When Western democracies cut Russian financial institutions out of their international payment networks, Jason Bronius wasn’t expecting Global Affairs Canada to suggest switching to a Chinese bank.
He’s among several Canadians who have shared stories with CBC News about how sanctions against Russia affect them here in Canada.
None have any ties to President Vladimir Putin or the Russian government. None appear on any lists of targeted individuals or entities sanctioned either before or after last year’s invasion of Ukraine.
But these Canadians are still caught up in the design and administration of their own government’s economic sanctions, as the Liberal government continues to sever as many ties to Russia as possible.
“They want to try and isolate the Russian government. Fair enough,” Bronius said. “Both governments have said fine, we’ll just walk away from the global financial system.”
But this has had serious consequences for his family. “How would you suggest I get money to my children in Russia?” he said.
The Calgary man’s marriage broke down over a decade ago. His ex-wife, a Russian citizen, made what he calls an “amicable decision” to return to Russia with their two children, who have Canadian citizenship. She had become a permanent resident of Canada but her mother lived in Russia and she wanted to go back.
Under the terms of their divorce agreement, Bronius pays $2,400 a month to support his daughter, 15, and son, 11. Despite the distance, they’re a big part of his life; he said he tries to speak to them every day.
‘It was panic’
He used to load these child support payments onto a MasterCard for his ex-wife to spend on whatever they needed. After MasterCard and Visa pulled out of Russia last year, he tried sending international wire transfers through various banks. But once Canada joined other allies in kicking Russia out of the SWIFT payment network, that too was shut down.
“It was panic. We had literally run out of options other than me carrying cash to Russia to get my children their child support,” Bronius said.
Personally delivering his court-ordered payments would require him to take several days off work and spend thousands of dollars on airfares from Calgary to Moscow on a recurring basis — which could cost as much as the child support itself.
The Russian government, meanwhile, wouldn’t provide his ex-wife with any financial support as a single mother because she had a Canadian court judgment stating Bronius would pay her child support.
“The Russian government left me on my own to figure out how to get money to my kids. And the Canadian government was no help,” he said.
Global Affairs suggests Chinese network
One Canadian government official, Bronius said, suggested he find someone to carry money to Russia on his behalf, but he wasn’t comfortable with the idea.
He also worried that travelling with thousands of dollars in cash could make border officers suspicious, even if he had a court document laying out his obligation to pay.
Bronius asked his MP, Tom Kmiec, for help. He shared e-mail correspondence between the MP’s office and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) with CBC News.
One consular case management officer from GAC’s family unit suggested Bronius turn to a Chinese bank to get around the Canadian government’s sanctions.
“Open a UnionPay International card (China) and transfer the details for the transfer to the person in Russia,” wrote Katia Pouliot.
“I was stunned. I couldn’t believe that,” Bronius said.
People stand in line to withdraw money from an Alfa Bank ATM in Moscow, Russia on Feb. 27, 2022. Russians flocked to banks and ATMs shortly after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine and the West announced crippling sanctions. (The Associated Press)
UnionPay cards, which are issued by a Chinese corporation, are now accepted in over 180 countries. Based on GAC’s advice, Bronius tried to get a UnionPay card so he could use that payment network.
But a Bank of China representative from a Calgary branch told Bronius that bank couldn’t transfer his money either because it didn’t want to run afoul of the sanctions.
“Why would [GAC] send me to a Chinese bank when obviously we still have lines of communication with the embassy in Moscow?” he said.
Bronius said he had received assistance on other issues from Canada’s embassy, and his ex-wife was willing to take a train into Moscow to receive money there. But embassy officials, Bronius said, weren’t willing to help deliver his child support and made it clear to him they aren’t bankers.
Ministerial permit won’t help
Bronius said he learned there’s an exemption to allow Canada Pension Plan payments to flow into Russia to support seniors. But there’s no such exemption for child support payments. Bronius said he thinks that in its rush to get the sanctions in place, the government didn’t carefully consider all the exemptions it would need.
“As of yet, I haven’t had anyone from the federal government offer a solution,” he said. “They’ve just washed their hands a bit and allowed me to figure it out.”
Although GAC doesn’t comment on individual consular cases for privacy reasons, CBC News asked GAC generally what Canadians should do if they need to transfer funds to or from Russia for urgent and essential personal reasons, now that SWIFT transfers aren’t possible.
“Canada’s sanctions place prohibitions on the interactions that Canadians abroad and persons in Canada can have with listed individuals and entities,” said GAC spokesperson Grantly Franklin.
“Our sanctions aim to apply pressure on foreign actors, not on Canadians. Global Affairs Canada does not provide legal advice to members of the public.”
Following his MP’s intervention, Bronius obtained a letter confirming it’s not prohibited for him to send child support to his Canadian kids in Russia. But it’s not clear how GAC expects him to make these payments.
“It’s a Catch-22 situation. They would help me if it was prohibited, but because it’s ‘non-prohibited’ they can’t help me,” Bronius said.
It may not be prohibited to pay child support to someone in Russia, but it has become practically impossible to do, so long as financial networks remain cut off.
Bronius persevered. He’s found a way — at least for now — to get money to his ex-wife and kids.
He doesn’t want to disclose how he’s doing it, however. He’s afraid the Canadian government will turn off that tap, too.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
