I always assumed the requirement of visa was a "being on the safe side" issue as in to decrease the chances of them overstaying their visas or staying her permanently.Well this may be a test of whether it's a warsaw issue or a passport/nationality issue.
How do you figure? Canada can't discriminate on this basis (in some respects anyway, like criminal liability) once people are in the country. But it does get to decide who it lets in.
(Ever notice that nationals of some countries need visas and have to pay money, and others don't? Pure discrimination. Entirely legal.)
I moved to Canada myself as a kid from a different country that requires visas and I know that when I ask people there, many of them wouldn't mind overstaying their visits if they can come here even once lol. It may be the economic disparity reasoning, I can't say for certain.
In any case, I'm quite proud to be a Canadian and it saddens me to hear about de-prioritization of Russian nationals. Historically speaking, this does happen every time but I'm always hopeful we have improved.