Since packing up a small suitcase and leaving her home in Ukraine with her six-year-old son, Iryna Mishyna has found solace in helping other families in similar situations find some stability.
Her own situation, however, is still less than certain.
The 35-year-old was granted a temporary visa to work in Canada while she seeks refuge from the war, but her son Nikita is one of nearly 279,000 Ukrainians whose applications are still waiting for a response.
“I want to take a (Canadian) visa for my son because for him, it’s a very good opportunity, a very good chance,” Mishyna said in an interview in Warsaw, where she has lived since leaving Ukraine.
She applied in July and her visa came through in September, but after waiting six months she has heard no word from the Canadian government about her son.
“I asked, but they just told me ‘Wait,'” she said.
And so every day she co-ordinates volunteers in an airy room on the second floor of Warsaw’s central train station, where a dozen small wooden benches are laid with thin foam mats, blankets, and star-shaped pillows so Ukrainian children can sleep after fleeing their home country.
Between 20 and 60 people use the makeshift shelter some nights, Mishyna said while sitting on one of the improvised beds.
Inflatable mattresses are flipped up against the wall, awaiting families arriving from Ukraine who need a place to rest while they figure out what to do next.
Mishyna is trying to do the same.
“I don’t know what I should do now,” she said.
Mishyna isn’t the only mother in this situation, said Randall Baran-Chong, the founder of Pathfinders for Ukraine, a Canadian organization that has helped people navigate the immigration system since the war began.
“We’ve heard of several kinds of issues with, for whatever reason, (the Immigration Department) issuing the mother the visa, but not the children,” said Baran-Chong from his home in Toronto.
Some people have been waiting since as far back as March or April, he said.
When Russian tanks began their assault on Ukraine nearly one year ago, Ukrainians fled toward the Polish border in the millions, causing a massive European refugee crisis as neighbouring countries struggled to house the tremendous number of women and children.
Canada launched a first-of-its-kind program to allow Ukrainians to bypass the usual refugee system, and instead come to Canada quickly with a temporary work and study permit to wait out the war.
Of the 839,567 applications received under the emergency program since it opened in March, roughly 64 per cent had been approved as of Feb. 7.
Applying for the visas wasn’t an easy process, Mishyna said. It meant leaving her son in Poland while she returned to Ukraine — and the war — to update their passports and get all their documents in order.
Her temporary visa is valid for only three years, and the clock is ticking down on Mishyna’s paperwork while she waits to hear about what will happen to her son’s application.
More complex applications might take longer to process, and the time it takes to evaluate an application varies based on a “number of factors,” federal Immigration Department spokesperson Julie Lafortune said in a statement.
The government aims to deal with temporary work permits within 60 days, but 25 per cent of cases in the queue have taken longer and are part of a backlog as of Dec. 31, the department’s statistics show.
People who apply under the emergency program are offered “accelerated, prioritized processing,” she said, and it is the fastest way for Ukrainians and their families to get to Canada.
Mishyna said she feels lucky compared to some people who are desperate to get to Canada. She has a home and a job in Warsaw, but she knows others who haven’t been so lucky.
Digital advertisements on the sidewalks and underground tunnels around Warsaw Central Station flash the Ukrainian coat of arms with messages of support for the embattled country, but other signs of support for refugees in Poland have begun to fade.
The expansive public park across from the station that was filled with tents and kiosks offering refugees food, help and advice at the beginning of the war is now empty, and many refugee centres have closed.
“I think it’s because of a shortage with financing from local authorities,” said Andrii Melnyk, a former Ukrainian diplomat living in Warsaw.
He worked at the Canadian visa application centre in Warsaw shortly after the emergency program opened to Ukrainians, and saw thousands of people rush to apply.
Since then, he said international refugee centres, including those from Canada, have shut down and shelter spaces have been consolidated, leaving fewer beds for families who have not found a more stable solution. Some people who were living in the shelters without a visa or enough funds to go elsewhere went back to Ukraine, Melnyk said.
Still, he said Canada did a good job of opening its doors to refugees quickly and adapting the program to accommodate the huge demand.
Of the more than 540,000 Ukrainians who have received visas to come to Canada, only about 158,000 have made the journey.
A Canadian visa is an insurance policy for some people who would prefer to stay closer to home, said Baran-Chong.
“We’ve heard of some people saying, ‘If my husband gets killed, then I will go to Canada because there’s no reason for me to go back,'” he said.
“Some of them were saying, ‘If my home is OK, I’ll go back, but if my home is destroyed I’ll just start my new life in Canada.'”
Some of those visa-holders may also be men who are not allowed to leave Ukraine because of rules imposed as part of the martial law in that country.
For others, the cost of getting to Canada is prohibitively expensive. Canada arranged for three charter flights to bring 950 Ukrainians to Canada last year, but no more flights are currently planned.
“If you’re a refugee in Europe who’s fled, you don’t probably have enough money to buy a plane ticket for yourself and your kids to come to Canada,” the group’s executive director, Ihor Michalchyshyn, said in an interview in Ottawa.
“There’s so many people (in Canada) who’ve needed help, we haven’t even had a moment to think about those who haven’t been able to come.”
The relatively long wait for Mishyna and her son has left her wondering if she will ever make the trip to Canada.
She has a job now helping other families from her country, and she’s enrolled Nikita in school in Warsaw. Leaving now would mean uprooting him again, and lead to more uncertainty when their visas expire.
Like other families who arrive at the train station in Poland, she said she wants some certainty about the future.
“I just want … to finish this story,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2023.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
