conflict
As war looms in Lebanon, will Canada be forced once again to evacuate “citizens of convenience?”: J.L. Granatstein for Inside Policy

From the Macdonald Laurier Institute
By J.L. Granatstein for Inside Policy
It is too late to interfere with the pending evacuation from Lebanon, but we must consider what rights citizens living abroad in perpetuity can have.
Canada is preparing to evacuate Canadian citizens from Lebanon in case the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the well-armed, Iranian-backed terrorist organization, escalates into a full-blown war. Most of Lebanon’s southern border towns have been evacuated as have the kibbutzim and villages of Israel’s north. There are estimates that as many as 75,000 Canadian citizens may be living in or visiting Lebanon.
There is a precedent for an evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon. In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel engaged in a 34-day war that killed some 1,300 Lebanese and 165 Israelis and displaced 1.5 million residents of the two countries. The war ended after Lebanon, Israel, and Hezbollah accepted United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, which called for, among other things, an immediate ceasefire, and the withdrawal of all combatants from southern Lebanon.
There were as many as 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon at the time and Canada moved to get as many of its citizens it could reach – and who wanted to be evacuated – out to Cyprus or Turkey and on to Canada. Some 14,000 were evacuated by air or by sea at a cost that was later reported to be $94 million.
Almost no one asked in 2006 what were the obligations of the Canadian government to citizens living abroad. Many of these citizens had lived in Lebanon for decades, their only link to Canada being their passport. Consider Rasha Solti, who wrote in the Globe and Mail on July 22, 2006: “I hold a Canadian passport, I was born in Toronto when my parents were students there. I have never gone back. I left at age 2.” Solti’s passport was her escape route to Canada if she ever needed it. Did Canada owe her and others like her anything? And while there are no hard numbers, as many as 7,000 of the evacuees reportedly returned to Lebanon after the cessation of fighting.
Obviously, the government has some responsibility to assist Canadians caught up in a conflict. But what about citizens of convenience – those who renew their Canadian passports every five or ten years without visiting, let alone living, in Canada? What duty does Canada have to help Canadian passport holders who have not resided in or paid taxes to Canada for decades – if ever?
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade studied the 2006 evacuation and its report in May 2007 touched on this issue. A Department of Foreign Affairs official responsible for consular affairs told the Committee that “Until further notice, within the framework of the consular service, a Canadian is a Canadian; the rule is very clear. However, you are right, the debate has been launched and the discussion will take place.”
Well, no real public discussion took place. There were, however, conversations within the federal government, and the nation’s Citizenship Act has been amended several times since 2006. But there are still no residency requirements to remain a citizen. Should there be?
An amendment in 2009 instituted the “first generation limitation” that restricted the scope of those eligible for Canadian citizenship for the future. Citizenship by descent would henceforth be limited to one generation born outside Canada. This law was subsequently deemed unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court in December 2023, and the government now has a bill before Parliament that will grant citizenship to eligible foreign nationals whose parent(s) have a substantial connection to Canada and are impacted by the first generation limitation.
In other words – unless the courts subsequently define “a substantial connection” very narrowly – Canadian citizenship can be passed on for generations to those living abroad.
This summer Ottawa is again preparing to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon. The government has bolstered its embassy staff in Beirut and deployed Canadian Armed Forces personnel to Cyprus where they are working with allied nations to coordinate evacuation planning. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Global Affairs Canada, and the Canadian Embassy in Beirut have all urged Canadians to leave at once. It’s unknown how many people have taken this advice, but clearly Canada is preparing for a major evacuation if the fighting escalates.
Is it not long past time for Canada to consider what rights are appropriate for those who choose to live abroad? Many permanent residents living outside Canada, as in Lebanon, hold dual citizenship. Should they require genuine ties in or to our country to retain their citizenship and their passports?
Before 1977, Canadians who acquired another nation’s citizenship, except by marriage, lost their Canadian status. Until 1973, Canada required those who wanted its citizenship to renounce their former allegiance. A 1993 parliamentary committee questioned the meaning of loyalty when people held dual citizenship, and it suggested that this devalued the meaning of Canadian citizenship. The committee, in fact, recommended that a Canadian who voluntarily acquired another citizenship should cease to be a Canadian. What the courts might to say to efforts to implement such measures today is unknown.
Still, the Foreign Affairs official in 2006 was correct: A Canadian is a Canadian. But perhaps there is another way to limit the use of our passports as a public convenience. In the United States, all Americans, no matter where they live or how many passports they carry, must file an income tax return as a fundamental continuing obligation of citizenship. Essentially, the US says that those who want to enjoy the benefits of citizenship must help to pay the costs of running the government, and those who don’t want to pay must renounce their American citizenship. This applies to Americans living in Canada.
Washington’s regulation is both reasonable and right. Holding a US passport carries certain obligations. We need to find ways to impose similar obligations on Canadian passport holders living abroad.
In Yann Martel’s famous phrase, Canada is the greatest hotel on earth. He meant that as praise, but to many it has come to imply that they can enjoy the benefits of this country without sharing in the duties and obligations of citizenship. In other words, you can check in, enjoy the facilities, and then check out without paying the bill.
It is too late to interfere with the pending evacuation from Lebanon. But now it is time to consider what rights citizens living abroad in perpetuity can have. It’s time to fully examine whether dual (or triple or multiple) passport holders can remain Canadian citizens. Time at last for a hard look at what Canadian citizenship means in the 21st century.
J.L. Granatstein taught Canadian history for 30 years and was director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum. He sits on the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Research Advisory Board.
conflict
Trump call with Putin: ‘Not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace’

From LifeSiteNews
Trump said his call with the Russian president was ‘good’ but cautioned against expecting an immediate ceasefire, as Russia ‘will have to respond’ to airfield strikes.
Cut through all the chaff and countermeasures deployed by the professional D.C. system intended to convolute and keep Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at arm’s length, and you can see the outline of what we have discussed on these pages for several months.
There are geopolitical benefits to President Trump and President Putin having a strategic alignment. However, the elements against them are massive, entrenched, and highly Machiavellian.
President Trump shares the following message after a phone call with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin:
… It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.…
As Ukraine officials huddle together with their co-dependent enablers in the U.S. Senate, the implied message from the second half of Trump’s statement is for the senators to stop messing with U.S. foreign policy because Putin can help solve the Iran problem.
Reprinted with permission from Conservative Treehouse.
conflict
“Will Be in History Books”: Zelensky Hails Long-Range Drone Strike That Hit Dozens of Russian Bombers

Sam Cooper
“Borderline Insane”: Analyst Warns American Military Must Prepare as Ukraine’s Deep Strike Signals China Could Launch Similar Attacks from U.S. Ports in Event of War Over Taiwan

KYIV — In its most daring covert action of the war, Ukraine says it has destroyed or severely damaged more than 40 Russian long-range strategic aircraft in a meticulously planned drone assault that struck four military airbases deep inside Russian territory. The campaign, known as Operation Spider’s Web, marks a stunning escalation in Ukraine’s asymmetric warfare strategy—and what some analysts are calling a historic reversal that could tilt the odds in peace negotiations against the larger aggressor.
The mission—overseen by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and personally authorized by President Volodymyr Zelensky—reportedly took more than 18 months to prepare. SBU operatives smuggled first-person-view drones into Russia hidden inside wooden mobile cabins mounted on civilian cargo trucks. When activated remotely, the trucks’ roofs opened and the drones launched directly at parked Russian bombers.
“This was our most long-range operation,” Zelensky posted Sunday on X, noting the assault involved only Ukrainian forces. “One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to execution. These are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books.”
The strikes hit four airbases far from the front lines: Belaya airbase in Irkutsk Oblast, Olenya in Murmansk near the Arctic Circle, Dyagilevo in Ryazan Oblast, and Ivanovo in central Russia.
According to Ukrainian intelligence sources cited by the BBC, the damaged assets include Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 nuclear-capable strategic bombers, as well as an A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft. The total estimated damage exceeds $2 billion USD.
Footage posted on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels showed plumes of smoke rising from the affected airbases. In one widely circulated clip, a bystander can be heard saying drones had launched from “a Kamaz truck near a petrol station.” Russian state media acknowledged strikes across five regions and labeled the attacks “a terrorist act.” However, prominent Russian military bloggers confirmed the loss of aircraft and critical infrastructure, including fuel storage depots.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev confirmed the Belaya strike, stating the drones had been launched from a civilian truck and that the situation was “under control” with no casualties reported.
SBU officials told the BBC that Spider’s Web was a “logistical and operational breakthrough,” describing a multi-stage smuggling effort that first inserted the FPV drones into Russia, followed later by mobile launch platforms. “Once on Russian territory, the drones were hidden under the roofs of these cabins,” one source said. “At the right moment, the roofs were remotely opened, and the drones took off.”
Zelensky credited SBU chief General Vasyl Maliuk with executing the unprecedented strike. “I thanked General Maliuk for this success of Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “We are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war. Russia must end it.”
The operation comes amid intensifying cross-border attacks by both sides. Hours earlier, a Russian missile barrage killed 12 Ukrainian soldiers and injured over 60 at a training base. Ukrainian air defenses responded by reportedly downing 385 Russian aerial targets across multiple regions.
The timing of the drone assault—just ahead of a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday—appears aimed at pressuring Moscow. Zelensky has demanded a “complete and unconditional ceasefire,” while Russian officials are calling for a halt to Western arms transfers to Ukraine, a condition Kyiv rejects.
“These strikes are a clear and effective guarantee of Ukraine’s security,” Zelensky said. “Glory to Ukraine.”
Military analyst Tom Shugart noted the implications of the strike could extend far beyond the European theater, warning that Ukraine’s use of covert drone launches deep inside enemy territory raises implications for China’s global trade and access to Western ports.
“A reminder, given today’s Ukrainian drone strikes, that it is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control,” Shugart posted Sunday afternoon, referencing mounting U.S. tensions with China over its aggression toward Taiwan.
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