Around 80,000 Canadians in the Middle East amid Israel-Iran conflict: Global Affairs
Global Affairs Canada says approximately 3,500 Canadians are in Iran and another 6,700 are in Israel amid an escalating conflict between the two countries.
The department says that count is based on the voluntary registration of around 80,000 Canadians in the Middle East and doesn't fully reflect how many of them may need help getting out of the region.
Global Affairs Canada says it hasn't received any reports of Canadian injuries or deaths in the conflict.
The department is warning against all travel to Iran, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and advising Canadians in the Middle East to monitor the news and follow the instructions of local authorities.
Maddy Eisenberg is an Ottawa resident currently stuck in Tel Aviv after her flight home from what was supposed to be a one-week trip in Israel was grounded.
Eisenberg says she was told it could take days or maybe weeks for her to return home, and that has been a shock to the system.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Canada Standard
an hour ago
- Canada Standard
Trump Says Iran's Ayatollah Safe 'For Now' As Tehran Residents Flee
President Donald Trump says the United States knows where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding and that Iran's leader is safe "for now," as resident of Tehran fled the capital in droves amid Israeli warnings of "significant" air strikes. In a social media just ahead of convening the National Security Council on June 17, Trump issued the thinly veiled threat to Khamenei as he urged Iran to offer its "unconditional surrender." "He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trumpwrote. "Our patience is wearing thin," he added just hours after he called for a "real end" to five days of deadly air strikes by both Iran and Israel. Trump's tweet also came after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country's military would issue evacuation warnings to residents of capital ahead of a new strike on June 17. "We will attack very significant targets in Tehran will continue to deal heavy blows to Iran," Katz said. Iranian media reported several blasts in the central city of Isfahan, where several of the country's nuclear facilities are located. Meanwhile, air raid sirens screamed across Tel Aviv in the late afternoon to warn of possible incoming Iranian air strikes. As he left a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada early to deal with the crisis in the Middle East at a meeting of his National Security Council, Trump expressed frustration with Tehran for failing to reach an agreement on its nuclear program, which is being target by Israel even though Iran says it is purely for civilian purposes. "I'm not looking for a ceasefire, we're looking at something better than a ceasefire," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he left the Canadian province of Alberta. Earlier on on June 17, the Israeli army claimed it had killed Ali Shadmani, who was appointed commander of the Khatam ol-Anbiya central headquarters after the June 13 killing of Major General Gholam Ali Rashid. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the death of Shadmani, who was a general in Irans paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The headquarters is responsible for operational command and control and its leader serves as the deputy commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces. Trump left the G7 summit late on June 16 with an ominous message on social media warning "everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran." "Iran should have signed the 'deal.' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again," Trumpwrote on Truth Social. "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" CNN quoted an unnamed White House official as saying Trump's evacuation comment was meant to pressure Iran to negotiate. SEE ALSO: Tehran On Edge As Tensions Rise Over Israeli Strikes In Iran Before Trump departed the summit all seven leaders signed a joint statement stressing "the importance of the protection of civilians" as the growing attacks kill civilians on both sides. The leaders of the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States -- also stated their conviction that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon" and that Israel "has a right to defend itself." The statement expressed hopes that a resolution of the Iranian crisis "leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a cease-fire in Gaza."
Canada Standard
an hour ago
- Canada Standard
Decolonizing history and social studies curricula has a long way to go in Canada
In June 2015, 10 years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) called for curriculum on Indigenous histories and contemporary contributions to Canada to foster intercultural understanding, empathy and respect. This was the focus of calls to action Nos. 62 to 65. As education scholars, we are part of a project supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council called Thinking Historically for Canada's Future. This project involves researchers, educators and partner organizations from across Canada, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous team members. As part of this work, we examined Canadian history and social studies curricula in elementary, middle and secondary schools with the aim of understanding how they address - and may better address in future - the need for decolonization. We found that although steps have been made towards decolonizing history curricula in Canada, there is still a long way to go. These curricula must do far more to challenge dominant narratives, prompt students to critically reflect on their identities and value Indigenous world views. Read more: Looking for Indigenous history? 'Shekon Neechie' website recentres Indigenous perspectives As white settler scholars and educators, we acknowledge our responsibility to unlearn colonial ways of being and learn how to further decolonization in Canada. In approaching this study, we began by listening to Indigenous scholars, such as Cree scholar Dwayne Donald. Donald and other scholars call for reimagining curriculum through unlearning colonialism and renewing relationships. Read more: Leaked Alberta school curriculum in urgent need of guidance from Indigenous wisdom teachings The late education scholar Michael Marker, a member of the Lummi Nation, suggested that in history education, renewing relations involves learning from Indigenous understandings of the past, situated within local meanings of time and place. Curricula across Canada have been updated in the last 10 years to include teaching about treaties, Indian Residential Schools and the cultures, perspectives and experiences of Indigenous Peoples over time. Thanks primarily to the work of Indigenous scholars and educators, including Donald, Marker, Mi'kmaw educator Marie Battiste, Anishinaabe scholar Nicole Bell and others, some public school educators are attentive to land-based learning and the importance of oral history. But these teachings are, for the most part, ad hoc and not supported by provincial curriculum mandates. Our study revealed that most provincial history curricula are still focused on colonial narratives that centre settler histories and emphasize "progress" over time. Curricula are largely inattentive to critical understandings of white settler power and to Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Notably, we do not include the three territories in this statement. Most of the territorial history curricula have been co-created with local Indigenous communities, and stand out with regard to decolonization. For example, in Nunavut's Grade 5 curriculum, the importance of local knowledge tied to the land is highlighted throughout. There are learning expectations related to survival skills and ecological knowledge. Members of our broader research team are dedicated to analyzing curricula in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Their work may offer approaches to be adapted for other educational contexts. In contrast, we found that provincial curricula often reinforce dominant historical narratives, especially surrounding colonialism. Some documents use the term "the history," implying a singular history of Canada (for example, Manitoba's Grade 6 curriculum). Historical content, examples and guiding questions are predominantly written from a Euro-western perspective, while minimizing racialized identities and community histories. In particular, curricula often ignore illustrations of Indigenous agency and experience. Read more: Moving beyond Black history month towards inclusive histories in Quebec secondary schools Most curricula primarily situate Indigenous Peoples in the past, without substantial consideration for present-day implications of settler colonialism, as well as Indigenous agency and experiences today. For example, in British Columbia's Grade 4 curriculum, there are lengthy discussions of the harms of colonization in the past. Yet, there is no mention of the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism or the need to engage in decolonization today. To disrupt these dominant narratives, we recommend that history curricula should critically discuss the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism, while centring stories of Indigenous resistance and survival over time. There are also missed opportunities within history curricula when it comes to critical discussions around identity, including systemic marginalization or privilege. Who we are informs how we understand history, but curricula largely does not prompt student reflection in these ways, including around treaty relationships. In Saskatchewan's Grade 5 curriculum, students are expected to explain what treaties are and "affirm that all Saskatchewan residents are Treaty people." However, there is no mention of students considering how their own backgrounds, identities, values and experiences shape their understandings of and responsibilities for treaties. Yet these discussions are essential for engaging students in considering the legacies of colonialism and how they may act to redress those legacies. A key learning outcome could involve students becoming more aware of how their own personal and community histories inform their historical understandings and reconciliation commitments. History curricula generally ignore Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Most curricula are inattentive to Indigenous oral traditions, conceptions of time, local contexts and relationships with other species and the environment. Instead, these documents reflect Euro-western, settler colonial worldviews and educational values. For example, history curricula overwhelmingly ignore local meanings of time and place, while failing to encourage opportunities for land-based and experiential learning. In Prince Edward Island's Grade 12 curriculum, the documents expect that students will "demonstrate an understanding of the interactions among people, places and the environment." While this may seem promising, environmental histories in this curriculum and others uphold capitalist world views by focusing on resource extraction and economic progress. To disrupt settler colonial relationships with the land and empower youth as environmental stewards, we support reframing history curricula in ways that are attentive to Indigenous ways of knowing the past and relations with other people, beings and the land. Schools have been, and continue to be, harmful spaces for many Indigenous communities, and various aspects of our schooling beg questions about how well-served both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students are for meeting current and future challenges. If, as a society, we accept the premise that the transformation of current curricular expectations is possible for schools, then more substantive engagement is required in working toward decolonization. Decolonizing curricula is a long-term, challenging process that requires consideration of many things: who sits on curriculum writing teams; the resources allocated to supporting curricular reform; broader school or board-wide policies; and ways of teaching that support reconciliation. We encourage history curriculum writing teams to take up these recommendations as part of a broader commitment to reconciliation. While not exhaustive, recommendations for curricular reform are a critical step in the future redesign of history curricula. The goal is a history education committed to listening and learning from Indigenous communities to build more inclusive national stories of the past, and into the future.
Ottawa Citizen
an hour ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Burton and Seaboyer: Canada can do much better than join the 'Golden Dome' defence
Very soon, the Mark Carney government's much-needed investment in Canada's military will require urgent, historic choices regarding defence priorities and generational financial commitments. But as ministers and policymakers dissect options such as buying cripplingly expensive F-35 fighter jets, there is one move they should not make. Article content This spring, the day after King Charles opened Parliament with a speech emphasizing Canadian sovereignty, U.S. President Donald Trump invited Canada to join his proposed 'Golden Dome for America' missile defence system. The president indicated two ways for this to happen: Canada can either become the 51st state (which is a non-starter), or it would have to pony up a staggering $61-billion U.S. (For context, Canada's total 2024-25 military budget is $28.5-billion U.S.) Article content Article content Article content Canada should decline Trump's invitation. Article content Beyond the absurdity of handing such a massive sum to a leader who openly threatens to conquer Canada through economic coercion, the Golden Dome requires technology that does not yet even exist, and which will be extremely difficult to develop. (The system is likely to rely heavily on Elon Musk's SpaceX 'aerial moving target identifier,' a next-gen system that's still under development and would be unlikely to ever reach a deployable stage if Trump cancels Musk's government funding.) Article content Most modern Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles carry 'multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles' (MIRVs), meaning one missile can becomes 12 independent warheads, only one of which is needed to destroy an entire city. So far, no defence system has come close to a 100-per-cent probability of destroying all incoming missiles, especially those with technology that misleads weapon interception systems. Article content Article content Effectively integrating diverse systems — ground-based radars, sea-based assets, air-based sensors, and a new constellation of space-based sensors and interceptors — into a cohesive 'system of systems' is extraordinarily complex. This includes ensuring seamless data fusion, command and control, and communication with near-zero latency. Article content Article content In Israel, the Iron Dome has generally done well with defending a relatively small territory. We have seen in recent days, though, that Iranian missiles are increasingly able to get through the Iron Dome and strike Israeli targets. Defending the entire U.S. (nearly 500 times the size of Israel) presents an immense challenge in terms of the sheer number of sensors and interceptors needed for adequate coverage. One can only imagine the odds of successfully adding Canada's huge land mass to the mix. However, there is huge money at stake for some defence industry companies and significant political benefits, which no doubt fuels the enthusiasm some military experts express for the Golden Dome.
