Humanitarian, Refugees and Foreign Affairs

We live in an interconnected world, and events transpiring worldwide ultimately affects Canadians, whether we are speaking about economic trade, global prices of goods and commodities, knowledge and skills exchange, effects of climate change, disease transmission and control, natural disaster management, and others. Fulfilling our international obligations protects and serves the interests of Canadians.

People fleeing war, persecution or natural disasters face tremendous barriers to obtaining necessary travel documents. For this reason, I have been advocating for visa-free travel for urgent, life-and-death situations such as the war in Ukraine. I have also been advocating for the government to rescind the safe third country agreement because often, refugees cannot get to safety without first going to a third country. It is paramount that Canada has an adequately resourced immigration system that can act with flexibility and expediency in times of crisis without compromising national security standards.

As your Member of Parliament, I will fight to ensure Canada fulfills its humanitarian and environmental obligations as a member of the international community.

CBC NEWS: U.S. border patrol reports record number of encounters with migrants at the Canadian border

FINA#147: Bill C-69 on Concerns Around Expanding Immigration Detention into Federal Prisons

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I will speak to it very briefly.

As I was indicating, on March 13, over 80 civil societies, settlement agencies and religious organizations wrote a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister with their concerns around expanding immigration detention into federal prisons.

Earlier today, the provisions around setting up this format were passed, but with that being said, this amendment is an attempt by the NDP to at least try to put some parameters within that framework, to have “high risk” clearly defined in legislation rather than leaving it up to regulation and having it be defined behind closed doors.

To that end, Mr. Chair, that's what the amendment seeks to do. The definition of “high risk” is really meant to provide some limitations around what would be deemed as high risk in this instance.

Mr. Chair, I just want to highlight a couple of elements within that. I won't, of course, read the entire amendment into the record here.

Really, we attempted to put some parameters there as to the nature and level of danger to the public the person poses related to, for example, any conviction to do with sexual offences or an offence involving violence or weapons and for the same conviction outside of Canada. As well, there are provisions with regard to pending charges for these offences. Also, we wanted to put parameters around engagement with terrorism or gang activities and such.

Mr. Chair, I think these are some of the provisions for declaring what is deemed to be “high risk” in that context.

The other thing worth noting here is that we're also adding to this with an amendment around mental health; when considering these matters, the mental health aspect of the individual should also be taken into consideration. That's written within the amendment here.

Of course, there are some accountability measures related to it, which means that when someone is to be detained, there has to be some level of accountability with respect to written notice advising the individual as such and then, of course, allowing the individual to undertake representation if they seek to do so.

That's a quick summary of where it is at in terms of trying to put these parameters in place.

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

The Hub: Richard Shimooka: Canada’s shameful betrayal of our Afghan partners goes beyond Sajjan’s specific actions

How many hundreds, if not thousands of individuals were left stranded we will likely never know—even the government itself is unsure. In June 2022, NDP Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan alleged that the government had lost 2,900 applications from individuals who had an “enduring relationship” with Canada. It’s one of the few indicators of the potential size of the problem.

Certainly, the deliberate effort not to assist these individuals prior to July 2021 condemned many to their deaths, as did the hurried, shifting evacuation efforts for the month of August. Again, how many will likely never be known, which is perhaps convenient for the government.

Media Statement: World Refugee Day 2024

In June, New Democrats successfully blocked changes to Canada’s asylum system that the Liberals tried to sneak into an omnibus budget bill. The Liberal proposal would have made it more difficult to seek asylum in Canada and easier for the government to deport asylum seekers. This is plain wrong.

New Democrats also pushed this government to take more refugees from the Gaza and Sudan and reunite family members. Unacceptable delays and bureaucratic barriers in both programs have prevented family members of Canadians from reuniting in safety.

New Democrats believe we all need to work together to find solutions to root causes of the global forced displacement crisis and ensure Canada remains a safe place for those fleeing persecution and seeking a better life by investing in social housing, health care and newcomer services.

HANSARD: Private member's bill to establish independent ombudman's office for IRCC

HANSARD: Petition calling on government to take immediate action to address the humanitarian crisis faced by refugees from Gaza

HANSARD: Will Prime Minister implement a broad, uncapped program to regulate undocumented workers?

CIMM#101: Briefing on the Temporary Immigration Measures Initiated in Response to Ongoing Conflicts in Sudan and Gaza

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the minister and officials for finally coming back to this committee.

Just to be very clear, Netanyahu is committing a war crime. As we know from what we're seeing in the news with what's happening, civilians are being targeted. There's an act of genocide taking place right now, and Canada should be doing everything that it can to support the Palestinian community and be more precise to hold Netanyahu to account in accordance with the International Criminal Court.

I want to turn to the immigration issue for a second.

On the last appearance on March 20, we were informed that 986 applications have been processed. The NDP has also submitted an order paper question that indicates that, as of April 24, that number remains the same.

Between April 24 and May 26, has that number changed? If so, what is that number now?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

This is for Gaza. The number of TRV applications that have been accepted into processing is 2,903. That is the stretch of time between when the pathway was launched on January 9 and May 24, 2024.

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Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Let's just say that of all the applications that have gone through the process, even the ones that have gotten the TRV, only 356 names have been submitted to COGAT. I get there's a rolling number because some of them have already exited, etc.

That number is really low—I would just say that—so there is a holdup with respect to the security screening processing, which is what I'm hearing from families as well. This is not necessarily to get a biometric. It's the pre-screening in order to get them onto that list. What is the holdup with the pre-screening from IRCC's side?

OPEN LETTER to the Prime Minister on regularization of undocumented workers

New Democrats strongly urge you to adopt a broad, comprehensive, and uncapped regularization initiative without delay, so that undocumented workers in Canada have a clear and accessible pathway to permanent residency.