On June 5, 2019, I delivered a Members' Statement on the concluding report and Calls For Justice of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls:
Canada committed deliberate race, identity and gender-based genocide against Indigenous peoples and we can see the impact of this in every sphere of life: the violence, the loss of life, the child apprehensions, the marginalization, the deliberate exclusion, the poverty, the homelessness rate, the lack of protection, the Indian Act, the sex-based discrimination, the racism. It goes on. This is Canada's shame.
If we are to show that we have actually heard family members and survivors, we must have an Indigenous-led action plan with a dedicated budget and a timeline for implementation that is publicly accountable. We must address Indigenous land titles and Indigenous people's right to self-sufficiency and self-governance. We have a duty to address this historic and intergenerational trauma, social and economic marginalization and the ongoing dismissal of their expertise. The Calls For Justice are not just recommendations but are legal imperatives that must be implemented.
NDP MPs Make Announcement on Migrant Workers in Canada – November 7, 2024
At a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Jenny Kwan, the NDP critic for immigration, refugees and citizenship, and Matthew Green, the NDP critic for labour, discuss their party’s plan aimed at ending the exploitation of migrant workers in Canada. They are joined by Elizabeth Kwan (Canadian Labour Congress) and Derek Johnstone (United Food and Commercial Workers). (no interpretation)
B.C. voters have elected a majority female legislature for the first time in the province's history, with 49 of 93 legislative seats now occupied by women. It's a big step forward from 1991, when a then record-breaking seven female cabinet ministers were appointed. We talked to BC NDP MLA Jenny Kwan who spent 19 years as the representative for what was then known as Vancouver Mount Pleasant. She's now the MP for Vancouver East. We asked her what she makes of the majority-female legislature, and her time in the chamber.