Palestinians in Gaza who applied to join relatives in Canada two years ago under Ottawa’s crisis immigration policy but haven’t received travel visas lost their lawsuits trying to force officials to act despite security problems in the war-torn region.

Four similar court actions asked the Federal Court to order officials with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to process their temporary resident visa applications.

Justice Henry S. Brown said the stories of applicants in Gaza were “heartbreaking” but he could not issue the orders they sought.

The court cases stem from Ottawa’s announcement of a “temporary public policy to facilitate temporary resident visas for certain extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza,” which took effect on Jan. 9, 2024.

It was supposed to provide quick refuge for Palestinians with relatives who are either Canadian citizens or permanent residents and willing to be an “anchor relative” in Canada.

The Gaza policy was capped at 5,000 visas. Court heard that almost two years later there are about 4,200 unprocessed applicants.

The policy was similar in purpose to emergency policies for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion, Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s return to power, and those in danger zones after an earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. The policies remove some criteria normally needed to enter Canada to speed things up in a crisis.

In the policy for Gaza, the government exempted applicants from needing to prove their financial stability and that they would leave Canada at the end of their authorized stay.

Because of the similar nature of the court cases, portions of the decisions are replicated in each decision, all of which were decided by Brown. The last three decisions were released Wednesday.

The four cases represent 10 Gazan residents. The names of each of the visa applicants in the cases was anonymized by the court.

One case involves a family of five — a mother, father, and three children. Court heard they were living in one room in their partially destroyed home in Gaza City with rats and exposed to the rain due to damage to their roof.

Another family is a mother, father and their young son. Court heard they left their home in the Gaza Strip the day after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on Israel from Gaza, and have been displaced several times while other family members have died in bombings.

A third case involves a Palestinian man living in the Gaza Strip. Court heard that after October 7 he was unable to continue his studies and lost his job and later his home. A court case heard in September was for a Palestinian woman living in Gaza City who said her house was flattened by a bomb, leaving her without shelter, food or water.

Court heard the special immigration policy was a three-stage process, starting with an anchor relative in Canada completing forms, then submitting documentary proof of identification, status in Canada, and other information; next documents for their Gazan kin seeking visas needed uploading.

Once Canadian immigration officials confirm an applicant is eligible, the policy process states, the applicant’s names are forwarded to the Israeli and Egyptian governments to allow access to the Rafah border crossing to provide Canada their biometric information at a collection facility, court heard. That includes fingerprinting and photographs. The border crossing was needed because there is no Canadian collection facility in Gaza.

That last stage became impossible, court heard.

In the case of the male applicant, used as an example in court, his anchor relative submitted a crisis webform on Jan. 14, 2024, and was approved for processing four days later.

Four months after the application, an entry was made in the immigration case management system noting that he had met all requirements except his security screening and biometrics, meaning his eligibility had been approved but his admissibility was pending.

IRCC officials requested more information in December 2024, including about social media accounts, which was provided the next day, court heard. Everything was in place but biometrics that are done across the border.

“While this was possible in December 2023 when the Policy was issued, the Rafah crossing was closed on May 7, 2024, and remains closed to this day,” Brown wrote in his reasons for judgment. “Therefore, the Applicant — through no fault of his own or of IRCC — has not obtained or sent his biometrics.”

Brown said lawyers for both the applicants and for the government are right, in a way.

He agreed with the applicants that the government has a legal duty to process visa applications made under the policy. He also agreed with the government that officers did not have a duty to process applications within a particular timeframe.

“I am satisfied the Applicant has a legitimate expectation to his application being dealt with in a timely manner. However, this expectation only arises when the Applicant meets all the conditions of the Policy and provides biometric information (which he is unable to do),” Brown wrote.

Brown found that Canada’s policy did not allow visa officers to override other regulations on immigration, and those regulations require a biometric check. The government argued that Ottawa has a duty to maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration system and Brown agreed.

“The root cause of the Applicant’s failure to provide his biometric data is of course the changed operational context, namely the closure of the Rafah crossing which made obtaining and submitting biometrics impossible.”

He said because of that, the applicants did not meet the threshold for a court order forcing the government to act because that required all elements of a process to be complete before unreasonable delay can be determined.

All cases were denied.

The outcome disappoints Hana Marku, a lawyer who represents some of the visa applicants.

“Canada’s behaviour throughout its rollout of its own policy has been utterly cruel,” Marku said afterwards. “Canada has no serious intention of providing safe refuge to Palestinians. This is why we sought justice from the court…. The Federal Court has given the government a pass to do nothing while Palestinian visa applicants in the Gaza Strip face death and starvation.”

Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesman for IRCC, declined to comment on the specific cases citing privacy considerations, but said the delay in processing the visas is beyond the Canada’s control.

“Canada is deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza,” MacDonald said. “Everyone must meet Canada’s legal requirements before travelling, including security and biometric checks, where required. Biometrics can only be done outside Gaza, as Canada has no presence there. While we continue to advocate for the safety of those in Gaza, Canada does not ultimately determine who can leave Gaza.”

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More than two years after separating from Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau seems to coping with her ex’s public romance with singer Katy Perry. Moreover, she credits him with stepping up to joint parent their three children.

“I’m definitely not a single mom. I have a partnership with a father who has such deep love and availability to his children,” she said when she sat down recently with Canadian businesswoman Arlene Dickinson for a YouTube episode of “

Arlene Is Alone: The Single Life

.”

The discussion with Grégoire Trudeau was wide-ranging, exploring mental health, motherhood, living in the public eye, and women finding authenticity amid constant scrutiny.

Acknowledging that being in the public eye can present many “triggers,” Grégoire Trudeau said she has learned to “listen to the music, not the noise.”

Dickinson injected her own sense of frustration with the publicity surrounding Justin and Perry (without mentioning the entertainer’s name but referring to the widely publicized photos of the couple in a Montreal restaurant and then on Perry’s yacht). “I don’t know how you stay cool … I really admire it because I would probably not be that way.”

Grégoire Trudeau responded by acknowledging “stuff affects us” and she is aware that a lot of “public stuff out there can be triggers.” However, she says she chooses not to stay triggered: “How you react to stuff is your decision. The woman I want to become through this is my decision.”

She said it’s possible to stay in a reactive state, but “you’ll suffer the consequences. Your stress levels are going to be up the roof. You’re going to become more and more judgmental because that’s a loop as well.”

Making their first public appearance in Paris, Katy Perry and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Grégoire Trudeau married Justin Trudeau, the twenty-third prime minister of Canada, in 2005. The couple separated in 2023. There are no public plans to divorce. They have three children: Xavier James, Ella-Grace Margaret, and Hadrien Gregoire.

Dickinson asked her what’s it’s like to be a single mom. However, Grégoire Trudeau insisted she is not one, crediting her husband for his

ongoing dedication to the family

.

Regarding the very public life of a senior politician’s family, she spoke about “the scrutiny, the speed at which things are happening. You’re constantly reacting, knowing that when you go out there, the partner and the man you love, and your kids, they are under physical and psychological stress and safety issues. That’s hard to face as a family.”

“So, she said, “I can’t say I’m a single mom because we have raised these kids together.”

Dickson asked about times when Justin might be on the road and Grégoire Trudeau is facing a parental challenge. In response, Grégoire Trudeau said: “We call each other up. We’ll text each other … We will really try to build cohesion, so that the kids feel that cohesion … We have separate lives, but we have one family life, right?”

Despite the marriage breakup, Grégoire Trudeau insisted that it has been “a common, conscious decision that our family is our greatest creation and we’re going to feed it together no matter if we are on different life paths.”

Notably, the two women did not discuss that Grégoire Trudeau has been in

a new relationship with Ottawa pediatric surgeon, Dr. Marcos Bettolli

, possibly since before breakup became public in 2023.

Still, she expressed public anguish about the failure of the marriage. For example, in May 2024,

People Magazine

reported her saying: “It hurts deeply. You know, marriage is ‘success.’ Separation and divorce is ‘failure.’”

However, Grégoire Trudeau did not express any grief on this occasion. Instead, she went on to say that at age 50 she has learned people will “meet life where they are inside” and then a person must decide how they will let that affect their happiness.

At the end of any day, she said, you must ask “what did I do to take care of myself.”

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A Jewish group is urging the City of Toronto to cancel the raising of the Palestinian flag at city hall, as more than 20,000 people sign a petition saying it could “inadvertently cause division and tension.”

B’nai Brith Canada told National Post over email that the event “violates the city’s prohibition against flag raisings that promote hatred, violence, or racism.” The flag-raising is

planned for Nov. 17

, in recognition of Palestinian Independence Day, which takes place two days prior.

B’nai Brith Canada wrote to the city, warning that “commemorating Palestinian independence in this way — as it was self-declared by then-Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat on Nov. 15, 1988 — would sanitize the PLO’s antisemitic ideology and acts of terror.”

Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith’s director of research and advocacy, said that the PLO’s ideology “precluded the notion of Jewish self-determination, promoted antisemitism, glorified hate-motivated violence, and perpetuated hostilities in the region.”

“Commemorating this moment, in the context of rising antisemitism in Canada, is not only insensitive but also reckless and irresponsible,” he said.

The

Change.org petition

that was created last week by Ron Jones called for other ways to support “Palestinian awareness and solidarity that do not involve flying a flag at a city-level government institution.”

“Events in the Middle East, especially those involving Israel and Palestine, are complex and deeply rooted in history, with implications that transcend borders,” says the petition. “The decision to fly a flag should respect the feelings and views of all community members, ensuring that city hall remains a place of unity rather than discord.”

In a statement to National Post, City of Toronto’s d

irector of media relations and issues management

Russell Baker said the flag-raising policy is “council-approved.” It allows non-profit or charitable organizations to request flag raisings, “including flags of nations recognized by Global Affairs Canada, Government of Canada, on existing courtesy flagpoles.”

In September, Canada

recognized Palestinian statehood

, in a move that

upset many Jewish advocacy groups

in the country.

The city approved the Nov. 17 request from advocacy group, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), said Baker. The flag will be lowered at the end of the day. In 2025, there have already been dozens of flag raisings at Toronto City Hall. The Israeli flag was raised on May 1 to mark Israel’s independence day.

Flying a specific flag does not imply or express “support for the politics or policies of nations and/or organizations, but raises the flag in recognition of those citizens or members that have made the request,” Baker said.

Shane Martinez, a lawyer at ICJP Canada, 

told Now Magazine

that the flag-raising in Toronto “symbolizes Palestinian resilience and is a powerful expression of solidarity with Palestinians everywhere.”

However, Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak said in

a post on X

that those who made the request are activists, not “diplomatic representatives.” He said they were looking to “stage a political stunt under the guise of marking the anniversary of the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence — on its own, a deeply partisan observance tied to a violent and unresolved conflict overseas.”

“Over the past two years, Torontonians have grown sick and tired of mobs holding rallies in neighbourhoods, blocking streets, damaging infrastructure, and endlessly draining police resources. We cannot reward these groups by giving them a platform for further political agitation,” said Pasternak.

He said what is planned for Nov. 17 in Toronto is not comparable to the reason the flag-raising program was created, which was to “honour official partners of Canada.”

Pasternak pointed out that Canada’s recognition of Palestinian statehood was “dependent on reforms, demilitarization, and elections that exclude Hamas, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.”

“To date, none of those conditions have been met,” he said. “Political activism is a sacred Charter right, but it does not grant blanket immunity to disrupt the lives of law-abiding citizens, trample laws, endanger public safety, or hijack civic spaces.”

Other Palestinian flag-raising ceremonies are planned in Canada.

One is

scheduled in Calgary on Nov. 15

, according to the city. It is set to take place at the Municipal Plaza. Another is scheduled the same day in Winnipeg at Memorial Park, across from the Manitoba Legislative Building, according to the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba. It was

announced by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew

in late October that a Palestinian flag-raising would take place.

An

open letter

written by the Israeli Canadian Council (Manitoba) urged Kinew to rethink the move, saying there were better options to show unity and bring the community together. “If the Israeli flag must be raised in secrecy while the Palestinian flag is raised in celebration, the message is unmistakable: intimidation works,” the group said.

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OTTAWA — The kids aren’t all right, warns Canada’s spy chief, as nearly one in 10 of CSIS’s terrorism investigations now involves at least one minor who was radicalized online.
 

In his first annual speech, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director Daniel Rogers said he’s increasingly concerned by growing violent extremism in Canada, particularly among those under 18 years old.
 

The extremism is motivated by different ideologies such antisemitism, xenophobia, misogyny, “extreme interpretations” of religion or accelerationism (the desire to accelerate the collapse of society) that spread faster and easier than ever due to online content, Rogers said.
 

That means children and teenagers are much more susceptible to falling into the trap of violent extremists online, he warned.
 

“Worryingly, nearly one in 10 terrorism investigations at CSIS now includes at least one subject of investigation under the age of 18,” Rogers told an audience of government and police officials, academics and reporters on Thursday.
 

Just this year, two minors were arrested on suspicions they were planning to commit serious violent acts.
 

The first was a minor in Montreal allegedly planning an attack on behalf of Daesh, the second was a 15-year-old Edmonton youth police suspected would commit attacks on behalf on an online transnational violent community, Rogers noted.
 

“Fortunately, only a small number of youth or adults with extreme views resort to violence. But when they do, the consequences are devastating,” he said.
 

In the last 11 years, there have been 20 violent extremist attacks in Canada that killed 29 people and injured 60, Rogers noted.
 

He said CSIS has helped disrupt 24 “violent extremist actions” that led to arrests of terrorism peace bond charges in just over three years.
 

A number of those involved individuals suspected of planning attacks either on behalf of Daesh or against the Jewish community, or both.
 

Since 2023, Rogers said CSIS assisted in the arrest of two 15-year-olds in Ottawa before they allegedly committed a mass casualty attack against the Jewish community. The agency also contributed information leading to the arrest of a man planning a Daesh-inspired attack on the Jewish community in New York.
 

The spy chief also said the agency is focusing more resources on “particularly alarming” cases involving plots by Iranian intelligence to repress — and sometimes murder — critics and dissidents of the regime in Canada.
 

“In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada,” Rogers said of transnational repression efforts by Iran.
 

China and India are also known perpetrators of transnational repression against Canadians perceived to be a threat to their interests, he added.
 

China’s efforts to spy on Canada to steal anything from state and military secrets to intellectual property have not relented, Rogers warned.
 

He revealed that agents of China are increasingly targeting the private sector and former government workers, namely via fake hiring schemes.
 

“Chinese spies have tried to recruit Canadians with access to government plans, intentions, information and military expertise, through social media and online job platforms,” he warned.
 

Russia and China are also aggressively pushing for more intelligence and influence in Canada’s Arctic.
 

“Both of those countries, and others, have a significant intelligence interest in our Arctic and those who influence or develop its economic or strategic potential. It’s no surprise, then, that CSIS has observed both cyber and non-cyber intelligence collection efforts targeting both governments and the private sector in the region,” he said.

Rogers ended his speech by putting Canadians on notice: the agency will need to collect and use more data than before to keep the country safe.

“CSIS will be challenged to adopt technology and use data in new and more significant ways to keep Canadians safe and to secure an advantage for Canada,” he said.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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A man who stole an idling city bus in Hamilton took passengers on a nighttime joyride through the city — making stops, letting riders on and off, and even made someone with an expired bus pass put money in the fare box, police said.

A potentially devastating alarm came to Hamilton Police from the city’s transit operator, Hamilton Street Railway, at 9 p.m., Tuesday: A man had climbed behind the wheel of a city bus after the driver stepped out for a short break.

With about 10 passengers on board, the man pulled the bus out of the McNab Street Bus Terminal in the heart of downtown and onto the city’s dark, snowy streets.

Police officers responded quickly but initially stayed discreetly back, Const. Trevor McKenna said.

“We typically would pursue something like this, but because of this situation, for safety purposes, we strategically followed, which means that there were no lights or sirens. We kept our distance and we just kind of monitored where they were going,” he said.

“We didn’t want to spook him and make him do something suddenly or lose focus on what he was doing. He’s driving a full-size bus on our roads, pedestrians are out, it’s dark. We’re getting into the wintry weather.”

Busses have GPS trackers on board and HSR officials knew where the bus was and could guess which way it might go.

Officers were amazed at what happened next.

The driver didn’t roar off or speed recklessly. There wasn’t a rampage or injuries. Rather, he drove reasonably.

For a few minutes, everything seemed normal on board and passengers didn’t seem to notice, McKenna said.

“He was following the rules of the road. He was making the scheduled stops along the way and letting people come and go. It’s not like he was threatening in nature or holding them there.

“It was when the bus started going off the designated route — it was his own personalized route, he was going down side streets — some passengers noticed. Once they noticed that, they engaged in a conversation with him. One witness was saying that they were giving him directions.

“But when he did come to (bus) stops, he would make the stop, open the door and let people on or off. And he stopped somebody who was looking to use a Presto card that was expired. He actually charged them money and made them put it in the machine and they got on for their ride.”

The man drove the bus up the Hamilton Mountain and after about 15 minutes police moved in, on West 5th Street near Gateview Drive.

“He was confronted. We told him to exit the vehicle. He declined. So then our officers did have to go in and physically remove him,” said McKenna.

He wasn’t wearing an HSR uniform. Police don’t know if he had previous driving experience.

A 36-year-old man of no fixed address was arrested and charged with theft, possession of stolen property, obstruct police and drive while prohibited.

“Ultimately, there were no collisions, there were no injuries, not even a dent,” McKenna said.

There are also, so far, no answers to why.

“It comes across as more of like a joyride. He got on, whether he was on the influence of a drug or if it’s mental health, that I can’t answer, but it’s not like he was trying to impress anyone or filming himself or had somewhere to be. He just kind of took it for a joyride and ended in that location, and that’s where he was arrested,” McKenna said.

“Sometimes things happen with no rhyme or reason.”

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If you’re among the Canadians hoping for a white Christmas this year, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that some forecast models point to conditions favourable for snowfall.

The bad news is that it’s due to the Arctic polar vortex, which could also bring extremely cold temperatures this holiday season.

Using information from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Global Forecast System (GFS), weather researcher Andrej Flis from Severe Weather Europe recently highlighted an atmospheric warming event in late November that could result in frigid polar air moving south in mid-December and lingering for up to two weeks.

For those unfamiliar, the ever-spinning vortex of cold atmospheric winds is a normal part of the planet’s climate, just as is its counterpart over the Antarctic.

During the winter months, as the vortex strengthens with more cold air in the stratosphere, the polar jet stream in the troposphere shifts northward to keep it stable.

While it will often weaken at times in the winter, Flis said a burgeoning high-pressure anomaly near the pole in November could create a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event — when air temperatures increase well above normal in the atmospheric layer seven to 50 kilometres.

When that happens, the vortex falters, the jet stream takes on a different shape and the colder air is pushed out. Depending on weather patterns, it may spill into middle-latitude parts of Canada and the U.S. more accustomed to milder conditions, resulting in extreme cold and heavy snowfall. The timing, he noted, is happening earlier than normal.

Such was the case last January and again in March, though the latter had less severe weather outcomes for most.

“It’s extra cold, it’s got a duration to it and it’s crisp,” explained David Phillips, senior climatologist emeritus with Environment Canada. “It doesn’t even have to set a record; it’s just so bone-chilling cold that everything kind of stops and then what wears you down is the duration.”

Flis is cautious in his predictions and notes that not all SSW events produce cold and snowy surface weather.

Phillip didn’t have access to the weather models Flis used, but said, “this is about as good as science gets for something like this so far in advance.”

“And he’s got it right, and I don’t think he also overstated the situation,” he told National Post in an interview.

Phillips explained that, like weather in general, not all perturbations to the vortex will behave the same way, and this current one could very well have its own “character or personality” at ground level.

Warming temperatures in Canada and whether the continent is experiencing a La Niña or El Niño year are also factors, but he said the opposite climate patterns affected by the Pacific Ocean temperature have become less reliable predictors in recent years due to climate change.

“Those things have changed the playing field, too, so that’s another factor that has to be always worked into these recurrent things,” Phillips explained.

The approaching winter will be of the La Niña variety, which typically means colder temperatures and more snow out west, and more snow for Eastern and Altantic Canada.

It’s much too early to say where in Canada the polar vortex blast may arrive, but Flis predicts a northerly flow from Western Canada down into the U.S. and slowly moving east across the continent with no mountains to block it.

“It doesn’t stop at the border. There are no tariffs on this kind of thing,” he said, teasing that “Americans will blame Canada” for the cold snap.

Once it ends, however, Phillips said there’s still a long winter ahead.

“It doesn’t mean if we get this thing in December that we won’t get one in January or February. Sometimes we could have two or three.”

He also wants Canadians to know that not every extended period of snow is related to

the polar vortex.

“It’s just cold air travelling on the jet stream and it comes south and then freezes for a week or two weeks and then it disappears.”

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