Some people trying to flee Ukraine are facing hurdles.
Canada recently streamlined the immigration process for Ukrainian refugees. But the requirements that remain are making it hard for some Edmonton-area families to bring their loved ones here.
Ever since Dwayne Kisilevich’s relatives fled Ukraine, the Vegreville man has been trying to get them to Canada.
“I’m afraid for the lives of my children. I think they will be safe in Canada,” one of Kisilevich’s cousins, Kateryna Furyk, said while they spoke over Facebook Messenger.
“Three women and seven children left Ukraine on the 26th, they got to Poland. I happen to talk to my cousins, which are men. They aren’t allowed to leave, of course. He asked if we can get some help to get his family to Canada to get through the war,” Dwayne Kisilevich said.
2:03 Challenges in bringing Ukrainian refugees to Canada
Challenges in bringing Ukrainian refugees to Canada
Kisilevich said he was encouraged by recent changes to a federal government program. It was supposed to make it easier to get his family here.
But after starting the application process, they hit a big barrier.
“They say you’ve got to keep trying. Last night, kept trying, then you get kicked out of the system,” Kisilevich said.
His problem centres on fingerprint and photo requirements. They’re still necessary even in the streamlined process and booking an appointment is proving difficult.
“I tried since Saturday morning until Tuesday evening, I made 47 attempts (and) could not get in,” Kisilevich said.
In a statement, VFS Global, the company responsible for biometrics, wrote: “Due to the current situation in Ukraine, some of our Visa Application Centres (VACs) are experiencing higher volumes than usual. VFS Global has taken proactive measures in consultation with the Canadian government (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, IRCC) to address the surge in Canada visa applications from Ukraine at our VACs in Europe.”
“Currently, there is no issue with the appointment management system and our IT teams are working 24/7 to ensure the website is running smoothly.”
The company said an influx in visa application volumes has led to longer call wait times.
“However, our call centres are closely monitoring the situation and apprising local operations to open additional appointment slots where required. Our global call centre is recruiting additional Ukrainian-speaking resources to manage higher calls/email volumes while our call centres in India and Mexico provide support to the VACs in Europe.”
Biometrics, the company said, are taken by following instructions from the Canadian government.
“Clients submit their applications online and are directed to the VAC network in Europe to support them with application, biometrics and passport submissions. Capacity at the VACs is being closely monitored and additional IRCC staff have been deployed to the region as surge support should VACs reach capacity.”
Its visa application centres have been told to prioritize citizens of Ukraine, the company said, “including booking emergency same-day appointments and taking biometrics without an official appointment.
“In addition to our pre-existing VAC network, we have been working to set up additional biometrics collection locations and increased capacity at existing ones as demand requires,” the statement continued.
3:35 Women, children escape horrors of Russia’s Ukraine invasion
Women, children escape horrors of Russia’s Ukraine invasion
An Edmonton immigration practitioner said getting a appointment for biometrics has been the case for many people trying to get to Canada.
“There is a small percentage of people who are benefiting of the fast processing but for the majority of people who applied for the first time, it’s very complicated it is very stressful,” Bohdana Stepanenko-Lypovyk said.
Stepanenko-lypovyk said many people in Ukraine are now facing increased costs of living and flights to Canada are also up, making it even more difficult to get out.
And it’s stressful for those hoping the need for fingerprints and pictures won’t make their loved ones’ ordeal even more chaotic.
Kisilevich said he hopes the hopes the government will make changes to the biometrics requirements and fast.
“I truly don’t think there are going to make it here,” Kisilevich said.
While many Albertans struggle to help their relatives, Stepanenko-Lypovyk is encouraging people to keep calling and applying until they connect, no matter how frustrating the wait may be.
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.
