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.
The federal government needs to do more to help thousands of Afghans who assisted Canadian Forces but remain trapped in Afghanistan a year after the Taliban seized Kabul, aid groups and opposition parties say.
As the grim anniversary passed Monday, NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan warned at a news conference that Canada will have blood on its hands if it does not take immediate action to help Afghans whose lives are in danger because they helped Canadians.
She called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene to sort out “chaos” at the Immigration Department, which she said has still not processed many applications to come to Canada.
“No more excuses,” Kwan said. “We do not want to lose lives because if we do the blood is on the Canadian government’s hands.”
