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.
“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.”
“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.”
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.
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.
“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.
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.
OTTAWA — On Monday, NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) will table amendments at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to reverse a policy enacted by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives that stripped second generation Canadians and their descendants born abroad from their right to citizenship. This policy was never fixed under Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, and Kwan says it’s time to fix this injustice that destroyed lives.
“This punitive measure has caused so much hardship and pain for Canadian families. Their lives are in limbo and too many are having to struggle with forced family separation. Some Canadians even found themselves to be stateless,” said Kwan. “It is time to fix this injustice once and for all.”