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Media Release: MP Jenny Kwan Presents King Charles III Coronation Medals to Outstanding Community Leaders

Vancouver—Jenny Kwan, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, presented the King Charles III Coronation Medals to another 12 outstanding community members at Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre on February 24.

In December last year, MP Kwan presented the King Charles III Coronation Medals to 18 distinguished leaders in the community at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre.  This is the second medal presentation for the Vancouver East Member of Parliament.

The Coronation Medal was established to commemorate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III on May 6, 2023. It is the first Canadian medal to mark a coronation.

The King Charles III Coronation Medal is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to Canada or to a particular provinces, territory, region or community of Canada, or who have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.

Toronto Star: This new Canadian immigration program is being heavily promoted by recruiters. Here’s why that’s causing concern

While foreign caregivers welcome the government move to grant them permanent residence upon arrival, Dulaca said Ottawa needs to immediately provide details about eligibility criteria, application procedures, applicable job experience and what documents are required and accepted. Details should not be released only on the opening day.

The concern is echoed by MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic.

“There are serious concerns over the lack of any word from you on the details of such a program,” Kwan (Vancouver East) wrote in a December letter to Miller. “There is fear that your government could go back on its promise and that the new PR Pathway for Caregivers may not be put in place at all.”

 

City TV NEWS: Rally outside Vancouver college protests sudden termination of key English program

Dozens of students and instructors gathered at Vancouver Community College (VCC) Tuesday to protest the unexpected shutdown of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program.

LINC, which has helped thousands of immigrants learn English, secure jobs, and work toward citizenship, is set to be terminated at the end of March due to federal funding cuts.

The move has left over 800 students without a clear path forward and more than 30 instructors without jobs.

“We found out just before winter break, and this was the first opportunity to get people together to raise spirits, because people have been really down.” said Frank Cosco, president of the VCC Faculty Association.

Toronto Star NEWS: ‘An ordeal that doesn’t end’: Lost Canadians’ citizenship at risk with Parliament suspended

If Ottawa lets the deadline lapse and the two-generation cut-off is thus voided, affected lost Canadians could just come reclaim their citizenship. If the court cuts the government some slack and grants another extension in light of the circumstances, the uncertainty will continue.

“During that extension period, we could very well be in an election, in which case, no bills could be passed,” said MP Jenny Kwan, immigration critic of the opposition NDP, and a staunch supporter of the bill.

Media Statement: In Response to the Hong Kong Government’s Issuance of a Wanted List for Overseas Pro-Democracy Activists

I call on the Canadian government to take urgent and decisive action to:

1.   Strongly condemn the Hong Kong government’s NSL and the targeting of overseas activists, including Canadian citizens and residents, and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Hong Kong.

2. Impose targeted sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for human rights violations and the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms.

3. Stop according any special rights or diplomatic status to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade offices in Canada.

 4. Expedite the processing of PR application for Hong Kongers fleeing political persecution and to automatically renew their work and study permit in the meantime.

Global NEWS: UBC criticized for renting room to Hong Kong government for recruitment exam

“UBC, of course, can rent their space to anybody. However, from my perspective, I think that you should be looking at some ethical standards that should apply,” she said.

“In the very minimum, one would think that any organization, any institution that’s going to rent out a space to a government that is a regular, persistent, violent human rights violators, that they would apply some standards to it.”

Kwan suggested the university should have warned those taking the exam about the concerns regarding the NSL.

Kwan called UBC’s response “completely inadequate.”

“It’s just basically saying, well, it doesn’t matter. We’re blind to all of these issues,” she said.

“As a global institution, which is what UBC is, you would think that they would have a little bit more thought than to say, ‘We will just follow the regulations of basic rental requirements.’ That’s not good enough.”

 

Office Holiday Break Notice

Toronto Star NEWS: Canada launches ad campaign warning newcomers claiming asylum is ‘not easy’

When reached for comment, NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the new measures are an abrupt shift from past policy.

“This about face from Prime Minister Trudeau is a shameless and insidious attempt to use newcomers such as migrants, international students, and asylum seekers as political cover,” Kwan said in a statement emailed to the Star.

It’s a dangerous game on Trudeau’s part, said Kwan, in trying to “shift the blame for his failures” to asylum seekers — one she called “a recipe to further hype-up hate, resentment and discrimination toward racialized people.

“Instead of wasting $250,000 on advertising, they should be investing those resources in processing applications,” said Kwan.

Click this link to read the news story:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/canada-launches-ad-campaign-warning-newcomers-claiming-asylum-is-not-easy/article_254980a4-b0c0-11ef-8100-b728bff917e5.html

immigration.ca NEWS: Marc Miller to propose reforms to Canada’s Immigration and Asylum System

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Political opposition has also been vocal. NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan accused the government of scapegoating migrants for systemic issues, such as the housing crisis. Kwan called for a reversal of recent immigration changes, questioning their fairness to temporary residents and international students.

In response, Miller maintained that becoming a Canadian citizen is not a right.

Click this link to read the news story:
https://immigration.ca/marc-miller-to-propose-reforms-to-canadas-immigration-and-asylum-system/

Global NEWS: Sen. Woo downplays evidence that China ‘targeted’ MPs Chong, Kwan

In a statement, Kwan’s lawyer, Sujit Choudhry, said Woo’s allegation that the MP’s testimony was “flimsy” is “false and misleading.”

“It was CSIS who informed MP Kwan in a classified briefing that she was a long-time target of (Chinese Communist Party) interference and will remain an ‘evergreen target.’ MP Kwan testified and brought to the commissioner’s attention that she believed she had been de-platformed by Chinese community organizations,” Choudhry wrote in a statement to Global News.

Choudhry noted that CSIS officials testified that Beijing works through proxy agents in Canada’s Chinese diaspora and that Kwan is concerned the Chinese government used those proxies to target her for her advocacy on human rights issues in China.

“Senator Woo has every right to turn a blind eye to foreign interference actors and activities. MP Kwan chooses to use her voice to speak up and speak out to protect and defend Canada’s democratic institutions and processes.”

Click this link to read the news story - https://globalnews.ca/news/10888952/woo-downplays-china-targeting-chong-kwan/