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'Bring our Canadians home': Lawyer files suit on behalf of 26 Canadians stuck in Syrian camps – CTV News
TORONTO —
A lawyer suing the federal government to force it to bring 26 Canadians with ISIS ties back home from Syrian refugee camps says time is of the essence to bring them back home to Canada.
Last month, a proceeding was filed on behalf of 11 families alleging that the federal government has neglected to uphold parts of the Federal Court Act, the Citizenship Act, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, when it comes to the government’s efforts in repatriating their loved ones.
“It’s basically an effort to require Global Affairs Canada to do what they should be doing, which is bring our Canadians home,” Lawrence Greenspon, a criminal defence lawyer who filed the suit, told CTV News.
“There’s absolutely no reason why these Canadians can’t be brought home to their loved ones here in Canada.”
In all, the application lists 26 Canadians — 14 children, eight women and four men — who are being held in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj prison camps and the Hasakah, Qamishli and Derik prisons in regions across north-eastern Syria.
The application also describes the conditions in the camps as “horrific” with “non-existent hygiene measures” and a “lack of clean water.”
“The conditions in the camps, and certainly in the prisons, are such that everyday matters and we would hope to get this on as quickly as possible,” Greenspon said.
Alexandra Bain, director of Families Against Violent Extremism (FAVE), said there are more than just the 26 Canadians in this application who are stuck in Syria.
“We still have approximately 40 people, not all of them are with our organization, but this court case will benefit them,” she told CTV News. “We have over 25 children and each one of those children is a Canadian citizen.”
Greenspon hopes the suit will force the Canadian government to issue passports to these detainees, officially request repatriation and appoint someone to oversee the detainees’ handover.
Global Affairs Canada did not provide a statement by publishing time, but issued a statement last month about the same case and said at the time that the government is “aware of Canadians citizens being detained in Northeastern Syria and is particularly concerned with cases of Canadian children in the region.”
The statement also notes that the situation in the area has made limited the government’s ability to provide consular services to Canadians.
Global Affairs had declined to comment further, citing the Privacy Act and that it was a matter before the courts.
OTHERS CASES SHOW IT CAN BE DONE
Greenspon filed a similar motion last year on behalf of Amira, a five-year-old orphan who was stuck at the Al-Hol camp. He said after filing the documentation, Amira was quickly brought to Canada to live with her uncle and grandparents.
Since Amira’s case, another Canadian child trapped in Syria has been brought home as well, Greenspon added.
In the past, Global Affairs has cited the instability of the region and a lack of consular services in Syria for the inaction on bringing these Canadians home, but Greenspon argues the cases of Amira and the other child show that it can be done.
“There was no incident,” he said. “It wasn’t a matter of security and the fact we don’t have consular relations was not an obstacle.
We were able to do that for Amira, so the real question is why we can’t do it for the other 26 Canadians that are over there and in very, very harsh conditions?”
Bain reiterated that any notion of it being too difficult for government officials to enter into Syria is simply not true.
“The government continues to act as if there’s absolutely nothing they can do for this people, (that) it’s impossible to get into northeast Syria, which is nonsense,” she said.
Other countries, such as France and Germany, have brought back several detainees, including children.
LOVED ONES PLEAD FOR HELP
Among those named in the application is Kimberly Polman, who married an ISIS fighter and moved to Syria in 2015. She had planned to use her nursing skills to help the women and children in the region, but quickly regretted the move.
When Polman tried to leave, she was imprisoned and is now in a camp and on a hunger strike.
“It’s the worst form of torture being kept, not only in these conditions, but kept indefinitely,” said Polman’s sister, who is not being named for safety reasons.
“She doesn’t have a trial date. She doesn’t have any charges against her.”
Polman’s sister said that Canadians don’t have to like what her loved one has done, but her sister is a Canadian citizen and should have the same rights as everyone else.
Bain said anyone returning to Canada would likely significant medical treatment, mental health counselling, educational training and in some cases will need help “pulling away from extremism.”
“We want to bring these kids home and repair what’s been done, and that’s what we’re working towards,” she said. “All of the children under six years old bear no responsibility for joining such a group.”
Greenspon said there is no timeline for when these Canadians might be returned, but is hopeful that this can be resolved within “weeks.”
With files from CTVNews.ca Writer Christy Somos
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We're still stockpiling reusable bags. Big grocers have adopted solutions, but experts have concerns – CBC News
Canada’s plastic bag ban has had an unintended consequence: a proliferation of reusable bags piling up in basements, closets and, eventually, landfills.
“They’re everywhere,” said environmental researcher Tony Walker. “We’re drowning in them, and we shouldn’t be.”
To combat the problem, several of Canada’s big grocers have introduced solutions. Last week, Walmart launched a free national recycling pilot program for the retailer’s reusable blue bags. Competitors Sobeys and chains owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd. use recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery.
But some environmental experts argue that paper bags are also problematic and that the best solutions are those that help customers actually reuse their reusable bags.
“We just can’t keep giving [them] out,” said Walker, a professor at Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies in Halifax. “We’re only meant to have a few of them, and we’re meant to use them until they fall apart.”
In late 2022, the federal government rolled out a ban on the manufacture, import and sale of several single-use plastics, including checkout bags. The regulations are being contested in court, but in the meantime, they remain in effect.
The regulations have made single-use shopping bags scarce in Canada, but they’ve also led to the proliferation of reusable bags, especially for grocery delivery.
“It just creates more waste, which is what we’re trying to avoid in the first place,” Walmart customer Udi Sela said in a CBC News interview in late 2022.
At the time, Sela, who lives in Maple, Ont., estimated his family had acquired about 300 reusable Walmart bags via grocery delivery.
“We can’t return them, we can’t do much with them.”
Now, a little more than a year later, Walmart has launched a pilot project to address the problem.
It allows customers to pack up their unwanted reusable Walmart blue bags and ship them — at no charge — to a facility where they’ll get a second life.
How it works
According to Walmart, bags in good condition will be laundered and donated to charity, primarily Food Banks Canada. Damaged bags will get recycled into other materials. Reusable bags typically can’t go in blue bins because they’re costly and difficult to recycle.
Customers must sign up for Walmart’s program, and enrolment is limited.
Jennifer Barbazza, Walmart’s senior manager of sustainability, said the retailer will fine-tune the details as the program progresses.
“[We] know that some customers have more reusable bags than maybe they need,” she said. “One of the things that we’re really excited to learn about from the pilot is customer acceptance and customer feedback.”
Reusable bags are living rent free in closets and car trunks across the country. Most major retailers made the switch away from single-use plastic bags about a year ago, but it’s taking time for some customers to catch on. They’re forgetting to bring their bags with them, and buying more every week.
Udi Sela has already signed up.
“I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It’s something that needed to be done a while ago. God knows we’ve got a ton of bags kind of piled up.”
He said he’s concerned that some customers may find mailing the bags a hurdle. However, it’s not deterring Sela, who soon plans to ship hundreds.
Passing the buck?
Not everyone is keen on Walmart’s project. Emily Alfred, a waste campaigner with Toronto Environmental Alliance, said donating the bags to the food bank is just passing on the problem.
“We need to remove waste from the system entirely, and just sending these somewhere else for someone else to deal with is not really a solution,” she said.
Alfred said a better option is a program Walmart piloted in Guelph, Ont., in 2022. For a fee, customers could check out reusable bags from an in-store kiosk and later return them to be cleaned and reused.
“That’s a real circular reuse system,” she said.
Walmart’s Barbazza said the retailer is continuing to explore different reusable bag programs, including ones placed in stores.
She also said she’s confident Canada’s food banks will make good use of the bags.
“There’s definitely a need for sturdy items to distribute materials to the food bank clients.”
The paper problem
Among Canada’s major grocers, only Walmart offers a reusable bag program for all customers.
Loblaw recently switched from reusable to recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery. Sobeys did not respond to requests for comment, but according to its website, the grocer also uses paper bags and “reusable options” for home delivery.
Several environmental experts say paper bags aren’t a good solution, because their production leaves a sizable carbon footprint.
“Paper bags are a problem,” Alfred said. “It takes a lot of energy to recycle paper, takes a lot of trees and energy to make new paper.”
Loblaw said it continues to explore a variety of more sustainable solutions. “It’s a challenge we’re committed to addressing,” spokesperson Dave Bauer said in an email.
Both Walker and Alfred applaud Metro for its grocery delivery program, because the grocer, which operates in Ontario and Quebec, reuses delivery materials.
Metro said customers can get their goods delivered in a cardboard box or reusable bags, which can be returned and used for another delivery. Or customers can opt for a plastic bin and remove their groceries from it upon arrival.
Metro does not offer similar programs for in-store shoppers.
Alfred said the federal government should introduce regulations that mandate retailers adopt effective reusable bag programs for all customers.
“It’s up to our governments and people to demand that these companies do better,” she said.
But Walker suggested that the regulations would be hard to enforce and that incentives could be a better tactic.
For example, if retailers increased the price of reusable bags, shoppers might be less likely to forget them when they head to the store, he said.
“When the cost is a disincentive to do an activity, people change their behaviour.”
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Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she thinks unhappy premiers will come around on measures in the federal budget that touch on provincial legislation, even as they push back.
At an event in Toronto on Sunday, Freeland — who presented the federal budget on Tuesday — said the national government needs to push ahead on such issues as housing and she was “extremely optimistic” premiers would choose to co-operate.
“Housing is a national challenge, and the federal government needs to be leading the charge,” she said.
“My own experience has been when there are big issues that really matter to Canadians, after all the sound and the fury, people are prepared to roll up their sleeves and find a win-win outcome for Canadians.”
Several premiers have pushed back against the federal government in recent months and again after the budget was released on the grounds that some measures touch on provincial jurisdiction.
This week’s federal budget has premiers lashing out at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over a planned increase to capital gains taxes as well as what they say is overstepping on infrastructure and pharmacare.
In a letter released Friday by the Council of the Federation, which represents the leaders of all 13 provinces and territories, the premiers said Ottawa should have consulted them more ahead of the budget.
Individual premiers have shared more pointed critiques.
“It’s a never-ending spending platform that we’ve seen now for the last 10 years,” New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said on CBC’s Power & Politics on Friday.
“My initial thoughts about the federal budget are that they are overtaxing, overspending, overborrowing and over interfering in provincial affairs,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said earlier this week.
Alberta has clashed with the government repeatedly over housing. Smith introduced legislation earlier this month that would require provincial oversight of deals made between municipalities and the federal government, including for future agreements around federal housing funds.
At Issue this week: The Liberals work to sell their multibillion-dollar spending plan and capital gains tax hike. Pierre Poilievre tells Radio-Canada what he thinks of the federal budget. And another province pushes back on the carbon tax.
Freeland said on Sunday that, as an example, the federal child-care program negotiated through a series of deals with provinces and territories showed that co-operation was possible.
Capital gains tax changes criticized
The federal government has also faced some opposition on what was perhaps the most prominent measure revealed on budget day: changes to Canada’s capital gains tax rules. The government has proposed raising the inclusion rate to 67 per cent on capital gains above $250,000 for individuals.
“The 21st-century winner-takes-all-economy is making those at the very top richer, while too many middle-class Canadians are struggling,” Freeland said Sunday, adding the government was asking wealthy Canadians to pay their “fair share.”
“We do need to ensure that we have some revenue coming in. This is a very limited way of ensuring that that occurs,” Treasury Board President Anita Anand said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand joins CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton to talk about the federal budget and its focus on young Canadians — as well as the criticism it’s receiving.
Critics have raised concerns that the changes could result in reduced investment or capital flight.
“The big concern right now … is this going to have a detrimental impact to the progress we’re trying to make in making Canada a hub for innovation,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO of the tech company goConfirm, in a separate interview on Rosemary Barton Live.
“With productivity the way that it is, we want more capital, not less, flowing into business innovation,” Simpson told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
Freeland said Sunday that the changes will affect very few Canadian individuals — the government estimates 0.13 per cent — and the revenue will go to pay for investments in areas like housing.
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