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Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…
Liberals to sell budget as boon to fairness
When Russia first invaded Ukraine, Oksana Grygorieva’s parents, Iryna Kubatina and Leonid Kubatin, wanted to stay in Ukraine rather than flee their home in Kharkiv, a city in the northeast near the Russian border.
But, Grygorieva convinced them to leave with the promise they’d be safe in Canada and with family; they could temporarily stay with her in Toronto and would be able to spend time with their granddaughter.
But, three months after Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received their visitor visa application under an accelerated program for Ukrainians fleeing the war, Grygorieva’s parents are still waiting to be accepted by Canadian officials and remain displaced — they’re currently staying with volunteers in Warsaw, Poland.
The government says it tries to process applications within 14 days, but many of them are taking longer, and more than 164,000 Ukrainians are still waiting.
“I just love my parents and I want to help them, and I feel like I can’t help them,” said Grygorieva, who moved from Ukraine to Toronto three years ago and is a permanent resident.
She helped her parents apply for a visa through IRCC’s Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) program.
The Canadian government established the temporary residence program to help bring Ukrainians and their family members to Canada “as quickly as possible” while providing them with the ability to work and study in Canada for up to three years, according to its website.
The latest figures from IRCC show that as of June 8, it has received 296,136 CUAET applications and 131,763 have been approved.
IRCC says it tries to process most CUAET applications within two weeks, but Toronto-based Ukrainian immigration lawyer Ksenia Tchern says it’s taking on average four to six weeks. She says Grygorieva’s parents’ case of three months is unusual.
“Any extra day for them is already adding to their trauma and their fear of what’s going to happen,” Tchern said.
IRCC spokesperson Rémi Larivière says the CUAET program is the fastest and most efficient way for Ukrainians and their families to come to Canada.
“We recognize that many Ukrainians are eager to get their visas and come to Canada and we are working around the clock to help Ukrainians and their families get to Canada as quickly and as safely as possible,” Larivière said in an email.
Larivière said IRCC is unable to comment on specific cases without written consent due to privacy legislation.
While Grygorieva desperately tries to figure out why the application is stalled, she says her parents are giving up hope of coming to Canada and are considering going back home to Kharkiv — a city where war crimes have been committed by Russia, according to Amnesty International.
“They are destroying the infrastructure; houses, schools and hospitals,” Grygorieva said. “I’m like, ‘How can you go home? It’s not just not safe, we’re not even sure that your home is there.’ “
At the beginning of March, Grygorieva’s parents left their home and drove across Ukraine from Kharkiv to Lviv — a trek that took them five days. They took a train from Lviv to Warsaw, Poland, where Grygorieva helped them find volunteers who were taking in refugees temporarily.
After a week of staying in Warsaw, they were able to find a family friend who lives in Istanbul, Turkey, and was able to take them in.
But, there’s a 90-day limit for Ukrainian refugees to stay in Turkey before having to apply for a tourist permit, so her parents recently flew back to Warsaw. The couple are currently being hosted separately by two different volunteer families.
“I have no idea what else I can do,” Grygorieva said.
IRCC says some complex CUAET cases might take longer than two weeks; for example, if an application is missing documents, or family members have different nationalities.
But, Grygorieva says IRCC hasn’t asked for any additional documentation and her parents’ case is as standard as it gets.
“They are just ordinary people,” she said.
Grygorieva parents’ online application portal shows their applications were received on March 18 — the day after the program was launched.
In late April, her mother’s work permit and biometrics — an applicant’s fingerprints and photo — were approved, but not her visa. There’s been no progress with her father’s application and she can’t seem to get answers as to why there’s been a delay.
“They were just saying that they’re being processed and that’s it,” she said.
After her parents’ application was received, Grygorieva says she helped other family and friends in Ukraine with their applications and those people have already been accepted.
“I feel like something went wrong there and nobody sees it.”
When the CUAET program first launched in March, Tchern says there was an influx of applications and some were being processed within the two-week period.
Applications then slowed down because she said some in Ukraine hoped the situation would improve, but once the war continued applications increased again.
“When you’re dealing with a mass of people, [two weeks] might not be the most realistic,” she said. “I believe as more people started to apply, the timeframe definitely did increase.”
Tchern says visa application centres in some regions are delayed more than others due to whether the offices are operating at full capacity. Many have been working with limited staff and resources because of the pandemic.
IRCC says it is monitoring the operational capacity of IRCC offices and visa application centres and has deployed additional staff, supplies and equipment.
The Canadian government also says it’s setting up additional biometrics collection locations in Europe to help speed things along. IRCC says the processing at its visa application centres has doubled in recent weeks and officers are completing over 18,000 appointments on a weekly basis.
Tchern says it would be helpful if IRCC and visa application centres were more transparent about the length of wait times to ease the anxiety of those applying.
“Just to give the applicants a heads up so that they themselves are not concerned that something is wrong with their application or that Canada doesn’t want them.”
A photo of green onions being sold with the roots chopped off at a Toronto Loblaws store is stirring more anger online against the grocery giant.
The photo posted to the Reddit forum Loblaws Is Out Of Control shows bundles of green onions without the roots at the bottom being sold for $1.79 per bunch.
Many in the comments pointed out that cutting the roots off of a green onion impacts how it tastes, as well as how long it stays fresh.
“I wouldn’t buy those, Glittering_Search_41 wrote. “If you cut off the ends they aren’t retaining their flavour.”
“They will also not keep very long with the root removed,” Mralisterh wrote. “Quartered the shelf life of them, you can already see oxidation. They’re going to rot within days.”
Others speculated that the product could have been chopped by the supplier, or by a new employee in the produce department.
The person who posted the photo said it was the second time they’d seen onions being sold with the roots cut off at the Loblaws located along Toronto’s Lakeshore.
“I believe this is more of a concerted effort to not allow us to regrow our purchased produce and to extract maximum profit,” Party_Setting7622 wrote.
A similar photo of rootless green onions being sold has been posted to the forum before, where one user wondered: “Is that to stop us from regrowing them at home?”
If you cut off the ends they aren’t retaining their flavour.
Loblaw did not respond to a request from comment from Yahoo Canada.
During the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, green onion became a trendy vegetable to showcase on social media, thanks to how easily they can sprout by putting the roots in a glass of water.
Arlene Hazzan Green, co-founder of the Backyard Urban Farm Company in Toronto, says there are many other vegetables that can be grown at home like a house plant, and without a plot or garden.
“All you need is a pot with holes, some potting mix, a saucer, a watering can, some sun and seedlings,” she says.
Hazzan Green explains there’s two types of plants — cold hardy plants, which can grow in cooler temperatures, and heat loving plants, which need frequent and direct light.
Leafy vegetables like kale, arugula, lettuce, chard and mustard greens and herbs, like basil and mint, fall into the first category and can be grown simply in a flowerpot on a window sill or balcony this time of year.
“You don’t need to wait until May 2-4 weekend, which is what everyone thinks,” she says. “I’ve got seedlings that I got started indoors and now I’m planting them outside.”
Tomatoes can also grow easily in a pot, though they fall under the heat loving plant category and need to grow outside and receive lots of sun.
“They’re great on a balcony,” Hazzan Green says. “And they’re way more tasty when you grow your own.”
When it comes to planting green onions, urban farmer Derek Barber of Homestead Toronto says they can be grown from seed, which is generally done in soil. You can also take the ends of another green onion, which would otherwise go to waste, and place them in water to sprout indoors. An entirely new onion won’t grow but you’ll get the leaves. This trick can be done a few times.
“It’s a great way to reuse vegetable scraps and it’s nice to have an ongoing supply of green onion leaves indoors,” says Barber. “The bottom does slowly decompose so you need to cut the new onions higher up the stem to avoid the soft part and you need to change the water regularly.”
Barber says this sprouting trick can also be done with celery, carrots and radish. Though you’re not getting a complete vegetable from it, the sprouts will produce leaves that make a great garnish and can add some fresh flavour to your meals.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
The arrests were announced at a news conference on the one-year anniversary of the heist.
Police said the suspects face a combined 19 charges and Canada-wide warrants have been issued for the arrest of three other suspects.
During a news conference on Wednesday morning, police said 6,600 gold bars were stolen from Air Canada’s cargo facility on the evening of April 17, 2023 by a suspect who arrived to the warehouse in a five-tonne truck.
The gold, along with about $2.5 million in foreign currency, had been shipped to Toronto from Zurich in the hull of an Air Canada plane and was offloaded to an Air Canada cargo facility shortly after landing at Pearson Airport that afternoon.
Police allege that the suspect came into possession of the stolen gold and bank notes after presenting Air Canada personnel with a fraudulent airway bill.
“The airway bill was for a legitimate shipment of seafood that was picked up the day before,” Det.-Sgt. Mike Mavity, the major case manager for the joint investigation, dubbed Project 24K, told reporters on Wednesday.
“This duplicate airway bill was printed off from a printer within Air Canada cargo.”
Mavity said a forklift arrived a short time later and loaded the stolen gold and currency into the back of the truck. The suspect then drove off with the gold bars, which were estimated to be worth about $20 million.
Brinks Canada, which was hired to provide security and logistics services for the transportation of the shipment, showed up at the facility a few hours later to pick up the items.
Police said Air Canada employees tried to locate the container, realized it was missing, and quickly launched in an internal investigation. Police were notified about the stolen goods shortly before 3 a.m. the following day, Mavity said.
This is a breaking news update. More information to come…
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…
Liberals to sell budget as boon to fairness
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It’s now up to the federal Liberal government to sell a spending plan it says will help younger Canadians catch up to their elders.
So far, if unsurprisingly, their critics and political rivals are unimpressed.
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The $535-billion budget seeks to restore economic fairness for millennials and gen-Z voters at a time when the minority government is ailing in the polls.
It includes $8.5 billion over five years to help build millions of homes and another $2.6 billion for student aid and grant programs.
And it commits funding to the first phase of national pharmacare and promises federal standards for long-term care — two commitments the Liberals made to the NDP.
But New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh isn’t in a hurry to say if his party will vote to support the budget and keep the minority Liberals in power.
Federal budget announces measures for open banking
The federal budget announced several measures affecting the banking sector, including long-promised details about a framework for open banking.
Open banking is a system that would allow consumers to easily access their financial data across multiple institutions, apps and services.
The specifics will come with legislation to be tabled before the end of the year, but the federal budget sets out six core elements for the framework.
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It also names the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to oversee and enforce the system.
The budget earmarks $4.1 million over three years for the Finance Department to complete the policy work necessary to establish and maintain the oversight entity and framework.
Trio found guilty in Coutts, Alta., blockade
Three men accused by the Crown of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 have been found guilty of mischief.
Jurors deliberated for three hours Tuesday night before finding Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huigenbos, and Gerhard (George) Janzen guilty of one count each of mischief over $5,000.
Gasps of surprise were heard in a courtroom packed with supporters of the trio when the verdict was announced.
The trio were on trial in Court of King’s Bench for their roles in a blockade that tied up cross-border traffic between Canada and the United States at Coutts for two weeks in early 2022 in protest of COVID-19 rules and restrictions.
Van Herk said he’s proud of participating in Coutts and holding politicians accountable.
“If that’s what it takes, that we can show politicians what is right, and we’ll do whatever sentence that is. I’d do it again tomorrow.”
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The maximum sentence for public mischief over $5000 is 10 years in prison.
Police to announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police are set to announce arrests in a heist of nearly $24 million in gold and cash from Toronto’s Pearson airport last year.
Peel Regional Police are expected to reveal details this morning of their joint task force investigation — dubbed Project 24K — with the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau.
The news comes on the one-year anniversary of the daring heist.
A lawsuit filed against Air Canada by American security company Brink’s alleged that a thief presented a forged document to collect about $23.8 million in goods from a holding facility at Pearson airport.
Brink’s statement of claim alleged that Air Canada staff handed over 400 kilograms of gold, worth more than $20 million, plus nearly US$2 million in cash to the thief.
Closing arguments expected today in Zameer trial
Prosecutors and defence lawyers are expected to make their final submissions today in the trial of a man accused of running over a Toronto police officer.
Umar Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup died on July 2, 2021, after he was hit by a vehicle in an underground parking garage at Toronto City Hall.
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Zameer has testified he didn’t know Northrup and his partner _ who were in plain clothes — were police officers and he got scared when two strangers rushed towards his car in the largely empty parking lot shortly after midnight.
He told the court he was trying to drive away quickly to save his family from what he believed to be robbers and he didn’t see anything in front of his car or realize he had hit anyone until after his arrest.
Auston Matthews has one more shot at 70 goals
Auston Matthews has one more chance to reach a milestone not touched in nearly three decades.
The Maple Leafs sniper was unable to score in Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, leaving him stuck on 69 goals for the season.
Matthews and Toronto visit the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the regular season on Wednesday night. The 26-year-old centre is looking to become the first player to score 70 goals in a campaign since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny both registered 76 back in 1992-93.
Matthews, who had found the back of the net 10 times in his previous eight games before the loss to the Panthers, can become just the ninth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season, joining the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull and Mario Lemieux.
Toronto’s defeat to Florida, coupled with Ottawa’s 3-1 victory over Boston, means the Leafs will play the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers and Lightning are set to square off in the other Atlantic Division matchup.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2024
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