An online petition has been launched, to try to keep a post office in the heart of Vancouver's chinatown from closing. As Travis Prasad reports, community supporters say the impending loss of the post office would be a disservice for many of the low income residents in the neighbourhood.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said it’s “unacceptable” that the plan could come after the Nov. 1 deadline.
“Communities, newcomers, and settlement agencies are left in limbo, unsure of what impact of the levels plan will have for Canadians and newcomers. This delay shows a lack of transparency and accountability from a government that claims to value immigration but can’t even meet its own deadlines, defined by law,” Kwan said in an emailed statement.
Bernhard said most people receiving permanent residency are already in Canada, usually on either a work or study permit. He said the system needs certainty in order to attract global talent to the workforce.
Shortly after the new session got underway, it made it back onto the notice paper, courtesy of then-freshly-installed Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab — this time, under a court-imposed deadline of Nov. 20, at which point the existing provisions would be automatically deemed null and void.
It was subsequently adopted on division — which, as Process Nerd readers are undoubtedly aware, takes place without a recorded vote — shortly after the fall sitting got underway, at which point it was sent to committee for further review. It was during the final phase of that process that the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois teamed up to add new provisions that would require anyone attempting to claim citizenship under the new rules to meet the same standards applied to all other immigrants, including a working knowledge of at least one of the two official languages, a basic understanding of Canadian history and security checks.
Shortly after the revised bill was reported back to the House, New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan served notice of a suite of amendments that, as she told iPolitics at the time, would effectively restore it to its original format.
For their part, the Liberals declined to formally endorse Kwan’s proposed changes, put forward two additional amendments, and are widely expected to vote with the New Democrats during the report-stage vote, which could take place as early as tomorrow afternoon.
The Liberals and NDP are pushing for a citizenship bill to move forward without Conservative changes that would require security screening and language checks before children born abroad to foreign-born Canadians could qualify for a passport.
Earlier this month, Conservatives, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, voted through a raft of changes to the government’s proposed legislation, known as Bill C-3.
The bill aims to reverse a change by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2009 that stripped people born into this situation, who are often known as Lost Canadians, of their automatic right to citizenship.
But the Conservative amendments to the Liberal bill – expected to go to a vote on Monday – would make people aged 18 to 54 clear several hurdles in order to inherit Canadian citizenship, putting them on roughly even ground with immigrants seeking citizenship.
They would have to pass an English or French language test, be subject to security screening to check for criminal activity and pass a citizenship test demonstrating knowledge of Canadian history.
Bill C-3 requires Canadian parents born abroad to demonstrate a substantial connection to Canada before they can pass on citizenship to a child born outside the country. They would need to spend a cumulative 1,095 days – the equivalent of three years – in Canada before the birth or adoption of the child seeking citizenship.
The Conservative changes would require the 1,095 days to be consecutively spent in Canada within five years, and not made up of a few weeks, months or days over many years.
In a debate in the Commons on Friday, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said her changes were “common-sense amendments to try and ensure that people who are obtaining citizenship by descent would have to go through the same processes as somebody who’s obtained citizenship through naturalization.”
But NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the amendments made at committee would create “a new class of Lost Canadians.” She said Canadians who travel or work abroad and have children there “should not be penalized for it.”
Experts warned that the Conservative amendments could create stateless citizens and mean Canadians granted citizenship at birth by the bill could be stripped of their passports if they do not meet the criteria once they turn 18.
The NDP and Liberal amendments, expected to be voted on next week, aim to restore the text of the original bill.
The government brought in the bill – a carbon copy of one that failed to become law before the election – in response to a 2023 Ontario Superior Court ruling.
A judge found that it is unconstitutional to deny citizenship to children born in another country to Canadians also born outside Canada. The last Liberal government did not appeal the ruling and the court granted the government a series of extensions – until next month – to make changes to the law. The government is applying to the court to extend the deadline further.
Don Chapman, a Lost Canadian who has been campaigning for decades to restore their rights, warned that the Conservative amendments, if not reversed, could make the bill unconstitutional and could lead to a further court challenge.
He also said the changes could mean that children of Canadians born abroad, granted Canadian citizenship at birth, could be stripped of their citizenship and even made stateless at 18 if they fail to pass a language test, a citizenship test or had a criminal conviction as a teenager.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan is looking to team up with the governing Liberals to scrap proposed restrictions to birthright citizenship for “lost Canadians.”
The New Democrat recently filed notice for several motions that, if passed, would delete amendments made by the House immigration committee to Bill C-3, also known as the ‘Lost Canadians’ bill, which would restore citizenship to people born in a foreign country to Canadian parents who were also born outside Canada.
Earlier this month, Conservative and Bloc Québécois committee members passed amendments that would require people eligible for birthright citizenship under the proposed law to fulfill residency and security requirements — similar to prospective immigrants.
The changes would force ‘lost Canadians’ to spend at least three cumulative years in Canada over a five-year span and demonstrate an adequate knowledge of either English or French to become eligible for citizenship.
“To say that I was disappointed is an understatement,” said Kwan in an interview with iPolitics. “To me, it is absolutely disgraceful… [so] I’m looking to restore the bill to its original form.”
“What [the Conservatives and Bloc] did conflates the rights of immigrants, who have to earn citizenship, to ‘lost Canadians,’ who actually have a birthright to pass on their citizenship to their children. To conflate those two things, I think it’s sneaky and I think it’s unCanadian.”
As Prime Minister Mark Carney attempts a diplomatic reset with China and India, his government has yet to name its candidate to oversee the promised foreign interference registry to address the threat of political meddling and transnational repression.
But as public attention shifts toward economic concerns over human rights, NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) says the federal government must “walk and chew gum at the same time,” and remain focused on protecting Canadians caught in the crosshairs of foreign influence.
“The federal government can’t take its eyes off the need to protect Canadians and our democratic institutions,” said Kwan, her party’s public safety and national security critic, in an interview with The Hill Times. Her comments came as Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand (Oakville East, Ont.) wrapped up travel to India and China for talks with government officials.
In her letter, Kwan, who is not a member of the committee because the federal NDP lacks official party status, said the incident “raises very serious questions about procedural fairness” and a potential misuse of authority.
Kwan said the announcement raises questions about the “discretion” that can be exercised by a minister or parliamentary secretary when it comes to cases involving performing artists, as well as the criteria the immigration department uses to deny entry to Canada, when no criminal record is present.
She wrote that the incident also touches on issues surrounding how such announcements can be made, as well as “the need to ensure that discretionary decisions respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada’s international obligations, particularly regarding freedom of artistic expression.”
“To that end, I respectfully urge the committee to look into this matter,” Kwan wrote.
“Ministerial accountability includes the role of parliamentary secretary. It is critical that Canadians and the international community are reassured due process is safeguarded, so that public trust in the fairness and integrity of our immigration and cultural exchange policies is (reassured,)” her letter read.
Kwan said looking into the matter would also provide clarity to Canadians who bought tickets to see the band play in Toronto and Vancouver.
MP Jenny Kwan’s Response to Prime Minister Carney’s Statement on Public Safety
The NDP wants a fair and balanced system that ensures public safety, due process and protects the civil liberties of Canadians. The Carney government’s introduction of Bills C-2 and C-12 are deeply flawed attempts to rebrand executive overreach as ‘border reform’ to appease Trump. These bills would strip away due process for refugee claimants, hand sweeping cancellation powers to the minister, and quietly expand surveillance and data-sharing authorities with minimal oversight. Canada should not let Trump shape our future. Canada’s immigration and privacy systems are being rewritten in ways that undermine fairness, transparency, and fundamental rights. While some of the most extreme elements were watered down in C-12, the core problems remain: too much power in the hands of cabinet, too few safeguards for vulnerable people, and virtually no accountability.
The hiring of 1,000 CBSA officers is a re-announcement that is long overdue. In 2012, the Conservative government, with Pierre Poilievre in cabinet, cut 1,100 border officers in one day, leaving Canada more vulnerable to illegal guns and drugs crossing into Canada. The Liberals have been in government for 10 years and they have failed to act.
The Customs Immigration Union (CIU), representing our CBSA officers, estimates that we currently lack as many as 3,000 border officers across the country. This means that border crossings are consistently operating with reduced staff who just do not have the time, means or support to effectively search for illegal firearms, contraband, stolen vehicles and work with asylum seekers.
The shortage of frontline workers has contributed to an escalation of illegal activities. For example, regarding auto theft at the Port of Montreal - the on-site space available for officers to perform expected inspections is severely limited with only eight officers to search the containers intended for exports.
In Vancouver, the elimination of the Port police by the Conservatives has escalated the drug trafficking problem for our communities.
The announcement today is only the first step.
There is an urgent need of increasing the number of frontline CBSA officers by 3000 as stated by the CIU. Furthermore, the Carney government needs to ensure these officers have the proper working tools and facilities to do their jobs and provide new CBSA training centre for new recruits. The NDP is further calling for the Carney government to bring back the Port police in Vancouver.