Citing unnamed sources, CBC News reported Sunday that unaccompanied Syrian men seeking asylum in Canada would not be accepted. The federal government plans to resettle 25,000 refugees by the end of year, but the program will only extend to women, children, and families.

Details of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accelerated plan—which, according to the CBC, will involve the arrival in Canada from Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon of as many as 900 refugees a day would require—are to be announced tomorrow.

In a statement on Monday, the opposition leader to Trudeau’s left, Tom Mulcair, of the New Democratic Party, expressed concern that the program is too broadly restrictive.*

“While security concerns remain of vital importance, will a young man, who lost both parents, be excluded from the refugee program?” Mulcair asked. “Will a widower who is fleeing Daesh after having seen his family killed be excluded? This is not the Canadian way.”

(Gay men, the Ottowa Citizen reports, will be accepted.)

According to Agence France-Press, in the wake of the Paris attacks, a recent poll suggests that 54 percent of Canadians oppose the accelerated resettlement plan.

“All these refugees are vulnerable but some are more vulnerable than others, for example, women, families and also members of religious minorities who are oppressed,” Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard reportedly said.


Photos via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.