Unable to leave Syria, mothers of Canadian children forfeit repatriation to keep their families together
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
The foreign women have children with Canadian citizens, but their husbands are missing or have been killed in fighting during Syria’s civil war. The government suspects they and their husbands may have traveled to the region to join the Islamic State, but no evidence has been presented in court.
Global Affairs said the children of these Canadian men were eligible to be brought home, but not their wives. The women were given a March 31 deadline to decide if they will relinquish guardianship of their children in order to get them to safety. Four women and ten children are impacted by the ultimatum.
Backed into a corner, the mothers have chosen to stay with their children. They made their desperate decision as RCMP officers visited Al-Roj camp this week as part of arrangements for imminent repatriation.
Former Liberal justice minister and attorney general Allan Rock calls the Trudeau government’s demands of the foreign mothers “cruel and deeply disturbing.”
“To think that the children would be torn from their mothers and be alone in Canada is so far distant from the way we think of our country and the way we behave in the world,” said Rock in a phone interview.
FORMER JUSTICE MINISTER SAYS REPATRIATION SHOULDN’T BE POLITICIZED
Rock, who is a president emeritus of the University of Ottawa and a retired law professor, says the Trudeau government is likely “hypersensitive” to being labeled “soft on terrorism.”
“I find it difficult to believe that the security of Canada will be at risk because we admitted four women with their children,” said Rock, who is also among more than 100 legal experts who called for the repatriation of all Canadian detainees in an open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau earlier this week.
“These are matters that are too important to be concerned about political fallout. This is a decision about the lives of children. We should let our collective humanity govern,”said Rock.
Toronto immigration lawyer Asiya Hirji represents two foreign women who have children with extensive medical needs.
One of Hirji’s clients, a 36 year-old woman has a non-verbal autistic son and another child who hasn’t healed from severe burns after falling into a kerosene heater. Another client has children diagnosed with intestinal parasites.
“For the life of me I can’t understand the logic. My heart bleeds for these children who have known no other life than a life with their mom,” said Hirji.
Hirji says her client’s children have no relatives in Canada, and would have to be placed in foster care if they were repatriated without their mothers.
“They will be a tremendous burden on Canada’s healthcare system while their mothers are in another country,” Hirji said in a zoom interview.
SIGNS REPATRIATION COULD HAPPEN WITHIN DAYS
Global Affairs Canada confirmed to CTV News that it was imposing on the mothers to choose if they would separate from their children.
“Non-Canadian parents with Canadian children may request or agree for their children to be repatriated to Canada…Agreeing to or requesting repatriation for one’s child is an incredibly difficult decision and one that must be made by the parent and the parent alone,” said the GAC spokesperson Grantly Franklin.
With the Mounties in Syria, and the House of Commons on its Easter break, advocates say signs point to repatriation flights occurring within days. Meanwhile the clock is running out on an immigration solution to keep the families together.
Hirji and other immigration lawyers applied for emergency temporary resident permits for the four non-Canadian mothers. The TRP submissions included analysis by Canadian pediatricians of medical documents obtained from the Kurdish-run camps in Syria.
The applications for the TRPs were sent to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser’s office in February, yet Hirji says there has been no response.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada said privacy legislation prevents the department from commenting on a CTV request for a status update on the TRP’s.
Meanwhile at the Al-Roj camp in Syria, a Canadian mother has been caught in a new bureaucratic nightmare. She is one of seven Canadian women who declined to be interviewed by RCMP officers who were at the camp this week vetting security risks.
Advocates for the detainees say that after refusing to be interviewed, a Global Affairs official called the woman and informed her she may not be on the flight with her six children because her file was incomplete.
“In her head there is pressure on her to agree to be interviewed by police,” says Alexandra Bain of Families Against Violent Extremism.
According to lawyers familiar with the Global Affairs repatriation settlement there is no requirement for any of the 26 Canadian women and children to speak to police while they are in the camps.
In addition to the women and children, at least four Canadian men are imprisoned in Northeast Syria. The government of Canada is appealing a federal court order to bring them home. The Federal Court Of Appeal is expected to make a decision soon.
IN DEPTH
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
'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.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
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.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
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.
opinion Don Martin: Pierre Poilievre's road to apparent victory will soon start to get rougher
Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives appear to be on cruise control to a rendezvous with the leader's prime ministerial ambition, but in his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin questions whether the Conservative leader may be peaking too soon.
opinion Don Martin: The Trudeau lessons from Brian Mulroney's legacy start with walking away
Justin Trudeau should pay very close attention to the legacy treatment afforded former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who died on Thursday at age 84, writes columnist Don Martin.
opinion Don Martin: ArriveCan debacle may be even worse than we know from auditor's report
It's been 22 years since a former auditor general blasted the Chretien government after it 'broke just about every rule in the book' in handing out private sector contracts in the sponsorship scandal. In his column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says the book has been broken anew with everything that went on behind the scenes of the 'dreaded' ArriveCan app.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.
Local Spotlight
A tiny critter who could: Elusive Newfoundland Marten makes improbable comeback
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
Ontario man loses $12K to deepfake scam involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Record-setting pop tab collection for Ontario boy
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
'I was just like, holy cow!': Saskatoon dumpster divers reclaim wasted valuables
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario to balance budget ahead of 2026 election, citing delay due to 'economic uncertainty'
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.
Business owner disappointed in police efforts to locate $500K worth of stolen e-bikes
The owner of an e-bike business says he has doubts police will find the roughly $500,000 worth of product that was stolen from a shipping container last week, while police say he “complicated” their investigation by posting video of the theft.
Costco begins using verification scanners at some Ottawa stores
At least one Costco store in Ottawa has implemented a digital card scanner for member entry, a departure from the traditional in-person card check, in an effort to crack-down on shoppers who have not paid a membership fee.
How to safely view the solar eclipse using household materials
With the solar eclipse just a week away, it’s time to think about how to safely view the celestial show.
Calgary's Tegan and Sara call out Alberta government at Junos
Calgary singer-songwriters Tegan and Sara were honoured at this year's Juno Awards for their efforts to support 2SLGBTQ+ youth.