Canada will be opening new ways for Ukrainians to seek refuge in this country and is sending additional lethal aid for Ukraine to use in the ongoing Russian-launched war. The government is also taking major trade action against Russia and is calling for the country to be suspended from international criminal policing organization Interpol.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Thursday that in his latest conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he told him that “Canada would continue to be there for them.”
The latest example of this, he said, is Canada joining other nations in calling for Russia to be suspended from Interpol.
“We’re supporting this because we believe that international law enforcement co-operation depends on a collective commitment to the universal declaration of human rights and mutual respect between Interpol members.”
As a result of Russian President Vladmir Putin’s unjustified attack on Ukraine, an estimated one million people have fled Ukraine. In response, Canada is opening up two new immigration streams.
One will allow an unlimited number of Ukrainians to come to this country on a temporary basis with expedited emergency visas, and the other is a new family reunification pathway for those looking to stay permanently in Canada.
For those looking to come to Canada while the attack continues, this stream will allow Ukrainians to stay for up to two years. Most visa requirements will be waived, including fees and language assessments, and in order to qualify individuals will need to complete a “simple” application form and provide biometrics for security and background screening.
Everyone who arrives under this new stream will also be eligible for a work permit or study permit that will allow them to take a job with any Canadian employer or enroll in an education program, said Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser on Thursday, encouraging businesses to “step up” and hire those who arrive.
He said that over the last week he’s heard from numerous people and community groups, including his mother, who have offered to welcome Ukrainians.
Fraser said his main motivation in using a processing system with the “greatest horsepower and the fewest administrative requirements,” comparable to the program that handles two million temporary visa applications a year, was to expedite the processing of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have fled to neighbouring countries, prompting a refugee crisis.
However, it will take approximately two weeks before the application process opens. He noted the existing temporary residence visa application form is open and requests are being processed on a priority basis, with 6,131 Ukrainians already arriving in Canada since Jan. 19.
“Canada is ready to welcome Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war, and there is no limit to the number of applications that we are going to be willing to accept,” Fraser said.
For those looking to make Canada their home, the government is also introducing an expedited path to permanent residency for Ukrainians seeking to reunite with family members who are already in Canada, through a new family sponsorship program with the details to be finalized in collaboration with Ukrainian-Canadian community groups in the coming weeks.
“The reason for our commitment goes beyond the historic ties between Canada and Ukraine… I can’t help but think that centuries from now historians will be writing of the courage on display in Ukraine today,” Fraser said. “From the fearless leadership of President Zelensky, to the young fathers with tears in their eyes delivering their children to safety before they return to the frontlines… to the unarmed grandmothers confronting Russian soldiers.”
CANADA SLAPS HEFTY TARIFF ON RUSSIAN TRADE
Canada is also revoking Russia and Belarus’ “most-favoured nation status” as trading partners, meaning they will be subjected to a 35 per cent tariff on their exports to Canada.
Canada is the first country to take this step, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday, adding that the only other nation that Canada subjects to this high tariff and deprives of other associated benefits is North Korea.
“We are working closely with our partners and allies to encourage them to take the same step,” Freeland said.
Referencing the latest round of sanctions levied on 10 Russian executives, Freeland said that the total number of people and entities sanctioned by Canada since Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, has now risen to more than 1,000.
“The G7 has already imposed the strongest sanctions ever inflicted on a major economy, on Russia, and more will follow in the days to come. The ruble has been down by as much as 30 per cent this week… The Russian stock market is closed today for the fourth consecutive day,” said the finance minister. “The economic costs of the Kremlin’s barbaric war are already high, and they will continue to rise.”
Freeland told reporters that she feels there has been a “tipping point” in the international community and there’s widespread agreement that allied countries will only keep ratcheting up the pressure. She said the sanctions—particularly on Putin’s “sycophants” and “enablers” who have “enjoyed a pretty fabulous lifestyle in the West,”—are working.
“We are using tools which no one would even have imagined deploying just a week ago, and there’s more to come,” Freeland said.
CANADA SENDING ROCKET LAUNCHERS, GRENADES
Defence Minister Anita Anand also announced Thursday that adding to their cadre of lethal aid shipments to Ukraine, the Canadian Armed Forces will be sending from their stockpile up to 4,500 rocket launchers, and up to 7,500 hand grenades.
“These weapons… will be transported to the region as quickly and safely as possible,” Anand said.
Canada is also sending Ukraine $1 million to go towards the purchase of high-resolution modern satellite imagery, providing Ukraine’s military to better monitor the movement of Russian forces.
“As we see the horrific impacts of Putin’s aggression, we must continue to remember that our allies and partners are united, and that we are going to keep adding to the measures to support Ukraine’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity,” Anand said. “Only Putin knows what Putin will do, and it is our job to do everything we can to protect as many lives as possible together with our NATO allies.”
Asked about Canadians who may be looking to go to Ukraine to join their foreign legion, Anand said that the government is not facilitating this, but the Canadian Armed Forces is currently recruiting and would welcome applications. Anand noted the military has trained over 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers since 2015, with 3,400 troops currently on high-readiness alert in Europe should NATO’s posture evolve.
Meanwhile in the House of Commons on Thursday morning, MPs unanimously agreed to a motion from NDP MP Charlie Angus calling on the City of Ottawa to consider renaming the portion of Charlotte Street, which houses the Russian embassy, in honor of Zelensky. The city has already installed new blue and yellow “Free Ukraine” street sign blades in front of embassy.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
