March 21 - The day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

TOWN HALL MEETING: Surveillance Pricing

How your data determines what you pay!
What if the price you pay at the store is different than the person standing next to you?

Corporations can use personal data such as location, device type, browsing history, purchase behavior, login status, and loyalty cards/programs to profile consumers and determine what different people are charged for the same goods and services.

How can we stop this from happening in Canada?

Join MP Jenny Kwan, Patrick Johnson - President of UFCW 1518, Jim Stanford - Economist and Director of Centre for Future Work, and other experts, for a public forum and community conversation about what surveillance pricing means for consumers and workers, how technology and personal data are changing the way prices are set, and what everyday people can do to fight back.

*Scan QR code, click the image or this link to register your attendance - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/your-data-their-price-a-town-hall-on-surveillance-pricing-tickets-1998495899032

CBC News: Demand for Canadian citizenship certificates soaring, fuelled by Americans

Applications from people around the world seeking Canadian citizenship certificates have been rising rapidly in recent months, fuelled by thousands of applications from the United States, CBC News has learned.

The number of people who have already received certificates as a result of Parliament’s adoption of “Lost Canadian” legislation late last year rose nearly 50 per cent between April 1 and May 31, according to new data obtained by CBC. 

Bill C-3 allows citizenship for those who can prove they're descended from a Canadian ancestor, even if that ancestor left the country several generations back. It was adopted after the courts ruled that limiting citizenship to the first generation born outside of Canada was too restrictive. 

Between mid-December — when Bill C-3 went into effect — and May 31, some 6,100 citizenship certificates were granted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to those who now qualify.

That is up from 4,075 certificates issued as a result of Bill C-3 from mid-December until March 31.

Another 17,390 people have received certificates as a result of having a Canadian parent. Prior to the bill's adoption, those who were born outside Canada had to have a Canadian parent to qualify for citizenship.

In June, IRCC suddenly suspended an estimated 100 certificates that had already been issued after flagging problems with the documents submitted with the applications. The concern from archivists is that some people who've already applied to IRCC will be sent back to archives to find more genealogical records.

The IRCC says 83 of the suspensions have been resolved and the certificates restored. It has sent procedural fairness letters to another 17 people whose certificates were suspended and given them 60 days to submit the documents necessary to prove their Canadian ancestry. 

If they fail to provide acceptable proof, their citizenship certificates could be revoked.

New Democrat immigration critic Jenny Kwan said she has been getting letters and inquiries from people affected by the suspension letters and has written to Metlege Diab, calling for answers.

“It really makes no sense whatsoever, what’s going on," Kwan said. "And the minister is completely ignoring that reality right now.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-citizenship-certificates-americans-9.7307536

National Post: House public safety committee votes to investigate vetting of accused NATO spy

OTTAWA — The House of Commons public safety committee has voted unanimously to investigate Canada’s security screening processes, after a Canadian woman was arrested in Belgium for allegedly spying on NATO.

The committee adopted a special, out-of-session motion on Monday to probe the vetting of Biwei “Claire” Zhang by Canadian security officials before the start of an internship last summer at NATO’s central military headquarters in Belgium.

On July 25, Belgian authorities announced they’d arrested a “Canadian national of Chinese origin” on suspicion of spying for a third country while interning at the NATO headquarters. Subsequent reporting identified the suspect as Zhang, a computer science and systems engineering graduate in her early 30s who’d previously held positions at multiple Canadian federal agencies.

Zhang’s security clearance for the overseas NATO internship was approved by the Canadian government after she was vetted by CSIS.

The NDP does not have any seats on the public safety committee, or any House committee, but NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said she supported the investigation.

”The government needs to conduct a comprehensive review of how this individual was vetted and cleared for a sensitive NATO posting, including the role played by Global Affairs Canada, CSIS and the RCMP,” said Kwan in an email.

Kwan also it was important to ensure that candidate screening remain “evidence based” and “(does) not become a vehicle for racial or ethnic profiling.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/house-public-safety-committee-special-meeting-accused-nato-spy