Interviewed by Anne Penman for The House’s summer series, Backbencher’s Backyards. Despite someone yelling “You don’t belong here Jenny Kwan. Communist pig, go home!" while Jenny and Anne were discussing the impact of foreign interference and racism, "I know in my heart that this is not a true reflection of Van East.”
Federal government must uphold its human rights obligations and secure a landfill search
Leah Gazan, the MP for Winnipeg Centre and NDP Critic for Women and Gender Equality, released the following statement:
As opposition, the NDP has tried to make Parliament work for Canadians. This is in direct contrast in both substance and style to the Conservatives.
The supply-and-confidence agreement reached with the Liberals over a year ago was an exchange of promises. Under ordinary conditions, the NDP wouldn’t fold Parliament for the sake of an election if the Liberals agreed to implement some key NDP policies. The national dental plan is a direct result of that agreement: making Parliament work for Canadians.
The NDP has seen a small rise in polling numbers, but if an election were to be called this fall—or in a year from now—its actions would certainly be viewed positively by Canadians. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s stature has risen as a direct result.
In an election, the Liberals would find it less than easy to condemn the NDP, with whom they have been partners. Many political disagreements make the relationship between the NDP and the Conservatives difficult. The stance on women’s abortion rights being one of them.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says while the federal government is "not there yet" when it comes to launching some form of public inquiry into foreign interference, "constructive and collaborative" conversations are continuing — with more scheduled in the days ahead.
The minister taking the lead on the file told reporters that he met with senior officials from the Privy Council Office on Monday, has plans to meet again "in the next couple of days" with opposition party House leaders, and spoke to an opposition party leader over the weekend.
"We have made significant progress," LeBlanc said during a press conference in New Brunswick.
New Democrats welcome the federal government’s changes to Canada's lifeboat scheme that will clear a pathway to Permanent Residency for Hong Kongers in Canada. The NDP has called on the Minister of Immigration to remove the education requirement that restricted Hong Kongers from a pathway to permanent residency right at the start. Alongside advocates for Hong Kongers, I had pointed out that the restrictive 5-year graduation rule meant that many Hong Kongers would not be eligible under the program. Hong Kongers have contacted me and were extremely anxious that they would face deportation especially at a time when the Hong Kong police is escalating their hunt by placing a million-dollar bounty for the arrest of prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activists that fled abroad in search of safety.
New Democrats have opposed the imposition of the draconian National Security Law since its installation by the Hong Kong government that violated the Sino-British Joint Declaration of One Country, the Two Systems Rule, and the United Nations Charter of Human Rights.
The NDP urges the federal government to take further action by lifting the criminal record check requirements for individuals accused of violating the National Security Law or in the very minimum substitute that requirement with an alternate means to satisfy public safety concerns. This is an essential component to ensure the pathway to safety is workable on the ground for Hong Kongers.”
On June 30, two NDP members of Parliament sent a letter with an urgent request for a briefing on the case to federal ministers responsible for foreign affairs, immigration and public safety.
In a copy of the letter provided to CTV News, MPs Heather McPherson and Jenny Kwan wrote that they “are alarmed by this case and its implications not just for Noura, but for all human rights defenders seeking safety in Canada.
Is it this government’s position that human rights advocacy, including opposing brutal dictatorships that torture their citizens renders a person inadmissible for permanent residency?”
Five days later, Aljizawi was granted permanent residency on July 5. Since her case became public, Aljizawi says she’s heard from three other democracy activists who are facing scrutiny under Section 34.
Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic, says that Aljizawi’s high profile added pressure on the government to act. But the MP says she also worries that lesser known human rights activists under similar suspicion will not be protected.
Kwan says immigration officials need to reassess how they use Section 34 in evaluating the applications of human rights defenders
“After months of Jagmeet Singh and the NDP calling out Loblaws for using inflation as a cover to jack-up food prices for Canadians, Loblaws has now registered to lobby the Competition Bureau on the price of food and competition. Trudeau and his Liberal government have sat on their hands while Loblaws takes advantage of Canadians, and now they want even more protection to keep raking in record profits. Loblaws opening a back door to the Liberal government only raises more questions about Loblaws' claim that rising food prices are out of their control.
They know the Liberals and Conservatives are on the side of the CEO class, and they want to keep it that way. Loblaws can smell their goose is cooked – Canadians are fed up with their enormous grocery bills and they want action. That’s why the NDP has been fighting for the every day Canadians, standing up to companies like Loblaws, as their corporate greed devastates ordinary Canadians. And it doesn’t get any better with Poilievre and his conservative party – who has demonstrated no willingness to take on big corporations’ greed.
It’s time for the government to break up the big food cartels and strengthen competition laws. We need a windfall tax, now, so it’s Canadians who get ahead, not the ultra-rich CEOs of large grocers. The NDP will keep fighting to stack the deck towards ordinary Canadians, not the ultra-wealthy.”
OTTAWA— On Wednesday, for a second time in less than a year, millions of Canadian families are receiving hundreds of dollars – a family with two children will get up to $467 - to help them deal with high costs after significant pressure from Canada’s New Democrats. While the amount that people have been paying for food, rent, and other necessities like gas and home heating fuel has remained high, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP relentlessly pushed the government to double the GST rebate to give families some financial breathing room.
“People have been working hard, and tightening their belts as the cost of living has soared over the last year. Canadians feel like they’re doing everything right, but they just can’t get ahead—it’s not right,” said Singh. “That’s why New Democrats fought so hard to get families, seniors and students a little extra support.
As we commemorate the centenary of the racist practices that the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act encoded into law one hundred years, it is important to shine a light on this history, and to address the root causes of racism, hatred and discrimination. This unconscionable federal law prevented Chinese people from immigrating to Canada. It created untold sorrow and suffering, separated families and broke intergenerational ties. It undermined and prevented Chinese communities trying to grow and flourish in their new home in Canada.
This was just one of many racist laws that discriminated and segregated people on the basis of race and cultural or ethnic origin. Starting in 1885, the Federal government forced Chinese immigrants to pay a “head tax” on arrival to Canada. In 1908, the Federal government’s “continuous journey” rule was adopted to bar new migrants from Asian countries who travelled by ship routes with stopovers.
Different jurisdictions passed targeted laws to prevent migrants from Asian countries and racialized people from taking certain jobs, even to stop them from taking part in leisure activities like swimming.
During and after the Second World War, federal law caused thousands of Japanese Canadians to lose their personal property to seizure and face imprisonment in interment camps or forced labour in harsh conditions, far from home.