Media Statement: Immigration Levels Plan
Media Statement: Immigration Levels Plan
NDP Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Critic Jenny Kwan Responds to Immigration Levels Plan Announcement:
The Liberals have made a complete mess of our immigration system, and now, they are proposing changes just for show. Let me be clear, migrants did not create Canada's housing crisis. It's the result of failed housing policies of successive Conservative and Liberal governments.
The Prime Minister thinks that scapegoating newcomers will somehow turn his political fortunes around, the truth is, it won’t. During the last 9 years, the Liberals had every opportunity to change Canada’s immigration system, sadly, they have squandered the chance to do what is necessary to reform the system to be more responsive, efficient and fair.
It was the Conservatives that created the low-wage temporary foreign workers program in 2014 and the Liberals fueled it with its massive expansion. Not only was the program designed to devalue the contributions of these workers to benefit rich CEOs, it also exposed them to abuse, exploitation, and suppressed wages for Canadians.
Under Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre, immigration has become a funnel of cheap labour to big companies so they can exploit vulnerable workers and pay the lowest wage possible. They allowed International Students to be used as cash cows by certain post-secondary education institutions and provinces. They have created back logs in processing like we have never seen before causing families heartache and suffering as they long to reunite with their loved ones. They allowed essential workers who risked their lives in support of Canadians to fall out of status during the pandemic. And at a time when there are more people displaced due to conflict and the climate crisis, the government is cutting humanitarian support. Their litany of empty promises is a betrayal.
A New Democrat will change that. There is no doubt we need immigration to meet our needs. It’s time to take balanced approach, and restore what Canada used to have, an immigration system that is compassionate and offered permanent resident status on arrival to a wide range of workers that include both blue and white collar workers, from labourers to skilled and semi-skilled workers, care workers, service industry workers and more. Newcomers work hard to build a better future for themselves and their family while contributing to Canada's economic, social and cultural fabric. They deserve to be respected.
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The rally is organized by the Hong Kong Pathway Alliance. Similar events are also taking place in Calgary and Toronto.
The pathway allows eligible Hong Kong residents in Canada, including people who studied or worked here, to apply for PR.
People here say they have waited for years and still do not know when their applications will be finished.
“Right now I’m stuck in limbo. It’s been a year and a half. I haven’t heard back from the IRCC regarding my application, and we’re continuously arguing with, we’re continuously hoping that IRCC sees our cases,” said Vikrambir Singh, another demonstrator.
“There’s not just me, there’s 40,000 plus applications that are stuck in limbo, and we don’t know when they’re going to get processed.”
They also point to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) processing time tool, which now suggests new applicants could wait more than 10 years for their PR.
The Immigration Minister recently told Parliament that there have been more than 46,000 applications under the Hong Kong PR pathways, and just over 13,000 had arrived.
“And the minister’s solution is, “don’t apply under the lifeboat scheme”. What is she even talking about? That scheme was specifically designed for Hong Kongers, said MP Jenny Kwan, representing Vancouver East for the NDP.
“So, it is absolutely outrageous that she would renege on the government’s promise in suggesting that the Hong Kongers should apply under a different stream. It is absolutely unacceptable.”
The federal government introduced special measures for Hong Kong residents in 2020, after China imposed the national security law in Hong Kong.
*Click image or link to read or watch the TV news story - https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/06/07/demonstrators-rally-hong-kong-pr-processing-backlog/
OTTAWA—The Canadian government is considering the use of artificial intelligence to save time creating influential assessment profile reports of offenders as they go to federal prisons, and is running a small-scale trial to test it, the Star has learned.
Carney government releases AI road map that aims to make Canada a leader
Federal Politics
Carney government releases AI road map that aims to make Canada a leader
Mentioned in lengthy documents tabled in Parliament last month and confirmed by Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the test run comes as the Carney government tries to ramp up AI adoption, including with billions in a national strategy released this week.
But the prison trial, which CSC says has not yet been used in real cases, is raising concerns from AI experts, criminal defence lawyers and the federal NDP’s public safety critic, who argue a widespread adoption could lead to crucial errors, exacerbate racial biases and put offenders and victims at risk.
Criminal profile reports, as they are called, are detailed “foundational documents” prepared by CSC staff during a prisoner’s intake process that identify risks and play a role in major decisions like access to programs and likelihood of parole.
Drawing from scores of official documents, they include details about an offender’s criminal history, the circumstances of their crimes, patterns of violence or behavioural, mental health and addiction issues, family and social background, trauma history, education and employment records, and even victim impact statements.
“This is what defines your offence cycle,” criminal defence lawyer Nora Demnati said of those reports. “It will have an impact on everything else that comes.”
That’s why the Carney government should slow down and consult widely, including with the CSC union, its lawyers and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada before going further, said NDP MP Jenny Kwan, the party’s public safety critic. Neither the Union of Safety and Justice Employees or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have been consulted yet, they told the Star.
Kwan warned of a multitude of legal concerns that go both ways and can have a “cascading impact”: Violating the rights of inmates if mistakes are added to reports, on one hand, or hurting victims and prison staff if crucial information is missed by the AI summaries, on the other.
“When you have those kinds of risks associated with correctional policing matters, you can imagine what the huge ramifications might be,” Kwan told the Star. “You could potentially compromise people’s legal rights.”