CTV: Hootsuite targeted in anti-ICE protest as Pattison Developments nixes controversial deal

After days of public backlash, Jim Pattison Developments called off the planned sale of a Virginia warehouse for use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday—as the company was facing a protest alongside Canadian tech company Hootsuite.

More than 100 people gathered outside Hootsuite’s headquarters in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood for a demonstration that became part protest, part celebration in light of the cancelled Pattison sale.

Speakers said public pressure was the driving force of change—but many emphasized there’s more to be done, pointing to Hootsuite’s ongoing relationship with ICE.

Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan said Canadians were rightfully disturbed to learn of both deals.

“It was very disappointing and shocking, frankly, to a lot of Canadians to learn that Canadian businesses are engaging in facilitating the operation of ICE,” she said.

Asked whether she would support a boycott of the company, Kwan responded: “I would be on board.”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/hootsuite-targeted-in-anti-ice-protest-as-pattison-developments-nixes-controversial-deal/

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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/