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TOWNHALL Meeting April 4: Saving Our Environment

Tuesday, April 11, 7 pm at Italian Cultural Centre Trattoria (3072 Slocan St)

Hosted by MP Jenny Kwan and MP Don Davies

with special guests Dr. Melissa Lem, Grand Chief Stewart Philip and Adele Liu

RSVP by phone: 604-775-5800 or https://m.facebook.com/events/1720681445000494?mibextid=Z0UBBX

Canadian Press: Budget 2023: Liberals follow through on big promises in deal with NDP

Here are the key NDP-approved initiatives that were penned into the agreement and made it into this year's budget:

Dental care

GST rebate

Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

Anti-scab legislation

Green economy

Indigenous housing

Beneficial ownership registry

Canadian Press: Budget 2023: Liberals follow through on big promises in deal with NDP

OTTAWA -  The Liberal government has continued to fulfil its promises to the NDP within its second federal budget since the parties struck a confidence-and-supply agreement in March 2022.

New Democrats have agreed to prop up the minority government on key votes, including budgets, until June 2025 in exchange for movement on shared priorities.
Here are the key NDP-approved initiatives that were penned into the agreement and made it into this year's budget:

CBC National: Parents applaud push to close citizenship gap for foreign-born adopted children

The committee introduced an amendment, championed by Kwan, calling for the creation of a test to determine if a potential Canadian has a "substantial connection" to Canada.

The test written into the amendment states that the potential Canadian has to live in the country for 1,095 days — the equivalent of three years.

The committee also introduced a second amendment saying that any current first-generation citizen born abroad with a "substantial connection" to Canada can pass on their citizenship to their kids born abroad, provided those citizens were born after the 2009 law was adopted.

Van Sun: Douglas Todd: NDP goes after housing 'profiteers' in cabinet and big business

“Real estate investment trusts enjoy preferential tax treatment, and the seven largest REITs alone have saved a combined $1.5 billion through federal tax loopholes,” Kwan said in her private member’s bill.

The NDP is calling for a moratorium “on the acquisition of affordable homes by financialized landlords, including REITs and corporate firms” — and for REITs’ tax rebates to instead go into social housing….

On another housing front, Kwan is trying to change how tenants often find it impossible to learn the names of their landlords.

Her private member’s bill seeks to “mandate landlords to disclose property ownership,” since Kwan said many people who own rental housing hide their identities through numbered companies.

CTV: MPs vote to launch study into China's 'intimidation campaign' against Michael Chong

Seemingly already acting on the prime minister's orders, on Wednesday afternoon, NDP MP Jenny Kwan told CTV News that CSIS contacted her on Tuesday to arrange a "more in depth" briefing with her.

It was not immediately clear the reason, but Kwan said she thinks it is because of the requirement to reach out to any MP "who might be impacted." The meeting will happen once she's back in Ottawa, Kwan said.  

Humber News: Some Hong Kongers in Canada find it’s hard to stay as special program ends

Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East and the NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said Ottawa needs to review the program as the program’s limitations barred many Hong Kongers from seeking permanent safety here.

“The scheme is fraught with problems and barriers,” Kwan said. “Many people would have graduated more than five years ago, and they are not able to get into the scheme.”

Kwan said Ottawa should “have a reality check” and overhaul the program by extending the deadline and expanding its eligibility.

“I raised concerns to the minister (Sean Fraser) about the looming deadline,” she said. “The government must make a decision quickly. there will be people left out otherwise.

“The Canadian government said we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong,” she said. “If that’s the case, they need to take action, otherwise it’s meaningless, then the policy is not worth the paper that is written on.”

Globe: Critics question Harjit Sajjan’s revelation he didn’t check e-mail during fall of Afghanistan

Asked by The Globe on Parliament Hill Thursday to clarify what he said, Mr. Sajjan declined to answer questions, saying he was late for a meeting.

During Question Period on Thursday, NDP MP Jenny Kwan called the revelations shocking. “Does the Prime Minister really think this is acceptable?” she asked.

Neither the Prime Minister nor Mr. Sajjan were at Question Period, leaving Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to respond. He defended the government’s response to the crisis in Afghanistan, saying Canada helped to save thousands of lives through its evacuation efforts.

Alberni Valley News: Federal NDP want non-profits funded so they can buy and rent out apartments

A housing acquisition fund would help non-profits across the country provide enough affordable apartments to make a difference in the housing crisis, says the federal NDP.

New Democratic Party housing critic Jenny Kwan was in Nanaimo on April 13 to tour a newly opened seniors independent living facility on Labieux Road and call on the federal government to take action to address the national housing crunch.

Kwan, MP for Vancouver East, was in Nanaimo last summer to hold consultation about housing, and has since toured across the country having similar conversations.

Moving2Canada: Canada updates dual intent to prevent unnecessary rejections

Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) immigration critic, Jenny Kwan, has long been lobbying the federal government to address the failure of dual intent to protect Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) applicants from entering the country to reunite with their spouses.

“I continue to be concerned that it may set much higher expectations for them to demonstrate that they intend on leaving the country once the TRV is expired,” Kwan wrote, “Many applicants going through the spousal sponsorship process have expressed their frustration with having been repeatedly denied dual intent TRVs for not satisfying immigration officers that they will leave Canada, despite providing documentation to show strong ties to their country of origin and a history of respecting previous visa restrictions.”

Kwan has tabled a private member’s bill stipulating that loved ones with family sponsorship applications waiting to be processed may not be refused entry to Canada as a temporary resident solely on the grounds that they have not established they will leave before their documents expire, unless they have a history of non-compliance with requirements to leave Canada or another country.

CTV: 'We’re not empty investments': Toronto tenants say they wait months for bug infestations, flooding

Tenants and politicians are warning Toronto will see more people experiencing homelessness if action isn’t taken to address the city’s housing crisis.

NDP Housing Critic and Vancouver MP Jenny Kwan is travelling in Ontario calling for the federal government to bring in a moratorium on the acquisition of housing by corporate landlords, and to close tax loopholes associated with Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

“Those investors right now do not pay the corporate tax rate. Even though they operate like a corporation. And the government has given them a tax break for all these years. The corporate tax rate is 38 per cent, but they don’t pay that corporate tax,” Kwan said at a press event in St. James Town, in northeast Toronto, on Tuesday.

Canadian Press: Senator says several cabinet ministers knew she was issuing travel docs to Afghans

Sajjan and Mendicino did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and former ministers Garneau and Monsef could not immediately be reached.

In a statement, the immigration department says it can't give further details because of ongoing litigation.

After the meeting, NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said ministers needed to provide clarity to the committee.  "The real question, for me, is ministerial accountability," Kwan said.

MEDIA RELEASE: Liberals’ failure to come to the table with a fair deal for workers will worsen immigration system

“The NDP stands in solidarity with the 155,000 federal civil public servants who overwhelmingly voted for a strike mandate—including workers from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). They have been without a contract for over a year. These workers deserve respect.

Justin Trudeau’s government’s failure to come to the table with a fair deal—that considers the impacts of inflation and values the work of federal civil public servants during the pandemic—threatens to worsen an immigration system already in chaos.