At a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, NDP Leader Avi Lewis and NDP MP Jenny Kwan are joined by representatives from a number of groups to discuss the filing of mandamus applications by Gazan graduate students seeking permits to study at Canadian universities. (no interpretation)
Grocery and consumer product price fixing using digital surveillance of people’s shopping habits is an issue being taken on full-force by the federal NDP.
Already many Canadians have become accustomed to receiving digital coupons or discount offers for products they regularly purchase. Various pricing options are available to different customers based on location, shopping habits and income level (if known).
This practice has some Canadians paying more for some products than others, and/or the same customers paying different prices for the same products depending on how and when they shop and whether or not they engage digitally at the checkout.
This issue was launched by NDP Leader Avi Lewis in his first press conference in Ottawa today, since having become the new NDP Leader on March 29. His father Stephan Lewis passed away on March 31 (memorial coming up April 26), and Lewis is now getting back to his new political role.
The NDP’s approach will “speak to everyone who is suffering in this economy,” said Lewis today.
He targeted online shopping as allowing for digital surveillance “to be fuel for price gouging (that) is utterly unacceptable”.
OTTAWA - Former senior Liberal cabinet ministers say they have "deep concern" about the federal government's decision not to pass legislation aiming to close what they consider a regulatory gap in arms exports.
Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy and former justice minister and ambassador to the United Nations Allan Rock recently wrote a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand urging more stringent rules and safeguards.
Legislation introduced by NDP MP Jenny Kwan sought to change rules that allow Washington to send Canadian arms to countries that would otherwise be blocked. The private member's bill she tabled in September followed attempts by Washington to purchase Canadian weapons for Israel, despite a Canadian ban on exports of various types of weapons to that country.
Vancouver MP Jenny Kwan remains the caucus chair, adding the role of justice critic to her key portfolios of immigration and citizenship, housing, infrastructure, public safety and national security. Kwan is also critic for Pacific economic development.
A Scottish-born midwife, who was ordered to stop working in British Columbia and threatened with deportation, has returned home, highlighting what advocates say is a case of a foreign-trained health care worker getting entangled in bureaucratic errors amid a shortage in the province.
Heather Gilchrist, who worked at The Midwives Collective in Victoria for about six months, left for Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday after she was unable to get clearance from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to remain in the country. Ms. Gilchrist completed the Internationally Educated Midwives Bridging Program through the University of British Columbia, which helps graduates transition to working in Canada.
She was told her work permit was not approved because she failed to upload an English proficiency test, according to politicians and families who have supported her. Later, immigration officials erroneously told her the UBC program did not lead to a certificate, diploma or degree, the supporters said. Ms. Gilchrist could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
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At the end of last month, two of Ms. Collins’s former parliamentary colleagues, Gord Johns and Jenny Kwan, wrote to Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab about Ms. Gilchrist’s situation.
The letter, dated March 28, detailed how IRCC initially rejected Ms. Gilchrist’s postgraduate work permit because results from an English exam were not uploaded. It said an online portal did not provide a prompt and that Ms. Gilchrist provided a copy of her results to the department but didn’t hear back.
The letter from the NDP MPs also described how the IRCC reviewed Ms. Gilchrist’s file again, but it was refused a second time because the IRCC claimed the UBC program does not lead to a certificate, diploma or degree. Ms. Kwan and Mr. Johns wrote that the program provided confirmation that graduates are eligible for a work permit upon its completion.
"The Carney government decided to put $81 billion in defence spending, surely, surely he can find half a million dollars to support people in disabilities, in wheelchairs to find accessible housing."
For full-time wheelchair-users in the Lower Mainland, the ability to live independently has often hinged on one thing: finding accessible housing.
For Vancouver’s Mark Cody, 44, life was once confined to the parts of his apartment that he could physically reach.
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Cody lost the use of his legs after a missile strike while in Baghdad, Iraq. He spent years unable to bathe himself or leave his house until a program connected him and his wife, Zoey, with an accessible two-bedroom apartment in 2023 — making it possible for them to start a family.
Speaking Wednesday inside the Harmony Building in Vancouver’s Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood, clients of Disability Alliance B.C.’s right fit program stood alongside Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan to draw attention to the program’s closure after a recent $500,000 cut in federal funding through Reaching home: Canada’s homelessness strategy.
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About a dozen wheelchair-users attended the news conference. Many held signs reading: “Save the right fit program.” Some were visibly teary-eyed.
Financial institutions have backed multiple companies that have major contracts with ICE to provide equipment or services, through investments, loans and bonds totalling about US$35 billion, according to an investigation by non-profit Stand.earth.
OTTAWA - Major Canadian banks and pension funds provided tens of billions of dollars to American contractors for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an investigation by the non-profit Stand.earth has found.
The group's analysis of loan and share data found Canadian financial institutions backed multiple companies that have major contracts with ICE to provide equipment or services, through investments, loans and bonds totalling about US$35 billion.
The companies that benefited from those Canadian investments include: data analytics firm Palantir; major U.S. defence contractors General Dynamics and L3Harris; the IT firm CACI; and telecom giant AT&T. CoreCivic and Geo Group, which construct and manage detention centres, also benefited to a lesser extent.
Left-wing politicians reacted sharply to news of the reported transactions. Newly elected NDP Leader Avi Lewis said Canadian businesses and public pensions should not provide support to "Trump‘s personal military arm."
"Canadians are scandalized by ICE, and we've been consistent as a party across this country that we don’t think that Canadian businesses should be doing business with ICE," Lewis told a news conference Monday in Winnipeg. "We certainly don’t think Canadian pension funds should be investing in the infrastructure of repression in the United States."
NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the Stand.earth report demonstrates the need for "greater transparency and accountability" and a "reassessment" of the ethical frameworks guiding public pensions and financial institutions.
I’m deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Stephen Lewis at the age of 88, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was a titan of democratic socialism with a global outlook that spoke to our better angels. His oratory remains legendary around the world. He could hold a room like no other. My thoughts go out to Stephen's wife Michelle, to Avi and the entire Lewis family.
Stephen Lewis spent a lifetime fighting for what mattered most: human rights, equality for women, and justice for the world’s most vulnerable—especially African families devastated by HIV/AIDS. His weapon was his voice, and it was one of unmatched eloquence, integrity, and conviction. He had the moral courage to speak out when it mattered. In the hallways of the UN to the corridors of power, he cornered political leaders and pushed them to act with urgency.
Even in his final years, he faced illness with the same indomitable energy that defined his life’s work. As his family so powerfully shared, he remained committed to “the unending struggle for justice and dignity for every human life.” That commitment never wavered. Avi's speech at the NDP Convention in Winnipeg spoke beautifully about how closely Stephen watched the details of the NDP leadership race. What a proud moment it must have been for him to witness the announcement of the leadership result.
Whether as a political leader, diplomat, or global advocate, he championed the disenfranchised, spoke out against violence and inequality, and helped bring the realities of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa to the world’s attention with urgency and humanity. He had a rare ability to both challenge and collaborate—to speak hard truths while still bringing people together to act. For those of us in political life, he asked us dig deeper and bring moral courage, urgency and clarity to our work. I was honoured that he attended my event when I first ran federally in 2015 - and, as always, he inspired the entire room.
His legacy is profound and enduring, reflected not only in policy and social progress, but in the countless lives he touched and inspired through his indomitable work ethic. He made us all better.
My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, and all who were moved by his words and his work. The world has truly lost a uniquely remarkable generational voice that will continue to inspire the next generation of leaders.