NDP MP Jenny Kwan faces questions from reporters on Parliament Hill on reports of talks between Alberta, Saskatchewan and the federal government over the development of a new pipeline. The negotiations, which British Columbia was not a part of, pertain to the possibility of a new bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the north coast of B.C.
Statement by MP Jenny Kwan and Alexandre Boulerice on Canadian Arms Fuelling Human Rights Violations in Sudan via UAE
New Democrats are deeply concerned about potential Canadian complicity in the conflict in Sudan via Canadian arms exports to the United Arab Emirates – the same country Prime Minister Carney visited this week to expand trade.
In response to a question from NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Alexandre Boulerice in Parliament on Thursday, Parliamentary Secretary Mona Fortier refused to answer whether the government will end potential Canadian complicity in the horrific war crimes committed by the RSF in Sudan, and suspend Canadian arms exports to the UAE.
The latest CBC investigation revealing Canadian-branded weapons in the hands of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces is nothing short of alarming — and it demands immediate accountability from this Liberal government. For over a year, open-source researchers and humanitarian experts have warned that foreign-supplied arms are fuelling atrocities in Sudan, including ethnic cleansing and the massacre of civilians in El Fasher. Now we learn that rifles bearing the logo of a Canadian company, Sterling Cross Defense Systems, have been verified in at least nine photos and videos of RSF fighters.
Canada has maintained an arms embargo on Sudan since 2004. We are a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty. Yet somehow, weapons produced by a Canadian manufacturer have entered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises — a conflict that has already killed more than 150,000 people and displaced over 12 million. That is a catastrophic failure of oversight.
While the Liberals say Canada has a “robust risk-assessment framework,” the facts tell a different story. Experts say Canada’s export-monitoring system is weak, opaque, and riddled with gaps that allow arms to be diverted through intermediaries such as the United Arab Emirates. Even Global Affairs cannot explain how these rifles reached a sanctioned paramilitary force accused of mass atrocities.
This is unacceptable. The Liberals must immediately launch a full investigation into any potential breaches of Canadian export or brokering laws, strengthen end-use monitoring, and close the loopholes that allow Canadian-made equipment to end up in the hands of human rights abusers.
New Democrats once again call on all parties in the House to support the “No More Loopholes” Bill C-233, introduced by NDP MP Jenny Kwan, that would strengthen monitoring and disclosure standards to prevent Canadian arms from being used in war crimes or harming civilians. Canada cannot claim to champion human rights abroad while failing to prevent our own weapons from fuelling conflict.
The "Lost Canadians" legislation, which aims to fix Canada's unconstitutional citizenship by descent rules, passed in the Senate Wednesday and received royal assent Thursday afternoon.
The term refers to people who were born outside of the country to Canadian parents who were also born in another country.
In 2009, the federal government changed the law so that Canadians born abroad could only pass down their citizenship if their child was born in Canada, but that was deemed unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court in December 2023.
The legislation proposed Canadian citizenship could be passed down to people born abroad, beyond the first generation, if the parents spent a cumulative three years in Canada before the child's birth or adoption.
Both Ontario Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith and B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan attempted to introduce amendments to clarify the adoption rules, but both were unsuccessful.
When the bill was still before the House of Commons, Conservative and Bloc Québécois members of the immigration committee tried to amend the legislation to state that the three-year period in the substantial connection test needed to take place within five consecutive years.
However, that amendment was removed by Liberal and NDP MPs before the bill was sent to the Senate.
At a news conference in Ottawa, a coalition of civil society organizations present a report detailing Canada’s alleged role as a “weapons corridor” for Israel.
Speaking with reporters are Rachel Small from World Beyond War, Haneen Muhanna from the Palestinian Youth Movement, and Alex Paterson from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. They are joined by NDP MP Jenny Kwan.
A recent report revealed Canada's continued shipment of military equipment to Israel via US weapons factories, despite Foreign Minister Anita Anand's announcement in August about "freezing all existing permits in 2024 that could have allowed military components to be used in Gaza."
The report titled, "Exposing the U.S. Loophole: How Canadian F-35 Parts and Explosives Reach Israel," stated that the evidence it provided "details hundreds of shipments from Canadian military manufacturers to the U.S. weapons factories that manufacture Israel's key warplanes, bombs, and artillery shells."
"The report also exposes, for the first time, Canada's role as a vital transit corridor for hundreds of shipments of European-made TNT en route to U.S. bomb-makers, and damning evidence of Canadian F-35 components being shipped on to Israel mere days after arriving at U.S. facilities," it said.
According to the data provided, at least "34 shipments of military aircraft components sent by American Lockheed factories to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the Israeli Air Force Base, and Israeli weapons manufacturers between April 2024 and August 2025 – immediately after receiving hundreds of matching shipments from Canadian manufacturers."
Meanwhile, "360 additional aircraft part shipments from Canadian manufacturers to Lockheed Martin's F-35 assembly facility in Fort Worth, Texas," were sent between September 2023 and August 2025.
It said that "150 shipments of Canadian explosives and flammable materials from General Dynamics facilities in Valleyfield and Repentigny, Quebec, to the U.S. Army Ammunition Plants that manufacture 2000-pound MK-84 bombs, 155mm artillery shells, and 120mm tank rounds for export to Israel.”
The report revealed that at least 433 shipments of TNT manufactured in Poland were sent to Quebec between October 2023 and November 2025, which were then transported to Canada and then to Israel.
It claimed that the TNT sent was "the 2000-pound MK-84 and I-2000 Penetrator bombs that Israel drops on Gaza."
Hundreds of shipments of explosives and fighter jet components have made their way from Canada to Israel by passing through the U.S. over the last two years, a new report by a group of four NGOs alleges, examining export data and U.S. Department of Defence contracts.
"These exports are bypassing all of Canada’s export controls because of the way they’re routed through the U.S., and nonetheless, they’re still making it to Israel and directly supporting Israel’s capacity to carry out war crimes in Gaza," said Rachel Small, a Canadian organizer with the World Beyond War activist group.
The report outlines 34 shipments of military aircraft components between April 2024 and August of this year that it says were sent to U.S. facilities belonging to Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35 fighter jet, before being transferred "just a few days later" to Israel.
The report also mentions 360 additional aircraft part shipments to an F-35 assembly facility in Fort Worth, Texas, 150 shipments of explosives from two Quebec facilities belonging to General Dynamics to the U.S., and 433 shipments of TNT sent from a manufacturer in Poland through to the U.S., and eventually Israel, after transiting via Quebec's Port of Saguenay.
“We have decided to put the interests of our country first—to vote against the budget but to help prevent an election,” NDP interim leader Don Davies tells reporters after government’s budget motion narrowly passes in the House of Commons with two NDP MPs abstaining.
The next nearest post office is about 0.5 kilometres way. Many customers do not drive and go to this outlet because it is within walking distance of their homes or their community centre, said Jenny Kwan, the NDP MP for Vancouver East.
“You have to remember we’re talking about community members in their 70s, 80s and even 90s. Walking is not an easy task,” Kwan said.
Some mail pickups are being redirected to Commercial Drive, nearly 3.5 kilometres away, according to SaveChinatownYVR.
“This post office serves some of the city’s most vulnerable and marginalized residents: low-income individuals, seniors, migrants, and people with disabilities who rely on physical mail for vital government documents, income assistance cheques, health care information, and personal communication,” the organization wrote on a recent social media post.
Kwan said she was alerted to the closure several weeks ago by a post office user who saw a notice tacked on the door.
She said the closure would be “devastating” for Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods, which are already struggling with poverty, mental illness and housing and the opioid crises.
It has triggered a campaign to save the facility, which supporters have called a lifeline for the community.
Canada Post said all its retail operations and business decisions go through an extensive review process to evaluate customer needs.
Wong said the post office is vital to the area, while a petition to save it from closure says it serves some of the city's most vulnerable and marginalized residents.
Wong said it was "definitely a shame" to hear of the planned closure, which would force cultural association operators and seniors in the neighbourhood to find another way to communicate.
"Especially in these days and age, the elders are getting older," said Wong. "If they start moving out, then it's just another inconvenience to everyone in the community."
Activist group Save Chinatown YVR launched the online petition, calling on Canada Post not to stamp out the Chinatown post office.
The petition says the post office serves low-income people, seniors, migrants and people with disabilities who rely on the mail for government documents and income assistance cheques.