OTTAWA — NDP Leader Avi Lewis is accusing the federal government of “anti-Palestinian racism” over delays affecting more than 130 students from Gaza who have been accepted to Canadian universities but remain unable to travel.Speaking on Parliament Hill Thursday, Lewis said the students who have secured admissions and some scholarships — are facing barriers that prevent them from completing their applications, including requirements for biometric data collection in a region where such services are unavailable.“It is scandalous that the Government of Canada is creating extra barriers or even insisting that they get biometric elements of their applications in Gaza, which obviously has no capacity for those services,” Lewis said. Lewis argued the situation reflects a broader pattern of unequal treatment, pointing to Canada’s response to Ukrainian applicants earlier in the conflict with Russia.“When we accepted a vast number of refugees from Ukraine, all of those rules were made more flexible,” he said, calling on the government to extend similar accommodations to Palestinian students. “Anti-Palestinian racism is why there are double standards in these policies and they must stop,” Lewis added. .The NDP leader said he has raised the issue directly with Prime Minister Mark Carney, describing the response as sympathetic but insufficient.“I raised this with the Prime Minister directly… and I will say that he responded in a human way with a sense of concern,” Lewis said. When pressed on who is responsible for the alleged discrimination, Lewis said the issue should not be attributed to individuals but rather to broader systemic factors.“When we’re talking about racism… it just doesn’t get us anywhere,” he said. “These are embedded in systems.”
