New Democrats propose real solutions to cool the housing market and provide affordable housing to Canadians
NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan and NDP Finance Critic Daniel Blaikie called on the government to help Canadians trying to afford a decent place to rent instead of allowing rich investors to buy up units and drive prices sky-high. Kwan and Blaikie shared Peggy Rafter’s story. Peggy is a low-income senior, who is facing renoviction from an apartment she’s lived in for 30 years. They were also joined by Bader Abu-Zohra, a local housing advocate and Co-Chair of the Ottawa-Vanier ACORN chapter.
"Huge corporations and wealthy investors are making big money by putting people like Peggy out of a home," said Kwan."The Liberals have to stop rewarding rich investors for buying up rental units and then jacking up the rent. This is what the financialization of housing means and it has to stop.”
Open Letter: Gaza Family Reunification Measures
Over the past two months, I have become aware of more than two-hundred Palestinian Canadians with either citizenship or permanent resident status across the country that have applied to sponsor their family members in Gaza to come to Canada through the family reunification program. These families have begun the application process to bring nearly 2,500 loved ones from Gaza in total. Of these family members stuck in Gaza, 78 per cent are still waiting to receive the code from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that is required to proceed to the next phase and complete their application.
Your department has stated that 986 people have received a code and used it to submit a temporary resident visa (TRV) application which has been accepted into processing. It is apparent that the code issuing system works in lockstep with the 1,000-person cap to severely restrict the inflow of applications. It should be abundantly clear that you must lift the cap.
It has been almost seventy days since the program opened for applications on January 9. These families are desperate to know when, or if, loved ones will be allowed to come to Canada. For many, the news is consuming their life as they anxiously await to hear from IRCC officials regarding their application. Yet they are met with radio silence from IRCC. The process is frankly excruciating to for family members. The federal NDP caucus has already condemned this non-communicative approach, called on you to lift the arbitrary cap, and change the discriminatory lens through which this policy approaches Palestinians.