Canadian Press: Activists call on feds to put pressure on Israel over treatment of Gaza aid flotilla

Canadian activists detained by Israel last month while taking part in an aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza say Canada isn’t doing enough to call out treatment by Israeli officials that Ottawa has called appalling.

While Israel has rejected claims of abuse, flotilla participant Ehab Lotayef said Wednesday Israeli officials beat him on the chest and ribs, put him in uncomfortable positions for long periods and slashed his hand when he tried to help a fellow detainee.

“We felt that we were let down by Canada before anybody else, to be honest, because the Canadian government knew all that was happening,” Lotayef told a news conference on Parliament Hill.

“When we needed them was when we were being tortured — and the whole world knew that that was happening.”

Activist flotillas have tried repeatedly to reach the Gaza Strip to draw attention to tight restrictions on humanitarian supplies for Palestinians. Israel has intercepted these boats, often in international waters.

Lotayef was one of 12 Canadians among 420 flotilla activists detained by Israeli authorities last month. Their detention gained international notoriety when Israel’s Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself taunting the detained activists.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://cheknews.ca/activists-call-on-feds-to-put-pressure-on-israel-over-treatment-of-gaza-aid-flotilla-1328346/

CPAC: NDP MPs Hold a News Conference with Gaza Flotilla Activists

On Parliament Hill, NDP MP Jenny Kwan holds a news conference with Canadians who took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla to deliver aid to Gaza. She is joined by NDP MP Heather McPherson and former diplomat Richard Kohler.

*Click image or link to watch the press conference video - https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/ndp-mps-hold-a-news-conference-with-gaza-flotilla-activists--june-3-2026?id=3bf3339c-a503-4cc2-828e-b0290ad9a424

Yahoo News: Bill C-22: NDP MP Jenny Kwan slams Lawful Access Act as 'most invasive piece of legislation'

Critics warn the controversial bill would give sweeping powers to Canadian security intelligence and law enforcement, jeopardizing the privacy and civil liberties of citizens.

This week, Bill C-22, formally called the Lawful Access Act, is moving through Parliament. The bill, which is currently being reviewed, was introduced by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government this past March, and is aiming to update criminal and national security laws for the digital age. The legislation would grant law enforcement and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) new powers as well as access to digital data and meta data.

Jenny Kwan, NDP MP for Vancouver-East, says we shouldn’t be fooled by the bill’s promises on the surface. She agrees that in this modern age, because of changes in technology, we need to modernize our lawful access approaches so that the policies in intelligence agencies can do their work.

“But effective policing and intelligence work can and should operate within a robust legal framework that preserves judicial oversight and limits data collection to what is strictly necessary,” she tells me from her constituency office. “This bill fails: It lowers the threshold for access to personal information. It expands executive authority over digital infrastructure. It mandates and enables large-scale data retention, and increases systematic exposure of private communications.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://ca.news.yahoo.com/bill-c-22-ndp-mp-jenny-kwan-slams-lawful-access-act-as-most-invasive-piece-of-legislation-132532250.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAK_uGIKQSU7dt0CpvhZ2cYzqc4_8YtxtaJ5JD5W3hEmlh2fQ2qcdKT9UH9_KuDrEkbM-79IZAg4jMWFobdgNmJCdbnv3p8-Tf-d5oyf9yK9E32nRnnbTyAzsVx1YRB07XbLh_crhXtu3G0Ng3OlVt3BnZDu16TejlOl_KCskwBZ9

Canadian Press: Stranded Palestinian students seeing visas processed after long wait

OTTAWA — A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Tuesday that expedited visa processing for 37 Gazan students and their families stranded in third countries is now underway.

But members of Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk, PSSAR, say the interview process for these students is more like a "witch hunt," with interviewers pressing the students on their reasons for attending state-funded universities in Gaza under a Hamas government.

During a House of Commons committee meeting on May 28, NDP MP Jenny Kwan asked Diab if Canada would make special exemptions for these students, as some European countries have done.

Diab responded by saying department officials have been told to speed up visa processing for people in Gaza, but her answer was cut short by tight time limits in that period of debate.

Diab's full answer was not captured in the House of Commons transcript but she can be heard in video of the debate saying, " … will be completed within the next 10 days." The full response is not audible.

The Canadian Press asked for clarification of Diab's comments Friday but did not receive a response until Monday night. That response discussed the interviews taking place with Palestinian students outside Gaza but did not set a firm deadline for completing the process.

Kwan said in an emailed statement that the government's clarification differs from what Diab said in the House last week. She said she heard Diab say all visas would be processed, not just applications for those outside of Gaza.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/palestinian-students-stranded-in-third-country-seeing-visas-processed-after-long-wait/ar-AA24EzYM?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Global News: Liberals questioned on details of police cooperation MOU between China and Canada

NDP MP Jenny Kwan questioned the Liberal government in the House of Commons on Monday about an agreement the Carney government recently signed with China. "Canada signed a police cooperation agreement with China behind closed doors. The RCMP reportedly reviewed that Canada cannot publicly disclose details of the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) without Beijing's approval... Will (Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand) be frank with Canadians, if she asked China's commission to release the MOU, yes or no?" Kwan asked. "Canada has entered into MOUs with China on combatting crime in various forms since 2010. And has historically been the case with this agreement, the advice of Canada's intelligence agencies are always followed," Anand replied. Anand told the House that during her conversation with China's Foreign Affairs Minister, she raised her government's concerns on various issues, such as transnational repression and domestic human rights issues.

*Click image or link to watch the press conference video - https://globalnews.ca/video/embed/playlist/11877116,11863785,11874436,11871845/

 

CTV News: Advocates call on Anand to raise transnational repression concerns with China’s top diplomat during Canadian visit

OTTAWA -- Human rights advocates plan to protest on Parliament Hill when China’s top diplomat Wang Yi arrives to meet his Canadian counterpart.

The demonstrators, many of whom are members of the Chinese diaspora, are urging Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to bring their concerns about transnational repression to Wang and to tear up a police co-operation agreement between the RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security. (MPS)

This week, Conservative MP Frank Caputo, who sits on the Standing Committee on Public Safety, demanded government transparency and for the police co-operation agreement to be released without redactions.

“The prime minister called Beijing Canada’s greatest security threat. That was during the election. Despite this, within a year he signed a memorandum of understanding with Communist China as it relates to security. I’ve been asking for the (MOU) for over five months, but the prime minister has refused to disclose it,” Caputo said during question period.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan also called for the MOU’s release in a social media post.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/advocates-call-on-anand-to-raise-transnational-repression-concerns-with-chinas-top-diplomat-during-canadian-visit/