OTTAWA — On Wednesday, New Democrats used their power to force the Liberal government to invest in a For-Indigenous/By-Indigenous housing strategy for First Nations, Métis and Inuit living away from their home community.
A few days after Pierre Poilievre’s cut-and-gut Conservatives voted to cut funding for homes for Indigenous peoples, the NDP is delivering critical funding, and a For-Indigenous/By-Indigenous Centre responsible for channelling the funds through both national and regional Indigenous-led housing organizations. Through the Confidence and Supply Agreement, the NDP used their power to secure $8.3 billion in total federal funding to address the urgent, unmet housing needs of Indigenous people living in urban, rural and northern areas. This includes $4 billion dedicated to community distinctions-based funding and $4.3 billion for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living away from their home community.
Globe & Mail: Foreign interference a 'stain' on Canada's electoral process, Hogue inquiry concludes
NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who CSIS said has been targeted by Beijing, said Ottawa must do more to protect Chinese-Canadians from intimidation and disinformation practices during election campaigns.
Ms. Kwan said she hopes Justice Hogue will recommend that election monitoring be removed from the hands of senior civil servants who answer to the prime minister.
“The report noted there is an systemic failure of communications by the government to those who are targeted or impacted by foreign-interference actors,” she said. “I strongly believe what we need is one independent agency to be mandated as the lead to take on this work.”
She also said Justice Hogue needs to hold Mr. Trudeau and his top aides to account in the final report on how his government handled CSIS intelligence that warned about China state interference and disinformation efforts.