B.C. organizers demand clear plan as hundreds of Ukrainians could arrive within days

Prominent members of British Columbia’s Ukrainian community are demanding a clear plan from the provincial government as they expect a planeload of displaced families to arrive in the province as early as this week. 

The urgency comes as the minister responsible insists government-wide work is underway, but detailed planning is difficult without more information from the federal government, which is responsible for approving the special visas required.

Pastor Mykhailo Ozorovych was expecting a list of supports and a plan from the province on Thursday, since the federal government was announcing new visa details, but he says provincial responsibilities like health care, child care and mental health supports are still up in the air.

"There is somebody willing to help us bring a planeload of people – 300 to 400 people – here to British Columbia and are we ready and willing to work with them? And I said, ‘Yes, I don't know how, but yes, let's help them,’" said the priest at the Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Canadian Cathedral in New Westminster.

"I'm just asking for actual steps to be put in place,” he said, acknowledging he doesn’t know the inner workings of government, but sees the need for clear planning and communication.

“Some of it needs to be done today and tomorrow and some of it should've been done yesterday."

A NEW MINISTER RESPONSIBLE REVEALS DETAILS OF PLANS UNDERWAY

Until now, the public safety minister has been fielding questions on the province’s role and insisting the onus is on the federal government, but Municipal Services Minister Nathan Cullen is now the face of B.C.’s response. He gave an in-depth interview on the topic to CTV News on Sunday. 

“We don't know the number of people who are boarding the planes till basically they're boarding the planes – or where they're going: Do they land in Toronto? Do they land in Montreal? Are they coming to B.C.?" said Cullen, insisting the government needs more information to handle newcomers, whenever they may arrive.

“More than just open the gate, the federal government needs to sit with us to make sure these folks are going to be supported and successful. Because the last thing we want is to flee that kind of disturbance and violence and then come to a country that's not ready."

Cullen expects the government will announce a dedicated services line within days, which would compile donations and supports provided by British Columbians and make them available based on where incoming families will settle.

“We know we have to have a cross-ministerial approach. It has to be health care, it has to be mental health, it has to be education, transport, housing, all the different things that we know people are very likely to need," said Cullen, echoing the priorities voiced by Ozorovych.

“The speed with which this is happening and all of these unknowns – just the basic unknowns: How many of them and who are they? It's hard to build a program not knowing that," said Cullen.

NOT TECHNICALLY REFUGEES

Unlike Afghan or Syrian refugees, Ukrainians fleeing the war in their homeland are able to apply to enter Canada under special visas that will allow them to live and work in the country for up to three years. A path to citizenship is also available for those who don’t wish to return home, but government representatives have repeated the belief that most will want to return to Ukraine when they can. 

As such, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has been categorizing applications to host or support Ukrainian families according to the duration of available accommodations.

“We’ve divided our program into two periods: up to three months and more than three months,” said Iyrna Shyroka, the president of the Vancouver chapter of the organization.

"We have over 300 families willing to help. Every day we receive hundreds and hundreds of forms, but we have to filter them."

She said they’ve also been receiving job offers, which makes the need for child care for moms traveling with children a necessity. In the early days of the Russian invasion, Ukraine banned men of fighting age from leaving the country.

On Friday, the federal immigration minister revealed Ottawa is considering incentives like tax breaks for Canadians who open their homes or otherwise support Ukrainians coming to this country, with some 9,000 already arriving since January.

“There's a lot of eagerness out there, ‘I want to do something about it,' which is a very beautiful and a very Canadian response to do something that is thousands and thousands of miles away to people you've never met,” said Cullen. “But it's going to require a lot of determination because it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. It's going to take some time."