From March 2022 to March 2024, more than 961,975 Ukrainian nationals were approved to live in Canada, on work/study visas and  to wait out the war between Ukraine and Russia.   As of Dec. 2023, more than 286,752 Ukrainians arrived in Canada. Once here, most are eligible for permanent residency, and able to sponsor family members.   

The federal government brought in special rules, the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) is one of “the many special measures the Government of Canada has introduced to support the people of Ukraine.” There are free settlement services for Ukrainians who come to Canada until March 2025.  Services include 

• Help to look for a job
• Help to obtain get a language assessment
• Registration for language classes
• Help to sign up children for school
• Access to other community services

Ukrainians are 4% and Muslims are 4.9% of Canada’s population

In addition hundreds of community and church groups have sprung up to help Ukrainian families, be it with housing, furnishings, medical assistance or with employment.  

Other than to assist in humanitarian efforts, the major reason Canada’s federal government gave for their wholehearted support of Ukrainians was that more than 4% of Canada’s population reported their ethnic origin as being from Ukraine.  So it was felt that Ukrainians would “fit in” here.

However, the 2021 census tells us that more than 4.9% of Canada’s population are Muslims, and many families originated came here from the  Middle East. 

So what is the difference between how Ukrainians were admitted and treated by the government and how Muslims were admitted and treated?  

What was our government’s support for Palestinians who wanted to enter Canada due to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza?  It was only in early January 2024—3 months after Israel started to destroy Gaza, after 20,258 Palestinians had been killed and more than 53,000 injured in their homes and on the streets of Gaza that our government agreed to admit any Gazans as they did Ukrainians.  But the minister of immigration set a maximum immigration  limit of 1,000 families.  And this was after a fight. 

“Hard cap” vs “Soft cap” for Palestinians admitted

Ten days into January 2024, Immigration Minister Marc Miller had to walk back the “hard cap” of 1,000 Gazans and insist it was a “soft cap”.  Miller said he’d be “flexible.”  The government offered virtually no special services to the Palestinians.  Instead, the government insisted the Palestinians jump through hoops that were all but impossible.  Just to access the paperwork, the biometrics, the health exams, and get the $500 fee to apply has proved nearly impossible for people who live on the streets, in the ruins of buildings or in tents throughout Gaza.  All offices and businesses are shuttered or destroyed. There is no access to embassy help, other than in Egypt which Gazans typically can’t enter.  Borders are controlled and now sealed by the Israelis, and the Egyptians.  

More than a million Palestinians are living in tents, or on the side of the roads near Rafah – and Egypt is allowing hardly any to cross to get their papers processed.  Meanwhile more than 34,600 Palestinians – officially — have been killed by Israel.  Hundreds more are dying each week.  On top of the homes and structures that have been destroyed by Israeli bombs and missiles, there is very little humanitarian aid allowed in so people are dying of lack of water, food and medicine.  Every hospital has been bombed and at least partially destroyed.  Operations or treatments take place on what remains of hospital floors without anaesthetic – this includes limb amputations on children. 

But many, many people in Canada want to support them.  Go Fund Me has 3 pages, and more than 36 different extended families featured who need money from Canadian strangers to help fund family and friends to escape to Canada from the murder zone which is Gaza.  That doesn’t count the hundreds of personal requests for charity and giving  to help these families come here. 
By contrast there was a special CUAET emergency relocation program for citizens of Ukraine. Also, international funds organized special flights and provided free air tickets to Canada for Ukrainian refugees.  According to this site, the Open Arms, Solidaire and Integralia DKV Foundations organized free flights from Warsaw to the airport in Regina, Sask. Tickets were provided with the “active support” of the provincial authorities.

The rules that applied to the Ukrainians simply don’t apply to the Palestinians.  It’s a double standard.  To receive even a temporary visa for Canada, the Palestinians have to 

1. Live in Gaza
2. Be directly related to Canadian citizens or permanent residents 
3. Receive guaranteed support from relatives who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents in order to live in Canada for their first year

Ukrainians didn’t require guarantors; there was no limit to how many could come here, and they did not require any mandatory family connections to people in Canada.  In addition they can stay, without question for up to three years, and then can apply for permanent residency. 

The Liberal government has now shown its true colours.  Its restrictions on victims of Israel’s war on Gaza would be puzzling if it weren’t so odious.  I see from notifications on my phone tonight that Israel is now preparing for a possible wholesale slaughter of at least 100,000 Palestinians in Rafah.  Israel has told them to move out  to safe zones – but they don’t exist.

Clearly, the Canadian government’s compassion to Ukrainians has a lot to do with the Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland who managed to persuade and prod the powerful to go above and beyond to help those she regards as her fellow countrymen and women.  That same government is tone deaf to the Palestinian cause.  Though PM Trudeau finally got onside in support of a ceasefire, it’s just words.  Neither the PM nor Freeland will listen to the Palestinians or their advocates.  

35,000 Palestinians dead; 100,000 injured

Trudeau and Freeland won’t offend the powerful Jewish mainstream in Canada who absolutely support Israel – despite the facts which are known everywhere.  Israel has killed 35,000 plus Palestinians in cold blood in six months.  Israel has killed more than 13,000 children.  More than 100,000 Palestinians are grievously injured, and more than 1000 children are now amputees mainly because they were trapped under the ruins of their homes when Israel’s missiles demolished them. 

Our government continues to ignore doctors, aid workers and international bodies that condemn Israel for genocide.  We look to the US before we make any decisions and we know that “Genocide” Joe Biden has okayed $17 billion in “wartime assistance to Israel”  . 

Our government wants to soft pedal Israel’s murderous regime.  The statistics on the numbers of Palestinians allowed into Canada tell the real story: that our government’s policy is racist to the core, and supports genocide.  

Image at the top: A girl stands near the rubble of a building that was hit by an Israeli bombardment in Rafah [Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP]