
Mr. Kairouz, whose parents are also Canadian, used to live in Montreal, where his brother and cousins reside. For years, he and his wife have been talking about moving there. Their three-year-old daughter, Emily Rose, is a Canadian citizen and Mia’s application for permanent residence has been in the pipeline for almost that long.
Then, in October of last year, when Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollahbegan firing rockets into Israel, drawing retaliation, the situation became more urgent. Not long afterward, Ms. Kairouz applied for a temporary resident visa to Canada. Her application was rejected.
Mr. Kairouz wants his wife, who’s 21 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, to have the choice to accompany him and their daughter to Montreal, saying there’s no way he will leave without her.
In 2006, after Israel invaded Lebanon to take on Hezbollah, Mr. Kairouz’s brother was evacuated by the Canadian government by boat.
The government launched no such evacuation scheme after Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon at the beginning of October this year to take on Hezbollah. More than 3,500 people have been killed in the conflict, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
“The situation in Lebanon is out of control,” Ms. Kairouz said in an e-mail. “Where we live now is considered a safe area, we do not have any direct bombardments, however safety and security isn’t guaranteed and numerous times we hear the bombardments or feel the vibrations resulting from Israel’s missiles and targets on neighbourhoods close to us in Beirut.”
The couple tell their three-year-old daughter that the strikes and sounds of sonic booms from Israeli planes are fireworks.
“I just do not want my kids to grow up in conflict and war areas and to develop any traumas,” Ms. Kairouz added. “Like any woman, I want my children to grow up in a healthy safe environment, and at the same time to have a successful stable career and the opportunity to grow and achieve my dreams,”
Ms. Kairouz is fluent in three languages and has two degrees: one in public health and development sciences, another in nutrition. She used to work in a Beirut hospital. She feels she can contribute much to Canada, and yet her application for permanent residency has been beset by years of delays.
Mr. Kairouz wants his wife, who’s 21 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, to have the choice to accompany him and their daughter to Montreal, saying there’s no way he will leave without her.COURTESY OF FAMILY
She does not qualify to come to Canada through a temporary program Ottawa introduced last month to help Lebanese Canadians and their immediate family because it applied only to those who had already made it to Canada.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the temporary immigration measure was “woefully inadequate” and “continues to neglect Lebanese Canadian family members who are still in grave danger and desperate to get to safety.”
“Canadian citizens and their spouses and children in Lebanon are desperate to get to safety and it’s unconscionable that Canadian family members must consider leaving their spouse or children behind,” she said in an e-mailed statement.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller indicated in an interview that there are no plans to extend the program, saying helping the tens of thousands of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Beirut get to Canada has to be the government’s focus.
“The priority has to be, and will continue to remain, on Canadian citizens of Lebanese descent and the permanent residents. We have such a great volume of people that are there, the focus has to remain on them,” he said.
Immigration lawyers say the program is far more restrictive than other programs that help people fleeing war-torn countries such as Ukraine.
Mariam Jammal, a Lebanese-Canadian immigration lawyer, said the government is putting people who are faced with a choice between coming to Canada and leaving families behind in an “impossible position.”
“They keep refusing visitor visas and imposing impossible standards,” she said.
She said it is “cruel” for Global Affairs to urge Canadians to leave Lebanon, while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada refuses to admit their family members.
Warda Shazadi Meighen, a partner at Landings LLP, said the situation was “very difficult for people” and the government should expedite visa applications from Lebanese spouses of Canadians in Lebanon.
Before the fighting escalated this year, there were an estimated 40,000 to 75,000 Canadians living in Lebanon.
Ottawa has drawn up contingency plans for an evacuation of Canadians, but not exercised the option so far, instead block-booking seats on commercial flights to help them. During the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006, Canada hired ships and chartered aircraft to ferry about 15,000 of the estimated 50,000 Canadians living in Lebanon to safety.
The rally is organized by the Hong Kong Pathway Alliance. Similar events are also taking place in Calgary and Toronto.
The pathway allows eligible Hong Kong residents in Canada, including people who studied or worked here, to apply for PR.
People here say they have waited for years and still do not know when their applications will be finished.
“Right now I’m stuck in limbo. It’s been a year and a half. I haven’t heard back from the IRCC regarding my application, and we’re continuously arguing with, we’re continuously hoping that IRCC sees our cases,” said Vikrambir Singh, another demonstrator.
“There’s not just me, there’s 40,000 plus applications that are stuck in limbo, and we don’t know when they’re going to get processed.”
They also point to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) processing time tool, which now suggests new applicants could wait more than 10 years for their PR.
The Immigration Minister recently told Parliament that there have been more than 46,000 applications under the Hong Kong PR pathways, and just over 13,000 had arrived.
“And the minister’s solution is, “don’t apply under the lifeboat scheme”. What is she even talking about? That scheme was specifically designed for Hong Kongers, said MP Jenny Kwan, representing Vancouver East for the NDP.
“So, it is absolutely outrageous that she would renege on the government’s promise in suggesting that the Hong Kongers should apply under a different stream. It is absolutely unacceptable.”
The federal government introduced special measures for Hong Kong residents in 2020, after China imposed the national security law in Hong Kong.
OTTAWA—The Canadian government is considering the use of artificial intelligence to save time creating influential assessment profile reports of offenders as they go to federal prisons, and is running a small-scale trial to test it, the Star has learned.
Carney government releases AI road map that aims to make Canada a leader
Federal Politics
Carney government releases AI road map that aims to make Canada a leader
Mentioned in lengthy documents tabled in Parliament last month and confirmed by Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the test run comes as the Carney government tries to ramp up AI adoption, including with billions in a national strategy released this week.
But the prison trial, which CSC says has not yet been used in real cases, is raising concerns from AI experts, criminal defence lawyers and the federal NDP’s public safety critic, who argue a widespread adoption could lead to crucial errors, exacerbate racial biases and put offenders and victims at risk.
Criminal profile reports, as they are called, are detailed “foundational documents” prepared by CSC staff during a prisoner’s intake process that identify risks and play a role in major decisions like access to programs and likelihood of parole.
Drawing from scores of official documents, they include details about an offender’s criminal history, the circumstances of their crimes, patterns of violence or behavioural, mental health and addiction issues, family and social background, trauma history, education and employment records, and even victim impact statements.
“This is what defines your offence cycle,” criminal defence lawyer Nora Demnati said of those reports. “It will have an impact on everything else that comes.”
That’s why the Carney government should slow down and consult widely, including with the CSC union, its lawyers and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada before going further, said NDP MP Jenny Kwan, the party’s public safety critic. Neither the Union of Safety and Justice Employees or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have been consulted yet, they told the Star.
Kwan warned of a multitude of legal concerns that go both ways and can have a “cascading impact”: Violating the rights of inmates if mistakes are added to reports, on one hand, or hurting victims and prison staff if crucial information is missed by the AI summaries, on the other.
“When you have those kinds of risks associated with correctional policing matters, you can imagine what the huge ramifications might be,” Kwan told the Star. “You could potentially compromise people’s legal rights.”
Canadian activists detained by Israel last month while taking part in an aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza say Canada isn’t doing enough to call out treatment by Israeli officials that Ottawa has called appalling.
While Israel has rejected claims of abuse, flotilla participant Ehab Lotayef said Wednesday Israeli officials beat him on the chest and ribs, put him in uncomfortable positions for long periods and slashed his hand when he tried to help a fellow detainee.
“We felt that we were let down by Canada before anybody else, to be honest, because the Canadian government knew all that was happening,” Lotayef told a news conference on Parliament Hill.
“When we needed them was when we were being tortured — and the whole world knew that that was happening.”
Activist flotillas have tried repeatedly to reach the Gaza Strip to draw attention to tight restrictions on humanitarian supplies for Palestinians. Israel has intercepted these boats, often in international waters.
Lotayef was one of 12 Canadians among 420 flotilla activists detained by Israeli authorities last month. Their detention gained international notoriety when Israel’s Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself taunting the detained activists.