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.
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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
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
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/
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/
OTTAWA — A planned visit by China’s foreign minister to Canada this week — the first such visit in 10 years — offers a positive sign about the state of the Canada-China relationship, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said Tuesday.
Wang Yi arrives in Canada on Thursday for a three-day visit that will include meetings with both Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Prime Minister Mark Carney. The last time a Chinese foreign minister visited Canada was in 2016.
Wang and Anand are expected to discuss the recently updated Canada-China Strategic Partnership, trade, investment and global security, says a statement released by Anand’s office last week.
“It shows that our relationship is growing in the right direction,” Sidhu told The Canadian Press.
Carney, who travelled to Beijing in January, told reporters Wednesday he looks forward to the minister’s visit and will meet with him personally.
He said the visit will offer a “valuable exchange of views.”
Opposition MPs have called on the Liberal government in recent weeks to disclose the full text of a memorandum of understanding between the RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security.
NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said in an open letter earlier this month that she wants to know if safeguards are in place to prevent Canadian information from being used against dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists or diaspora communities.
She said public statements indicate the memorandum concerns co-operation on transnational crime, cybercrime, narcotics and corruption, and the establishment of bilateral law enforcement working groups.
Carney said Wednesday the government doesn’t make a habit of releasing security agreements with other governments “for reasons of operational security.”