As C-35 — a National Child Care Program — passes through third reading in the House of Commons, NDP critic for Families, Children and Social Development Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) issued the following statement:
“For decades, parents across Canada have had to scramble to find child care that suits their needs and that won’t break the bank.
After almost thirty years of broken Liberal promises, it took the dedication and relentless efforts of child care workers, advocates and New Democrats to push them to finally deliver a National Child Care program.
Left on their own, the Liberals would have delayed the National Child Care program even further. And Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives have a track record of opposing affordable child care for Canadians.
Thanks to the NDP’s pressure through the Confidence and Supply Agreement and child care advocates' tireless work, a National Child Care Program will include long-term federal funding for provinces and Indigenous peoples to deliver affordable, accessible, inclusive and quality child care that families deserve.
NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan who has been supporting international students welcomed the news but said Fraser failed to say if he’ll waive inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation or grant a pathway to permanent status for the students as called for systematically by the NDP. New Democrats urge the Minister on act on those quickly.
“While the task force evaluates these cases, the government must also ensure that these students will be able to continue to work or study in Canada—otherwise they cannot survive. If they don’t have an Open work permit or study permit, they cannot afford rent or food. And these students have already invested everything they had to come study in Canada. The Minister must urgently act to ensure they are supported,” she said.
“Today’s Supreme Court of Canada's decision regarding the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is a partial victory for advocates for asylum seekers' rights.
The Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, Canadian Council of Churches and others challenged the Liberal government in the Supreme Court stating that the STCA violates Section 7, related to right to life, liberty and security of a person, and section 15, related to equality rights within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In their decision, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that Section 15 on equality rights are just as important as every other human right and ruled that this challenge to the STCA should be sent back to the Federal Court for determination.
In particular, girls, women and 2SLGTBQIA+ people fearing gender-based persecution are adversely affected by the Safe Third Country Agreement. Even the government’s own lawyers acknowledged that the recent expansion of the STCA could increase the risks of human trafficking and sexual violence often disproportionately targeted at migrant women, girls, and 2SLGTBQIA+ people. They further noted that an urgent exemption for those faced with gender-based persecution is needed.
As Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, you also have the authority to exercise discretion and have inadmissibility waived to a broader class of individuals through a temporary public policy, under section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act. Once the task force has completed their important work, I urge that you use this authority to assist victims of fraud by having their inadmissibility waived.
I have continuously called on the government to waive inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation for these students who have been exploited by bad actors. As you know, students deemed to be inadmissible are subject to a 5-year ban from entering Canada. The international students have already suffered enough. Some have sold everything they own to pay tuition to complete their education and to hire lawyers. This is wrong and you have the authority to act.
I also continue to urge that you provide an alternate pathway to permanent residency to allow the students to remain in Canada.
I remain willing to work with you on this important matter so that we can find a solution for all impacted students and prevent further suffering.
Since then, Richmond city council has voted to effectively boycott use of the hotel. So has the BC Federation of Labour, whose secretary-treasurer Hermender Singh Kailley appeared on the picket line to mark the two-year anniversary of the strike.
So did NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who criticized the hotel’s owners for their position, noting they had received substantial federal funding during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting in 2020, the federal government contracted 38 locations across Canada to be used as designated quarantine facilities for international travellers, including the hotel.
However, the minister failed to say if he’ll waive inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation or grant a pathway to permanent status for the students as called for systematically by the NDP. New Democrats urge the Minister on act on those quickly.
While the task force evaluates these cases, the government must also ensure that these students will be able to continue to work or study in Canada—otherwise they cannot survive. If they don’t have an Open work permit or study permit, they cannot afford rent or food. And these students have already invested everything they had to come study in Canada. The Minister must urgently act to ensure they are supported.
We cannot ignore the impactful and strong advocacy by the community and the students themselves calling on the Liberal government to take action. It is admirable to see mothers from the South Asian community looking after international students as their own children. A sense of compassion and action from the community makes a big difference in the lives of these students away from their own families.
These students can count on me and the NDP to continue to advocate for them.”
Last Monday, Fraser in response to a query by NDP’s Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Jenny Kwan, had reiterated in Parliament that the 700 Indian students, mainly from the state of Punjab, “will have an opportunity to remain in Canada.”
Kwan, who has taken up the students’ case in a very forceful way, said in Parliament: “International students who have been defrauded by crooked consultants should not be punished with deportation and inadmissibility based on misrepresentation. They have invested everything they have for a better future. They work hard, they study hard and under very difficult conditions. They are under enormous strain and their lives are in limbo. The Liberals can eliminate this uncertainty by allowing them to stay in Canada and build the lives of their dreams.”
There are dozens of investigations into foreign interference currently underway in this country, and one of them involves Vancouver East MP, Jenny Kwan. The acting RCMP Commissioner says Kwan is one of three MPs involved in the investigation. Kristen Robinson reports.
Recently, the NDP MP for Vancouver East, Jenny Kwan, moved a motion at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration calling for deportations to be stayed, inadmissibility to be waived, and the affected students worked with to move them toward permanent residency. "We need to do everything we can for the genuine victims of this fraud scam for them to be made whole," said Kwan.
A second motion has called on the government to conduct a study on how this scam occurred and how the government and the CBSA failed to catch the fraudulent documents when they were first submitted as part of the visa application process.
During house debates on Monday, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said his team is working to develop a process to allow legitimate victims of fraud to stay in Canada.
"However, to the extent that people committed fraud or were complicit in a fraudulent scheme, they will bear the consequences of not following Canadian laws," he said.
"However, to the extent that people committed fraud or were complicit in a fraudulent scheme, they will bear the consequences of not following Canadian laws," he said.
OTTAWA – On Thursday, NDP Critic for Housing, Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) and NDP Critic for Indigenous Services, MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) secured $287.1 million for National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated (NICHI) to address the housing crisis for Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous, Metis and Inuit people leaving away from their home community. Under the Liberal government, Indigenous people are now 11 times more likely to use a shelter or live in inadequate homes than non-Indigenous people.
New Democrats have been relentlessly pushing for the government to close the funding gap. Today's announcement wouldn’t have been possible without New Democrats who forced the government to act by including support for Indigenous housing in their Confidence and Supply agreement with the Liberals.
