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.
Dozens of students and instructors gathered at Vancouver Community College (VCC) Tuesday to protest the unexpected shutdown of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program.
LINC, which has helped thousands of immigrants learn English, secure jobs, and work toward citizenship, is set to be terminated at the end of March due to federal funding cuts.
The move has left over 800 students without a clear path forward and more than 30 instructors without jobs.
“We found out just before winter break, and this was the first opportunity to get people together to raise spirits, because people have been really down.” said Frank Cosco, president of the VCC Faculty Association.
If Ottawa lets the deadline lapse and the two-generation cut-off is thus voided, affected lost Canadians could just come reclaim their citizenship. If the court cuts the government some slack and grants another extension in light of the circumstances, the uncertainty will continue.
“During that extension period, we could very well be in an election, in which case, no bills could be passed,” said MP Jenny Kwan, immigration critic of the opposition NDP, and a staunch supporter of the bill.
I call on the Canadian government to take urgent and decisive action to:
1. Strongly condemn the Hong Kong government’s NSL and the targeting of overseas activists, including Canadian citizens and residents, and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Hong Kong.
2. Impose targeted sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for human rights violations and the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms.
3. Stop according any special rights or diplomatic status to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade offices in Canada.
4. Expedite the processing of PR application for Hong Kongers fleeing political persecution and to automatically renew their work and study permit in the meantime.