CBC News: Liberal, NDP MPs to visit West Bank, connect with Palestinians

A group of five Liberal MPs and a lone NDP parliamentarian are planning to spend three days in Israel and the occupied West Bank, at a time of heightened tensions between Ottawa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Like a previous delegation of different Liberal and NDP MPs in early 2024, this group is taking part in sponsored travel by a registered Muslim non-profit, Canadian Muslim Vote.

The only NDP MP on this trip, Jenny Kwan, who represents Vancouver East, said she has some concerns about gaining entry into Israel.

The group’s itinerary also includes going into the Israeli-occupied West Bank, administered by the PA.

While there, they intend to meet with Palestinian families who have had run-ins with settlers, as well as PA officials to speak about democratic reform and institution-building.

Kwan said she expects there could be obstacles on any step of the itinerary, given the Israeli-controlled access into the swath of land.

“At any juncture, anything could happen,” she said.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-mps-west-bank-visit-9.7015201

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News Release: MP Kwan Releases Video Calling for Support on Bill C-233 Before Upcoming Vote at Second Reading

Click image or link to watch the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTSCJ4U1Hfs

Radio-Canada: Where is Canada's immigration minister? Community groups are asking

MPs question Lena Diab's performance at question period and in committee

Criticism is coming not only from opposition parties, but also from Diab's own Liberal colleagues.

Away from the cameras, 10 Liberal MPs spoke to Radio-Canada about her performance. They were granted confidentiality in order to express themselves freely.

Of those, only one defended Diab's job performance. Although several of them emphasized that she is a "good person" in charge of a "difficult" portfolio, nine MPs said they believe that the minister is overwhelmed and are openly questioning her place at the cabinet table.

"It doesn't make sense. In the House of Commons, many MPs hold their breath when she answers questions from the opposition," said one Liberal elected official.

"We're afraid she'll put her foot in her mouth."

New Democrat Jenny Kwan, her party's immigration critic, said that both Carney and Diab are responsible for how the immigration file is handled.

"That responsibility is to be responsive to stakeholders, to take these issues seriously, to examine the policies, to evaluate them, to hear from opposition and the public and look for ways to improve them," she said.

"That is their job."

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lena-diab-immigration-minister-criticism-9.7103914

Hill Times: Failed asylum-seeker motion shows Conservatives ‘smelled blood in the water’ with minister, immigration as wedge issue, say politicos

Conservatives are capitalizing on the recent drop in public support for immigration, but risk being seen as too MAGA adjacent, say observers. Meanwhile, the immigration minister's own colleagues question her handling of the file.

The Conservatives’ defeated motion targeting health-care coverage for asylum claimants shows weaknesses on both the part of the Liberal immigration minister and the official opposition leader, with MAGA-like rhetoric posing political risk for the latter, observers say.

Jordan Leichnitz, a former NDP strategist who now works for the German non-profit Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, told The Hill Times in a Feb. 26 interview that the Conservatives’ pressure on the immigration file is a reflection of their own political fragility.

“To me, it’s a manifestation of their political weakness right now. They turn to these arguments because they’re very mobilizing for segments of their base at moments where they feel politically more vulnerable,” she said.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2026/02/28/failed-asylum-seeker-motion-shows-conservatives-smelled-blood-in-the-water-with-minister-immigration-as-wedge-issue-say-politicos/493465/