Canadian consensus on immigration under threat, but not gone: immigration minister
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat, but has not disappeared.
Canada鈥檚 immigration minister said Sunday the country has now helped more than 140 Afghans make their way overland to Pakistan, one of the few routes that is open to those who want to leave the country and have special Canadian visas.
A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino added that these refugees will be on their way to Canada within 鈥渄ays or weeks.鈥
The Khyber Pass, a mountain pass on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, is currently a jammed jumble of trucks, people, goods, Pakistani soldiers and now Taliban gunmen.
Until a few weeks ago, it was the Afghan army that controlled their side of the border, but now it鈥檚 Taliban fighters giving the orders.
Under the white flag of the Taliban, border guards from both countries stand just steps apart, controlling the mass of trucks going back and forth, as well as the crush of Afghans desperate to leave.
A Taliban fighter said that those who have a visa can leave or come whenever they want, but most Afghans waiting in line will be turned back as only those with travel documents for another country will make it across.
After hours on the road to make it this far, there is an excruciating wait to get that previous approval to pass from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
Paperwork needs to be exact, and it鈥檚 all been complicated by testing for COVID-19.
A family of eight who left Kabul in the middle of the night, hauling luggage with Canadian flags on them, told 愛污传媒 that getting through the border was difficult.
鈥淚t took a long time,鈥 the father said. 鈥淭here were loads of people around here.鈥
They had left Afghanistan exactly a month since Kabul fell.
鈥淲e go to Islamabad to get the processing done, and then we鈥檙e going to rock and roll,鈥 he said.
According to the minister鈥檚 office, most of the refugees travelling overland through Pakistan are Afghans who aided Canada鈥檚 military in the 2000s and fear retribution from the Taliban.
Around 3,700 people were evacuated to Canada before the U.S. withdrawal of troops at the end of August. The federal government has said they will resettle 20,000 Afghans who are forced to flee.
Ten members of another family accepted by Canada also made it across the border to Pakistan today, but hit a last minute snag when two of them tested positive for COVID-19 and will spend the next five days in quarantine.
One more roadblock on the road to Canada.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTVNews.ca's Alexandra Mae Jones
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat, but has not disappeared.
In the final part of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5's Jon Woodward and Joseph Loiero look at how some cities are trying to rein in the chaos.
A Quebec mother of six, once detained in northeast Syria, has died while waiting for repatriation. The Canadian woman was known only by her initials F.J.
If Canadians could vote in the U.S. election, a majority would choose to send Kamala Harris to the White House.
A former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model鈥痠s alleging鈥痶hat former President Donald Trump groped her in the 1990s, in what she believes was an attempt to show off for Jeffrey鈥疎pstein.
The federal government is giving Canada Post the ability to store and transport restricted firearms in new regulations that bring the retail gun buyback program one step closer to beginning.
Diverse firefly species lit up the night during the late Mesozoic period, scientists have confirmed.
Within a year of dating, 31-year-old Siara Rouzer crossed a major relationship milestone. The guy she was seeing was no longer a boyfriend but her partner.
From apparitions to zombies, this season offers up a variety of scary movies, and film critic Richard Crouse has put together a list to help you find the perfect horror movie to watch on Halloween.
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.
Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.