Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

Canada slams door shut on world youth

One unfortunate circumstance of Toronto's World Youth Day is that it falls in the midst of the U.S. war on terrorism in which Canada is a willing participant. That, however, does not justify the Canadian government's sweeping rejection of visa applications of youth from Third World nations who want to attend WYD.

In our last issue, we reported how Canadian embassies and consulates have rejected 60 per cent of WYD applications from Ecuador, 30 per cent from Peru and more than 50 per cent from Colombia. In this issue, we tell of the more than 400 Ugandan youth who have been turned down. Altogether, more than 3,000 visa applications have been rejected.

The Canadian government, it appears, is not worried about potential terrorists trying to sneak into Canada under the cloak of WYD. Rather, it says its concern is that once in Canada, the youth will try to remain here. Other reasons given: The applicants do not have extensive travel records and they do not have enough funds to cover travel expenses.

This fiasco raises the question of whether Canada in the future will host international events not involving heads of state or well-travelled businesspeople. If we want to host what is likely the best-attended youth event in the world, the Canadian government needs to show flexibility.

One youth minister in Ecuador said, "Many of these kids have made tremendous efforts to pay for their trip to Toronto, and none of them are trying to hide that they are not wealthy people. All they want is to see the pope."

World Youth Day is for the world. Come on, Canada. Wake up and give the world's youth a chance to celebrate with us.

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