MEDIA RELEASE - Canada Infrastructure Bank must serve people and communities facing greatest impact of the climate crisis

OTTAWA—Yesterday, a report from the Parliamentary Committee on Transport Infrastructure and Communities recommended that the government abolish the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). The Bank has widely been criticized for failing to address the needs of the communities it is supposed to help. While the CIB has received hundreds of project proposals, it has approved very few, neglecting projects which could help people in favor of a privatization agenda that helps maximize corporate profits at the expense of the public interests.
“Canadians are frustrated that the government isn’t investing in the infrastructure that communities desperately need in the face of the climate crisis. With the recommendation to abolish Canada’s Infrastructure Bank from the Transport Committee, the Liberals are at a crossroads because their current approach has failed,” said NDP Critic for Tax Fairness, Niki Ashton. “They have two options, let the Bank wither and die, having accomplished nothing but enrich their wealthy friends, or they can listen to reason, support my bill and use the Infrastructure Bank to support communities including Indigenous and Northern communities in the fight against climate change.”

May 3rd, 2022

Canada Infrastructure Bank must serve people and communities facing greatest impact of the climate crisis

OTTAWA—Yesterday, a report from the Parliamentary Committee on Transport Infrastructure and Communities recommended that the government abolish the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). The Bank has widely been criticized for failing to address the needs of the communities it is supposed to help. While the CIB has received hundreds of project proposals, it has approved very few, neglecting projects which could help people in favor of a privatization agenda that helps maximize corporate profits at the expense of the public interests.

“Canadians are frustrated that the government isn’t investing in the infrastructure that communities desperately need in the face of the climate crisis. With the recommendation to abolish Canada’s Infrastructure Bank from the Transport Committee, the Liberals are at a crossroads because their current approach has failed,” said NDP Critic for Tax Fairness, Niki Ashton. “They have two options, let the Bank wither and die, having accomplished nothing but enrich their wealthy friends, or they can listen to reason, support my bill and use the Infrastructure Bank to support communities including Indigenous and Northern communities in the fight against climate change.”

Ashton’s private member’s bill would change the mandate of the CIB to give priority to investments aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate change for communities who are facing the brunt of climate emergencies in Canada—particularly in Northern and Indigenous communities. With Ashton’s changes, the Bank would no longer require a private partner before projects are approved.

“After years of waiting for the CIB to fulfill its promise, Canadians cannot wait any longer. Communities feeling the effects of climate change need to know the government is working to help them build the resiliency they need,” said NDP Critic for Infrastructure and Communities, Bonita Zarrillo. “Justin Trudeau is only protecting corporate interests by keeping the CIB in its current format. Local communities need that funding to meet their climate targets and to respond to increasing climate events happening across this country.”

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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.).

Daily Hive: Canadian woman left in limbo after CRA accidentally declares her dead

When June “Juna” Miller filed her taxes in spring, she expected a refund, but instead, she was declared legally dead.

A few weeks later, she attempted to log in to her CRA account. It didn’t work, and she called the agency.

“The woman on the phone said, ‘Well, you’re deceased.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about? You’re speaking to me!'” Miller explained.

What followed was a month-long ordeal that cost her her pension, Social Insurance Number, and sense of stability.

“It took them five seconds to say I was dead… without even asking for a death certificate,” she said. “Now I’m being told it could take six months to prove I’m alive. That makes no sense to me.”

But with her account frozen and no payments coming in, she was suddenly without any source of income.

Her Social Insurance Number had been cancelled, making it impossible to access her bank account or even apply for temporary work to stay afloat.

Even Service Canada wasn’t much help, Miller claimed.

She recalls one interaction with an agent who questioned why she kept insisting she was alive, while another refused to proceed because her name didn’t match across various documents.

When Miller attempted to order a copy of her marriage certificate to fulfill the requirement, her request was denied because her ID had already been flagged as invalid.

Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan stepped in as well, formally raising Miller’s case with the federal government.

Miller provided Daily Hive a copy of the letter dated June 30, in which Kwan wrote directly to Minister François-Philippe Champagne, asking that CRA fix the mistake immediately, restore her pension, and ensure all missed payments were sent without delay.

Resurrection, at last

On June 30, Miller received the call she’d been waiting for.

“CRA just called and I have been resurrected,” she told Daily Hive. “They’re sending an apology letter in the mail.”

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.