More Afghan nationals who helped Canadian military expected to be resettled 'very shortly'
The federal government is implementing "special immigration measures" to extract Afghan nationals engaged with the Canadian Embassy, their families and those who helped Canadian military on the front lines as the Taliban continues to gain ground there.
In a joint press conference, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said, as time is of the essence to resettle these individuals, they expect arrivals into Canada “very shortly.”
“We will not leave them behind. Lives hang in the balance here, which is why we’re taking timely and decisive action. Canada will do right by those who did right by us,” Mendicino told reporters on Friday.
“Those eligible will include, but are not limited to, interpreters who worked with the Canadian Forces during the combat mission, locally engaged staff currently or previously employed at the Canadian Embassy and their families.”
The Taliban claims it now controls about 80 per cent of Afghanistan after the U.S. began its extracting its military forces in a move U.S. President Joe Biden has announced will be complete by Aug. 31.
While the U.S. has begun evacuating some 2,500 interpreters and other support staff to a military base in Virginia pending approval of their visas, Afghans who helped Canadian forces had, until this point, heard no plan from Ottawa.
Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan ended ten years ago this month, nearly a decade after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Sajjan added that the Canadian government is unable to share specific operational details due to security factors, but that the planning process has been ongoing and they’re working "swiftly."
“The security situation is deteriorating and we need to work with our allies very, very closely so the plan itself has to be guarded for the safety of the people that we’re trying to bring to Canada,” he said.
It’s welcome news for those left in Afghanistan who have been forced into hiding after being targeted by the Taliban for their role with Canadian troops.
"It's very good news,” Elyish, who worked as an interpreter on the front lines with Canadian Forces from 2010 to 2011, told CTV National News. CTV News is only identifying the man as “Elyish” for security reasons.
"I am super happy for that and for my family. It's super exciting. We can't wait to be there in Canada soon."
While there is no clear timeline for people like Elyish to arrive in Canada, Afghanistan veterans like Dave Morrow will play a key role in helping the government identify and vet applicants.
“This is a huge relief. It’s quite emotional as well. It’s been very close to my heart for a decade, to only hear crickets for 10 years,” Morrow told CTV National News.
A previous special immigration measure for Afghans who worked with the Armed Forces settled more than 800 Afghan nationals and their families in Canada from 2009 to 2011 and a revised version of that program began in 2012.
Back then interpreters needed 12 months of service between 2007 and 2011, as well as proof that their lives were in danger.
Asked what criteria the government will be pursuing this time around, Mendicino said only that his department is working closely with its defence counterparts on eligibility.
“I would certainly invite anyone who believes that they or their family may be eligible under this program to contact my office directly and we will work very closely with them as well as the Department of National Defence and Global Affairs Canada to identify those who may be able to avail themselves of this program,” he said.
Garneau also stated that Canada is calling for a permanent ceasefire to “end the interminable suffering of the Afghan people as well as to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need.”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole weighed in on the news, stating that the government should have made the announcement months ago.
“The Americans made it clear that they would be leaving Afghanistan months ago, and the rise of the Taliban was an expected result,” reads a statement to CTVNews.ca
“Instead of putting forward a plan to help the heroic Afghan interpreters, support staff, and their families, the Trudeau Liberals sat on their hands and did nothing. It’s quite disappointing that these Afghans who saved the lives of our men and women in uniform were an afterthought to this Liberal government.”
With files from CTV News’ Annie Bergeron-Oliver & Christy Somos
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Local Spotlight
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.