Kwan added that we need to stop allowing profiteering on housing to take place.
“Corporate landlords and real estate investment trusts are trying to increase their profitability. They look for buildings that are underperforming. They swoop in and purchase them and try to push out long-term tenants that are there. Once they’re out, they jack up the rent.”
Kwan said the federal government needs to view housing as a basic human right.
“What we need to do is stop treating housing as a commodity,” Kwan said. “The provincial government is doing their best to address the housing crisis. They can’t do it alone.”
“We stand in solidarity with the 120000 Treasury Board workers who overwhelmingly voted for a strike mandate.
Workers at the Treasury Board have been without a contract for more than a year while the cost of living soars.
Seidu Mohammed knows the lengths that asylum seekers will often go to when trying to cross the border into Canada and he worries that a newly signed agreement between the U.S. and Canada will cause even more desperation and harm to those trying to get into this country.
“I am speaking from experience, I almost froze to death, I lost my fingers, and I know what this is going to do for people trying to come here to seek safety, and it’s going to make it even harder on people,” Mohammed said on Monday in Emerson near the Canada-U.S. border.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan criticized Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden for “secretly” signing the modified agreement a year ago but only making it public the day before the new rule took effect, on March 25.
“People who are persecuted for trying to escape discrimination, for trying to escape violence, for trying to escape rejection for being who they are, for trying to get to safety would be pushed further underground,” Kwan told Monday’s outdoor news conference amid a -15 C wind chill.
“Human trafficking will increase as a result of this rule.”
"Canadians who work hard and play by the rules should be able to get ahead. Unfortunately, under Justin Trudeau, Canadians are still paying among the most expensive cell and internet bills in the world and now, despite their conditions, Liberals just decide to make it worse by approving the Rogers-Shaw merger.
Right now, Rogers and Shaw CEOs Tony Staffieri and Bradley Shaw are popping the champagne and toasting the Liberal government for the helping hand.
Justin Trudeau and his team are showing once again that when push comes to shove, they are taking the side of the rich and powerful over the interest of working people.
Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day to celebrate the trans people in our communities, but also a day to recognize the ongoing struggles of the trans community. As we celebrate the hard-fought gains for trans rights made in Canada over recent decades, we must also be vigilant against attacks on our trans siblings here and across the world.
We must push back against the overt threats to trans health and wellbeing – like the wave of legislation being passed in the US to restrict life saving healthcare, gender recognition, and community participation – but also against indirect measures that will lead to the suffering of LGBTQ+ people.
That’s why, for years, New Democrats have been pushing and advocating for the establishment of a public beneficial ownership registry to make it harder for wealthy tax dodgers, corrupt businesspeople and sanctioned Russian oligarchs to hide their assets in Canada. This registry will ensure transparency so the government can ensure everyone pays what they owe in taxes and put a stop to money laundering that is increasing real estate speculation which makes it harder for families in Canada to find a home they can afford.
The NDP used the Confidence and Supply Agreement to force the Liberals to stop dragging their feet on combating tax evasion and money laundering and implement a registry this year.
New Democrats would welcome the swift passage of this bill so the government can begin negotiating with the provinces and territories to get the public beneficial ownership registry implemented as soon as possible.”