Two years ago, NDP MP Jenny Kwan protested that the federal Liberals were directing less than one per cent of their social housing budget to B.C., despite the province being home to 11 per cent of the nation’s population.
The stark imbalance has improved since Kwan aired her complaints.
“Since exposing that B.C. only got 0.5 per cent of the funding, I’m glad to report that more funds have begun to flow to B.C.”
The "supply-and-confidence" agreement struck between the governing Liberals and the opposition New Democrats could affect the kind of legislation Canadians can expect to see pass through Parliament between now and 2025.
According to the deal, those key policy areas are climate change, health care spending, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, economic growth and efforts to make life more affordable.
With housing prices skyrocketing under the Liberal government, more than ever, Canadians need affordable housing in this country. There must be transparency in the advancement of the right to housing. There must be someone holding the government to account on their promises to address the housing crisis people are facing across the country. The Liberals cannot be sweep yet another unfulfilled campaign promise under the rug.
Additionally, I am concerned that the Minister seems to be satisfied with the processing of family reunification applications. The backlog for outbound family reunification applications are significantly delayed, including the reunification of children of asylum seekers. For these refugee families, the current wait times in processing now reach upwards of two to three years for dependents of refugee, far from any processing service standards.
Jenny Kwan, NDP immigration critic, said while she is glad to hear the government is finally taking action to address the immigration backlog, these problems have existed for a very long time.
In an interview, she noted that Fraser excluded the need to address family reunification with respect to the backlogs.
The minister needs to create service standards for all industries and not only some, she said, adding that applicants in the caregiver stream do not receive timelines for processing their application.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s immigration critic, told The HillTimes that, despite having an awareness of what was to come in Afghanistan, the Canadian government did not adequately prepare.
“The situation has been chaotic right from the get-go,” she said.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the skilled worker program is an important immigration stream for Canada and the current pause “will not only put people’s lives in limbo, but result in missed opportunities for Canada, risking that applicants may choose to emigrate to another country that recognizes their talent and experience.”
“Failing to address the backlogs will ultimately create more work for immigration as documents expire and the circumstances of applicants change. It will also fuel additional inquiries by applicants because they are concerned about a lack of progress in their applications. All of this serves only to further tie up the department’s resources.”
MP Jenny Kwan, who represents the riding of Vancouver East that straddles both neighbourhoods, said she's been advocating for more financial grants for the community at the federal level.
She's also among those lobbying for the neighbourhood to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which would deem it an international landmark with legal protection and could help secure the funding to preserve and maintain its streets.
"We need to do it, and work together to recreate Chinatown with its history and to value its character," she said. "But we need capital investment."
“Projects that would provide affordable homes to vulnerable individuals are falling to the wayside because the federal government is not there to provide support,” said NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan in calling for more funding.
The program targets those who are, or at risk of becoming, homeless, but experts say it is only one part of a larger solution the country needs to address an affordability crisis.
NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan said the situation requires the federal government to move quickly to expand the stock of affordable housing, and increase atax on foreign buyers to dissuade them from snapping up investment properties.
"This crisis is only going to get worse as long as the federal government continues to allow housing to be treated like the stock market," Kwan said.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) , her party’s housing critic, said that in terms of immigration, “the people who may be coming, would be a range of different people.”
“Some of them are already here who are working hard already to support the Canadian economy in a variety of ways, some of them are renters, some of them are trying to get into the market, and some of them may have the capacity to own,” said Kwan.
“What we absolutely need to do is to ensure that we provide housing in the full spectrum, and if we don’t, all that is going to do is put upward pressure on the demand for affordable housing,” said the MP in an interview with The Hill Times last week.
“I have had seniors come to my office in despair because their GIS (Guaranteed Income Support) has been cut and they don't know what to do. The rent is due and they have no other option,” said Kwan. “I've had seniors who've received eviction (notices) as a result of that … and been evicted and rendered homeless.”
The NDP has consistently pushed for a wealth tax, closing corporate tax loopholes, and providing a guaranteed livable basic income.
In the 2021 election, a one per cent tax on wealth over $10 million was a key plank of the NDP platform. Leader Jagmeet Singh also previously made an opposition day motion to implement a one per cent tax on wealth over $20 million.