NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan issued the following statement ahead of today’s committee meeting on the study of Conditions Faced by Asylum-Seekers where the Minister of Immigration will be testifying
MEDIA RELEASE: Liberals must protect the human rights of asylum-seekers
MEDIA RELEASE: Liberals must protect the human rights of asylum-seekers
“As the world experiences an unprecedented refugee crisis, Canada has a vital role to play in resettling people forced out of their homes by conflict, persecution and disasters. And as a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention, Canada has an obligation to recognize the rights of refugees to reach safety.
Ahead of today’s committee meeting on the study of Conditions Faced by Asylum-Seekers where the Minister of Immigration will be testifying, the NDP renews its call for the Liberals to end the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). Since it allows Canada to turn back asylum-seekers, the STCA has put the lives of people fleeing persecution at risk and allowed a major Liberal donor and human smugglers to profit off their suffering.
Over the years, asylum-seekers have been trying to find refuge in Canada by travelling through irregular crossings like the border-crossers at Roxham Road in Quebec. These irregular crossings are not illegal. They are not even queue jumping. They are processed as inland refugees according to our rules — but without the protections for those seeking refuge. By suspending the STCA, the processing of refugees would be directed to official ports of entry where there is already government infrastructure to do it safely and with protections for asylum-seekers from human smugglers.
But instead of ending the STCA, the Liberals expanded its use by applying it to the “Five Eyes” countries. To make matters worse, the Liberal government is now in a court battle fighting against a federal court ruling that the STCA was unconstitutional. This is shameful.
Furthermore, the Liberals have made it even harder for asylum-seekers by adding layers of bureaucracy that delay the processing of asylum claims by another 12 to 24 months. Without a Refugee Protection Claimant document and a worker’s permit, asylum seekers are barred from employment and earning a living in Canada. And some asylum seekers are even indefinitely detained without any charges. This is wrong and Liberals must act now to ensure asylum-seeker are delivered the necessary documents so they can earn a living in Canada and to protect their human rights.
We must do everything we can to resettle refugees in our communities, ensuring they are given the support they need to build successful lives and new homes here in Canada.”
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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, Avi Lewis - NDP Leader and Benjamin Fung - Canada Research Chair in Data Mining for Cybersecurity 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
IRCC taking 33 months to process applications in wake of 'lost Canadians' law
When Pascal Sud and Meisha Smith prepared in January for the arrival of their first child, the choice seemed simple.
Smith would give birth in her home country of Jamaica where she had family support, and then they would together return to Montreal three months later.
At the time, the wait time for the citizenship certificate that their daughter, Sofianne, needed to fly back to Canada was between four and six weeks.
But more than eight months later, they're still waiting.
Sud is back at work in Montreal while Smith and Sofianne are still in Jamaica.
"It's been very frustrating," said Sud. "I was lucky to be there for three months … but I've been missing every step since, and it's been very difficult to be apart from them."
He's not alone.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is struggling to handle a flood of citizenship applications — many of them from a change to federal law late last year that allows anyone who can prove they have a Canadian ancestor to apply.
That backlog is preventing Canadians born abroad like Sofianne from coming home.
According to the department's most recent update on Sept. 3, there are 136,000 applications waiting to be processed. Those applying for a citizenship certificate now face a wait of 33 months.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan called on the government to restore staffing and resources that were cut at IRCC, calling the processing delays "simply unreasonable and unacceptable."
*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-citizenship-lost-canadians-c3-backlog-9.7366981