Immigration

CPAC Headline Politics: NDP MP Raises Concerns over Gaza Family Reunification Program

Speaking with reporters on Parliament Hill, NDP MP Jenny Kwan raises concerns about the federal government’s temporary resident visa (TRV) program for Palestinian Canadians’ family members in Gaza.

She is joined by Omar Omar (founder of the Gazan Canadians League), Najla Alzaanin (Gazan-Canadian with family members awaiting evacuation under the TRV program), Hana Marku (immigration and refugee lawyer), and Gur Tsabar (member of Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition and The Movement Media Hub). (no interpretation)

Click link to watch the press conference in Ottawa - https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/ndp-mp-raises-concerns-over-gaza-family-reunification-program?id=bf9593e7-c636-446a-b77b-fab057086ae5

HANSARD: Tribue to John McCallum

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HANSARD: Bill C-3 Citizenship Act debate

Click below to read the Hansard of the debate

Hill Times Jenny Kwan Op Ed: NDP keep fighting as new Liberal government’s honeymoon period comes to a close

To meet the eye-popping military spending commitment of five per cent of Canada’s GDP, there will be deep cuts to programs and services to Canadians.

Canadians elected new Liberal Leader Mark Carney as their prime minister to fight against American President Donald Trump. “Elbows Up” was the central message during the campaign, but the strategy Carney has taken so far has been to appease Trump. Counter-tariff measures are off the table. In the name of border security, government overreach that infringes our privacy and violates due process is being justified. Trump-like border and immigration measures are creeping in. Massive cuts to public services and programs are on the offer.

As Carney lay the tracks of his fiscal agenda, here’s what we have learned so far. Austerity is the name of the game, and to meet the eye-popping military spending commitment of five per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product, there will be deep cuts to programs and services to Canadians. Already, Carney has directed his ministers to cut operating spending of 7.5 per cent, 10 per cent, and 15 per cent to almost every other department over the next three years.

Hill Times: IRCC forecasts 30 per cent spending cut by 2028 amid lower immigration targets

‘It’s a giant mess,’ says MP Kwan

Earlier this year, IRCC announced its plans to cut 3,300 jobs from its workforce, citing Canada’s reduced immigration targets.

In November 2024, then-immigration minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, Que.) announced drastic cuts to the targeted number of permanent residents admitted to Canada in the next two years, and tighter rules around temporary worker permits.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) said the Liberals are “plowing ahead” with cuts despite persistent and prolonged delays in processing immigration cases.

“As it stands in the system, the backlog is unbelievable,” said Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic. “Families are separated, people are being persecuted, and it can’t be processed in an expeditious way. It’s a giant mess.”

Wait times for spousal sponsorship applications outside Quebec have jumped from 12 to 24 months, she said, and applications for parents and grandparents have been frozen for two years.

Refugees who are fleeing persecution, who are “in dire straits” and are privately sponsored by Canadian citizens, can face wait times of over three years.

“This is just a snapshot of some of the problems that exist within our system,” she said. “Cuts to IRCC staff will only further delay the processing, and create greater pain and anguish for the people stuck in the system.”

Maclean's: Why Canada’s New Border Policy Could Screw Over Refugees

In June, Mark Carney tabled the Strong Borders Act to combat organized crime, fentanyl trafficking and illegal firearms at the border. As with many border-related issues these days, it largely stems from the Trump administration. “There were a number of elements in the bill that have been irritants for the U.S., so we are addressing some of those issues,” said public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree.
While Bill C-2 cleared its first reading in the House of Commons, many aren’t sold on the legislation. Immigration experts say it dramatically rolls back long-standing protections for refugees and migrants, and civil rights advocates say it gives Ottawa sweeping new surveillance powers that infringe on Canadians’ Charter rights.

What are the privacy implications of these expanded powers?

They’re expanding the ability for police and spy agencies to demand information without a warrant—based merely on “reasonable suspicion.” Canada Post, for example, could open your mail. Public service providers like doctors could be compelled to hand over private details. The bill would also enable information to be shared with foreign entities just with the consent of a minister. Some experts, including member of Parliament and NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, have raised concerns that American anti-abortion states could use the provision to request information from Canadian abortion clinics.

CBC: $68M project to secure, revamp Canada's asylum system shut down unexpectedly, documents show

A $68-million project led by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that was meant to revamp Canada's outdated asylum system and enhance the integrity of the country's borders was quietly shut down last year — an "unexpected" move for some in the government because it was only partly completed, internal documents show.

Now, some critics fear the outcomes that were achieved may be more harmful than beneficial for people seeking protection in Canada.

IRCC's "asylum interoperability project" began in 2019 and was supposed to wrap up by 2022. It came during a surge of asylum seekers entering Canada, putting pressure on an already struggling system that relied heavily on paper files. Its launch followed calls for major reform.

Hill Times: Courts unlikely to provide fifth extension to Ottawa to address Lost Canadians before November, says immigration lawyer

Parliament needs to “just get on with it” and address the issue of “lost Canadians” through amendments to the Canada Citizenship Act, according to Jenny Kwan, NDP critic of citizenship and immigration.

She told The Hill Times that she wonders if a judge would have the patience to grant the federal government a fifth extension on a court order requiring action before the current November deadline.

“This is astounding. What the current situation is right now is that Canada’s Citizenship Act, with respect to lost Canadians, is in violation of the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms], and [Bill C-3] will make it Charter-compliant,” said Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.).

 

Radio Canada International: ’Lost Canadians’ citizenship bill tabled as court deadline looms

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the bill was delayed in the last session of Parliament by the Liberals' failure to act in a timely fashion and a Conservative filibuster that stalled the House of Commons' work for months.

The court has given the government yet another extension, and it would be incumbent on this Parliament to make sure that legislation is passed, Kwan said.

The previous lost Canadians citizenship bill died on the order paper when the House prorogued earlier this year. The Senate was engaged in an early study of the legislation to help it become law quickly.

The new legislation, Bill C-3, proposes giving automatic citizenship to anyone denied citizenship under the current law.

It also would establish a new framework for citizenship by descent going forward. The legislation proposes Canadian citizenship could be passed down to people born abroad, beyond the first generation, if their parents spent a cumulative three years in Canada before the child's birth or adoption.

Those were the two primary goals of the original lost Canadians bill.

 

The Guardian: With his immigration bill, Canada’s prime minister is bowing to Trump

Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, is bucking all of that lore after pressure from the US in the form of Donald Trump’s “concerns” about undocumented migrants and fentanyl moving across the US-Canada border. In response, the recently elected Liberal PM put forward a 127-page bill that includes, among other worrying provisions, sweeping changes to immigration policy that would make the process much more precarious for refugees and could pave the way for mass deportations.

If passed, Carney’s Strong Borders Act (or Bill C-2) would bar anyone who has been in the country for more than a year from receiving refugee hearings. That would apply retroactively to anyone who entered the country after June 2020. If they arrived on foot between official ports of entry, meanwhile, they’d have to apply for asylum within 14 days of entering Canada – a disastrous outcome for people fleeing Trump’s persecution. The bill also gives the immigration minister’s office the authority to cancel immigration documents en masse.

This bill has been widely condemned by politicians and advocacy groups such as Amnesty International and the Migrants Rights Network, who are rightly worried about just how much havoc a change like this could wreak. Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, a member of Parliament for Vancouver East, told reporters the bill would breach civil liberties and basic rights.