News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2026
New Democrats Renew Calls on Canada to Ban the RSS and Deny Entry to its Chief
OTTAWA —New Democrats are calling on the federal government to deny entry to the head of the fascist paramilitary organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Network (RSS) and are renewing past NDP calls on Canada to ban the RSS entirely.
NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson and NDP Immigration and Public Safety Critic Jenny Kwan today wrote to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Public Safety, and Immigration to urge action in advance of Mohan Bhagwat’s planned visit to Canada at the end of August.
“The RSS is an extremist group that advocates hate and violence towards religious minorities and marginalized in India and also engages in targeted intimidation of those who speak out against the organization in Canada,” said Heather McPherson, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic. “Multiple minority communities fear his presence in Canada could amplify hate and violence towards them and risk the safety of vulnerable individuals.”
In recent weeks, United Nations Human Rights experts have called on Canada to ensure members of the Sikh community are protected from violent threats by Hindutva extremist groups including the RSS.
“Canada must send a clear message that there is no place in this country for individuals who promote or enable hatred, violence, or intimidation against vulnerable communities or who are connected to activities that threaten Canada's security and democratic institutions. Pertinent sections of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act must be applied to protect Canadians and declare the IRSS and its members inadmissible,” said Jenny Kwan, NDP Critic for Public Safety and for Immigration.
New Democrats have long called on Canada to ban the RSS from Canada, place the RSS on the terrorist entities list, and impose sanctions on connected networks. Despite strong evidence of foreign interference and incitement to violence against Canadians, the Liberals have refused to take action on the RSS. Instead, in recent months the Carney government has grown closer to the Modi regime, causing members of several minority groups in Canada to say their safety no longer matters to the Liberal government.
On August 6, over 200 Canadian civil society organizations released a joint letter calling for Mohan Bhagwat to be denied entry to Canada.
A total of 106 MPs reported office renovation expenses after the 2025 election, including 62 first-time MPs and 46 incumbents.
The Hill Times combed through expense reports for all current MPs, and tallied up a total of $1,377,107 in office renovation expenses dated to after the April 28, 2025, federal election, and reported over four quarters ending on March 30 of this year.
Of the 108 MPs who reported such expenses, 55 are Conservatives, 49 are Liberals, three are Bloc Québécois, and one is a New Democrat.
As per the Members’ Allowances and Services manual, MPs are required to contact the House of Commons’ financial management operations team “for guidance on the eligibility” of any renovation expenses not paid by the landlord, which must be “completed no later than three years following a general election.”
In seventh place on the list is incumbent NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), who reported a total of $55,912 in office renovation expenses. Kwan was the only MP contacted for comment to make themself available for an interview.
Speaking by phone on July 28, Kwan explained that her hunt for a new constituency office began back in 2023 after a House accessibility review flagged issues with her previous, Hastings Street office, which had two steps leading to its front door.
The Accessibility Canada Act passed in 2019 introduced new accessibility standards and requirements which apply to parliamentary entities, among others, including MP offices. The House subsequently adopted its first-ever accessibility plan in 2022, which set out certain requirements and was followed by a review of MP constituency office arrangements.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan says she began looking for a new riding office after accessibility issues were flagged with her previous space in 2023.
Kwan said her office looked into the possibility of installing a ramp, but that was ultimately deemed unfeasible within the space available, beginning her search for a new location. Around the same time, she noted, her eight-year lease also ran out, putting her on a month-to-month lease, and her landlord indicated plans to sell.
Kwan said her team eventually found a ground-floor space on 10th Avenue close to transit, in a “very busy corridor in Vancouver East,” near her old office as a British Columbia MLA, and with good street visibility. Lease negotiations came to a halt with the call of the 2025 election, but post-writ, she said she secured one comparable in “cost on a per square footage basis” to her former riding office.
The space, however, was previously a pharmacy. As a result, Kwan said it had to be fit up, and the total costs incurred include for professional architectural drawings, city permits, construction, and materials. “It didn’t even have a proper floor, so we had to turn obviously this space into a functional constituency office,” adding vinyl flooring, a small kitchen area, a reception area, a conference room and other office space, and removing partial existing walls that featured medicine cabinets.
Kwan confirmed the House has since reviewed the accessibility of her new office—along with a security review—and given it the OK.
*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.hilltimes.com/2026/08/05/post-election-mp-office-renos-top-1-3-million/513510/
Canada is home to roughly 1.7 million people of Chinese origin, about 4.7 per cent of the population, and has been a favored destination for exiles from mainland China and Hong Kong. It is also, unsurprisingly, one of the countries where Beijing's reach abroad is most active.
The federal government's own public advisories describe the mechanics plainly: relatives still in China are used to pressure people in Canada into abandoning activities Beijing considers hostile, or into returning; and agents operating overseas are used to watch, monitor and report on people living in Canada. Public Safety Canada maintains a substantial public-facing section on the tactics involved — physical intimidation and violence, digital harassment and malicious cyber activity, social isolation, and coerced return.
Kwan, the New Democratic Party MP for Vancouver East and her party's public safety and national security critic, describes a campaign that has outgrown the categories built for it.
"The Chinese government's campaign of transnational repression has become increasingly sophisticated and brazen," she said in a written reply to Storm Media in late July. "It extends far beyond China's borders, targeting journalists, human rights defenders, democracy advocates, and refugees through intimidation, surveillance, coercion, and, in some cases, forced returns."
Her framing of what is at stake is deliberately not confined to the individuals affected. "This is not only an attack on individual freedoms but also on the sovereignty of democratic countries and the international refugee protection system," she said. "Democracies must work together to hold those responsible accountable."
*Click image or link to read the Taiwan media news - https://world.storm.mg/articles/1152999
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for faster public alerts when children with special needs go missing, after an 11-year-old Calgary boy with autism was found dead following a two-week search.
Poilievre and Conservative MP Mike Lake said in a letter to federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski that the search for Parker Wells may have had a happier ending if the public had been notified about his disappearance sooner.
NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said she supported the idea of an Indigo Alert system.
“When a vulnerable child goes missing, every minute matters. An Indigo Alert would help ensure that autistic, non-verbal, and other medically or developmentally vulnerable children receive the urgent public response they need, giving families and communities another tool to bring children home safely,” wrote Kwan in an email.
Kwan said that the Ottawa should work with the provinces, territories, law enforcement and disability advocates to develop a coordinated Indigo Alert system.
*Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/poilievre-calls-for-changes-to-public-alert-system-after-missing-calgary-boy-found-dead