Canadians could be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip in “the coming days,” Defence Minister Bill Blair said Friday, but shared no firm timeline as Canadians faced another day of being left off the list.
Groups of people, including foreign nationals from several other countries, have been allowed to exit the Palestinian territory through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the last two days.
But Canadians have so far been excluded from the lists of those approved to depart, including the third one issued on Friday.
There are more than 450 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their family members who want to leave Gaza, which has been under siege and regular bombardment by Israel for more than three weeks.
Blair told reporters in Ottawa on Friday there is “no specific impediment” to getting those people out. He said the Canadian government is working closely with Israel, Egypt, the United States and the United Kingdom.
He also says Canadian consular officials will be ready to help people as soon as they cross into Egypt.
Global Affairs Canada has not explained why Canadians have not made the list so far.
The department noted in written updates sent Wednesday and Thursday that the first group allowed to cross included citizens from eight countries with smaller groups of nationals in Gaza. It also said “Canada has one of the largest contingents of nationals in Gaza.”
The department has not said whether that would delay Canadians getting out, or why.
Per @judyatrinh-who got email GAC sent Cdns registered in Gaza stating 400+ will be able to leave via Rafah “in the coming days, and possibly as early as Sunday.”
Notes GAC to be in touch w “specific departure dates” & how ultimately Cda doesn’t determine who allowed to cross.
Thursday’s evacuation list from the General Authority for Border Crossings in Gaza, as presented on a widely shared Google spreadsheet, included 400 American citizens. The list shared Friday had 367 Americans. In one day, Britain has had 127 people listed as approved for departing through the Rafah crossing.
Jon Allen, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel, said the effort is “very complicated,” but he wasn’t sure if countries with the most citizens would end up being among the first or last to leave.
“It does make sense that if you have a higher number, then you’re going to try and reduce that number. But I don’t know if that’s the case,” Allen said in an interview Friday.
Allen helped oversee the 2009 effort to evacuate dozens of Canadians from Gaza during an earlier war between Israel and Hamas. He said these efforts involved communicating with several governments to get everyone on the same page.
He also said the United States has an outsized influence in the region and many would expect American citizens to be among the first to be able to leave, but other countries would likely not have much ability to get ahead of others.
“It is a war and there are these processes that are inevitably going to have to be gone through,” he said.
Concerns about the risk of Hamas sympathizers crossing into Egypt could be one reason for general delays, Allen said.
“There are a lot of considerations that they’re taking,” he said.
“The Canadians will come out, and I feel sympathy for all of those that are there.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, calling once again for a humanitarian pause. Netanyahu says that will not happen until Hamas releases the hostages taken during surprise attacks on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly issued a late Thursday update on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying she has spoken with her counterpart in Israel, Eli Cohen, about the matter.
She said she also received confirmation of Egypt’s co-operation.
While the flow of foreign nationals leaving Gaza through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday has been slow, officials with Global Affairs Canada say they are working around the clock to evacuate Canadians from the war zone.
They are asking Canadians to get their documents and “be ready to depart once we are informed that they can cross the border.” However, as of early Friday morning, Canada had not been added to the official approval list of “foreign passports” for travel through the Rafah crossing.
Joly’s message also noted that Global Affairs Canada would communicate the latest information directly with Canadians.
Allen was not surprised that Canada has sent consular staff to be somewhere near Rafah, but not the actual crossing.
“They’re doing everything they can,” he said. “And sending a consular officer to sit at the border when nobody is coming out (yet) is not going to help the situation.”
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians slain in the initial Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which Canada has listed as a terrorist organization since 2002. In addition, around 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry claims Israel’s military response has killed more than 9,000 Palestinians.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2023.
Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.
It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.
HALIFAX – The federal Fisheries Department says an endangered North Atlantic right whale has become entangled in gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The department says the whale was sighted Wednesday by a Transport Canada aerial surveillance team northeast of the Gaspé Peninsula, off Anticosti Island.
Officials say it’s not known what type of gear has entangled the whale or where the gear came from.
Based on observation, experts at the New England Aquarium have confirmed the whale is a female known as Chiminea.
The department says it is continuing to monitor the area and if the whale is located and conditions allow, efforts will be made to disentangle the animal.
Last October, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium estimated there were 356 North Atlantic right whales left on the planet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Canadian pop icon Nelly Furtado has been named one of three headliners for the opening ceremony of the upcoming Invictus Games.
Furtado, from Victoria, will share the stage with alt-pop star Roxane Bruneau of Delson, Que., and American singer-songwriter Noah Kahan.
They’ll be part of the show that opens the multi-sport event in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., in February.
The Invictus Games sees wounded, injured, and sick military service members and Veterans compete in 11 disciplines.
The Vancouver Whistler 2025 Games will be the first of seven editions to feature winter adaptive sports, including alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling.
British Columbia’s Lower Mainland will host the Invictus Games from Feb. 8-16.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
