As part of the NDP’s effort to tackle systemic racism and discrimination, earlier this year, Julian tabled a bill that would prevent anyone from selling and displaying symbols that promote hatred. The symbols that would be banned are Swastikas and other Nazi emblems of the genocidal regime, Klu Klux Klan symbols and the Confederate flag, symbols of slavery, racism and of white supremacy.
“Symbolic gestures don’t eliminate hateful and violent crimes against Indigenous people, Black, Asian and other marginalized communities,” said Julian. “We need real action with tangible objectives. People are tired of hearing pretty words. They want their government to stop the spread of hate in our communities. And this bill is one of the tools that the NDP is putting forward to combat hate, racism, discrimination and extremism.”
Statement from NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan on Federal Housing Advocate's Report
After a recent damning report from the Parliamentary Budget Office critiquing the policy design of Build Canada Homes, the Federal Housing Advocate’s report today exposes major additional gaps in the Federal government’s housing policies, revealing that the government has allowed homelessness to escalate while relying on inadequate, short-term fixes. Across Waterloo, London, Hamilton, and Toronto, the Advocate heard consistently that people living in encampments face unsafe shelters, inaccessible housing, and constant threats of eviction. These conditions are the predictable outcome of inadequate policy development, underfunding, and enforcement-first approaches that criminalize survival.
The report’s recommendations make clear what needs to be done. Federal investments must be expanded and sustained with a human rights-based approach, including meaningful engagement with encampment residents, municipalities, and Indigenous organizations, and evaluation of programs like the UHEI to ensure lessons inform future strategies. Adequate pathways out of encampments require scaling up deeply affordable and supportive housing, integrating health care, and protecting people from forced evictions that exacerbate trauma and risk, especially during extreme weather.
The report also emphasizes the urgent need for culturally specific and trauma-informed Indigenous supports, gender-responsive housing, and protections for refugee claimants. Community organizations must be empowered and resourced rather than monitored and penalized. All federal housing initiatives, from Build Canada Homes to the National Housing Strategy, must embed a human rights framework, set clear outcomes, and provide sustainable funding to ensure real change along the continuum of housing, including setting clear targets of 40 percent of housing set to 30% of income.
Canadians are witnessing the consequences: lives put at risk, and systemic inequalities entrenched. The Prime Minister and Housing Minister cannot continue to defer responsibility. They must act immediately to align federal policy with human rights, expand investments, end criminalization, and commit to long-term, trauma-informed solutions that actually meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. I call on the Prime Minister and Housing Minister to follow through immediately on the recommendations from these two reports.
