Immigration

HANSARD: Statement on settlement services funding cut

HANSARD: Why are Liberals punishing newcomers, settlement services agencies and VCC's wildly successful language training program?

Toronto Star NEWS: Canada launches ad campaign warning newcomers claiming asylum is ‘not easy’

When reached for comment, NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the new measures are an abrupt shift from past policy.

“This about face from Prime Minister Trudeau is a shameless and insidious attempt to use newcomers such as migrants, international students, and asylum seekers as political cover,” Kwan said in a statement emailed to the Star.

It’s a dangerous game on Trudeau’s part, said Kwan, in trying to “shift the blame for his failures” to asylum seekers — one she called “a recipe to further hype-up hate, resentment and discrimination toward racialized people.

“Instead of wasting $250,000 on advertising, they should be investing those resources in processing applications,” said Kwan.

Click this link to read the news story:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/canada-launches-ad-campaign-warning-newcomers-claiming-asylum-is-not-easy/article_254980a4-b0c0-11ef-8100-b728bff917e5.html

immigration.ca NEWS: Marc Miller to propose reforms to Canada’s Immigration and Asylum System

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Political opposition has also been vocal. NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan accused the government of scapegoating migrants for systemic issues, such as the housing crisis. Kwan called for a reversal of recent immigration changes, questioning their fairness to temporary residents and international students.

In response, Miller maintained that becoming a Canadian citizen is not a right.

Click this link to read the news story:
https://immigration.ca/marc-miller-to-propose-reforms-to-canadas-immigration-and-asylum-system/

Hill Times NEWS: Liberals’ new tone on immigration proves ‘Bloc was right,’ says critic, as NDP calls it a ‘flimsy attempt to cover their political behinds’

NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C), her party’s immigration critic, told The Hill Times the Liberals’ change in tone is a “flimsy attempt to cover their political behinds” after making “a complete mess of Canada’s immigration system.”

“The reality is that successive Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to deliver the housing that Canadians need for over 30 years,” Kwan said. “Instead of owning that problem that they have created, they’ve decided to point their fingers at migrants and international students and to blame them for the housing crisis.”

Kwan said that reducing Canada’s immigration targets will have “dire” unintended consequences, but ones that the Liberals should be able to foresee nonetheless. 

“Canada’s economy will struggle as a result of this, and the ripple effect will be significant,” Kwan said, adding that she believes the Liberals are more focused on ways to “shirk responsibility for their failures” than the economic impacts of the solution.

“Our economy relies on these workers and international students, and we will be faced with a dire situation of not having the workers to fill those positions,” Kwan said, adding that some post-secondary institutions will need to begin downsizing faculty to account for the loss in revenue. 

“Instead of dealing with the real problems, they’ve turned to blame someone else,” Kwan said. 

Click this link to read the news story:
https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2024/11/27/liberals-new-tone-on-immigration-proves-bloc-was-right-says-critic-as-ndp-calls-it-a-flimsy-attempt-to-cover-their-political-behinds/442883/?utm_source=The+Hill+Times&utm_campaign=3ecd8adffd-Todays-Headlines-Subscribers&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_251d35861a-3ecd8adffd-94024765&mc_cid=3ecd8adffd&mc_eid=4520aaba21

Globe & Mail: Lebanese Canadians face agonizing choice of leaving spouses behind in war-torn Beirut

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the temporary immigration measure was “woefully inadequate” and “continues to neglect Lebanese Canadian family members who are still in grave danger and desperate to get to safety.”

“Canadian citizens and their spouses and children in Lebanon are desperate to get to safety and it’s unconscionable that Canadian family members must consider leaving their spouse or children behind,” she said in an e-mailed statement.

Click this link to read the news story:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-lebanese-canadians-facing-agonizing-choice-of-leaving-spouses-behind/

Canadian Press News: Miller to propose more changes to immigration and asylum system

One of the protesters from the group Migrant Workers Alliance for Change told the minister "we are the people you're trying to kick out of this country," as the minister exited the committee room.

The group of around 20 people was escorted from the building by officers of the Parliamentary Protective Service.

In her line of questioning, NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan brought up calls to reverse the recent immigration changes.

Click this link to read the news story:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/miller-changes-immigration-asylum-1.7393121

OPEN LETTER: Special Immigration Measure for Refugee Crisis in Lebanon

Israel’s war on Lebanon has displaced almost one million people. Increasingly, families have no home to return to. Nearly 600,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria. The past few weeks have been the deadliest and the most devastating for Lebanon and people in decades,” said UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, Ivo Freijsen.

The federal government set a standard in the design of the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. Regardless of the magnitude of the crisis this program has never been repeated for any other Canadian family members in other conflict zone. Former Minister of IRCC Sean Fraser was informed by his immigration officials that CUAET “would set a significant precedent” and “an expectation

that it could be done for other population.” Officials are correct to assume that Canadians expect the government to be fair and equitable in applying Canada's immigration policies.

CBC NEWS: MPs to probe how human smuggler obtained new passport while barred from having one

MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP's immigration critic, said she wanted to examine what blame the court system shouldered in this situation. 

"The court decision related to travel documents did not come from Passport Canada or IRCC (Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada), that actually came from the courts. So there is a real question about the failure of that system," said Kwan. 

CIMM#115: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would say that's generally the case. If the work permit they obtained was originally connected to the public policy, that's correct. I don't know if that's the situation in all cases. In some cases, applicants may have had an LMIA-based work permit to begin with.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
That's right. However, under the special immigration measure, the LMIA is not required.  I have a list of applicants in those circumstances. Their work permit renewal application was rejected. They were asked to submit an LMIA, which makes no sense. I want to flag that as a deep concern now emerging for people whose open work permits are being rejected as they wait for their permanent resident status. At this rate, given the immigration levels plan numbers and the processing delays happening, and with the number of applicants in place, you can imagine that it's going to take something like eight years to get through the backlog of people getting their PR status. This means that if they are trying to get their pension, they will not be able to do so for eight years, because they are required to provide proof of permanent residence.
I want to flag this as a major concern. I hope the department will take action to fix the error being applied to applicants whose open work permits are being rejected under this stream.  Can I get a confirmation from officials that this will be undertaken?

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, that issue has been raised with the department already, and we're looking into it to see what exactly happened in those situations.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
Okay. Officials are aware of it, and yet it's still happening.  I have cases coming to me that are happening. I'm about to prepare a giant pile of this stuff for the minister, so I hope the officials will fix that.  The other thing related to the pension, of course, is lengthy delays for people to get their permanent status.  Based on the immigration levels plan and the number of applicants in place, is it the officials' anticipation that it will take about eight years to get those applications processed?

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We have looked at that possibility. Certainly, it will take longer than we had previously indicated to the committee. I would note that the first year of the levels plan is the fixed year. The years that follow, in this case, 2026 and 2027, are flexible. There are opportunities to adjust those numbers in the future, and that could affect that timeline. It's hard to say whether eight years will be the timeline, but it will be longer than had been originally predicted because the numbers have gone down.

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting