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City TV: Vancouver-based companies come under fire for business dealings with ICE

Slogans were screamed over loudspeakers outside of Hootsuite’s headquarters on Friday as a protest enveloped the Vancouver tech company’s office, calling for it to cancel a contract to provide social media services to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and, through them, ICE.

“I was absolutely ashamed when I heard about the contract that Hootsuite had with ICE,” said Michael Tan, a former Hootsuite employee.

Tan was one of Hootsuite’s first employees. He credits his career to that experience, but since he moved on in 2015, he says decisions like the $2.8 million contract they have entered into with DHS have left the company unrecognizable.

“When we started this company, where we grew this company to what it is, it’s that there were certain values, Canadian values, that were just so important to us,” Tan said.

“We became a big deal when it was used as a tool for journalists and citizens to organize in the Middle East, and it blew up overnight because of that. So Hootsuite became a success by enabling democracy.”

For its part, Hootsuite says its contract with the DHS does not include tracking or surveillance of individuals, but that’s little comfort to those critical of ICE.

“As we watch the violence unfold, as we watch their attack on humanity unfold, do we want to be a part of it in any way, shape or form?” said Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East.

Kwan adds that she supports a Hootsuite boycott.

“Canadians are expressing that point of view, and we consider their approach.”

Public Forum: The No More Loopholes Act: Canada's Arms Exports and Human Rights Violation

This public forum is intended to build public support for this legislation by all Members of Parliament.
On January 30, join CCMS for a discussion with Jenny Kwan, Adel Iskandar, and Rachel Small, moderated by Am Johal, regarding the No More Loopholes Act.

January 30 | 4 PM
SFU Downtown Vancouver Campus | Harbour Centre | Room 2270
515 W Hastings Street, Vancouver

Bill C-233, the No More Loopholes Act, is a private member’s bill put forward by Vancouver-East MP Jenny Kwan in September 2025 to press Canada to abide by the Arms Trade Treaty that it signed in 2019. Currently arms exported to the US are exempted and have ended up being used by Israel in Gaza, by Saudia Arabia in Yemen and many other places. The private member’s bill will be voted on in Parliament at Second Reading in late-February.

This public forum is intended to build public support for this legislation.
Speakers:

Adel Iskandar, Director, CCMS
Jenny Kwan, MP, Vancouver-East
Alex Neve, Former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada and 2025 Massey Lecturer
Rachel Small, World Without War
Moderated by Am Johal

Click image or link to reserve a spot - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-no-more-loopholes-act-canadas-arms-exports-and-human-rights-violation-tickets-1975666448531?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1*12d4ub6*_gcl_au*OTAyNjk5MDQ3LjE3NjkxMjM3NjM.*_ga*MTg3NjM2OTUzNy4xNzY5MTIzNzYz*_ga_R4BCVYL1QF*czE3NjkxMjM3NjMkbzEkZzEkdDE3NjkxMjM3NzYkajQ3JGwwJGgw

CJPME: TELL MINISTER ANAND TO CLOSE THE US LOOPHOLE!

For two years, the Liberal government has allowed arms manufacturers based in Canada to profit off genocide by sneaking unregulated and unreported weapons parts to Israel through the US.

This has been possible because of a giant loophole in our export laws. When Canada updated our laws in 2019 to align with the Arms Trade Treaty, the Liberals intentionally left the US loophole open, and corporations have exploited this weakness to maintain military trade with Israel, a genocidal state.

Now those same weapons are threatening the people of Palestine, Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, and eventually could end up trained back on us here at home.

That’s why we have partnered with MP Jenny Kwan to close the US loophole using her Private Member’s Bill C-233, the No More Loopholes Act.

Our bill has the government scared, because it exposes their hypocrisy and refusal to take meaningful action.

Will you join us in sending an email to Foreign Affairs Anita Anand and your local MP demanding they support Bill C-233 to close the US loophole?

Click image or link to support MP Kwan’s bill to close the US Loophole!
https://www.cjpme.org/no_more_loopholes_trump

Statement on BC Based Companies Hootsuite and Jimmy Pattison Development Working with ICE

MP Jenny Kwan Statement on BC Based Companies Hootsuite and Jimmy Pattison Development Working with ICE

I am deeply disappointed by reports that BC based companies Hootsuite and Jimmy Pattison Developments are linked to ICE in the US, through services contracted with the Department of Homeland Security and a proposal to lease out a space in Virginia for an ICE processing facility.

ICE has been at the centre of deeply harmful and violent immigration policies, including mass deportations, family separation, and the use of force that has led to the tragic loss of life in Minneapolis and other cities, including a Canadian in custody in Florida last year.

Canadian companies have a responsibility to uphold human rights wherever they operate. I have raised similar concerns about Canadian firms supplying equipment to U.S. 

immigration authorities, and these patterns should raise serious questions about business practices that support the normalization of creeping authoritarianism in the US.

Hootsuite and Jimmy Pattison Developments should critically reconsider whether partnering with agencies responsible for widespread human rights abuses aligns with the values they claim to uphold. Jimmy Pattison Group "emphasizes social and environmental responsibility, aiming to protect resources and contribute to communities." Hootsuite, on its own website, states amongst its values that "inclusion is what we do, " and commits to "give back to our communities and be an ally."

Red FM: CSIS urges vigilance on India even as Ottawa moves to repair relations

Canada’s intelligence agency is cautioning that India continues to pose a foreign interference risk, even as Ottawa and New Delhi move to rebuild diplomatic relations.

In its annual threat assessment released Wednesday, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) identified India among a group of states, including Russia, China, and Iran, believed to be engaged in foreign interference activities targeting Canada.

The report warns that interference linked to the Indian government extends beyond community-level influence and into Canada’s broader political landscape, urging continued vigilance from Canadian authorities.

The findings were made public just one day after Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to restore high-level diplomatic representation between the two countries and explore the resumption of visa services.

Relations sharply deteriorated last year after Canada and India expelled each other’s high commissioners following RCMP allegations that Indian officials were connected to organized criminal activity in Canada, including extortion and acts of violence.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Ottawa to take tougher action against transnational criminal groups. British Columbia Premier David Eby has called on the federal government to designate the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization, citing alleged extortion and threats targeting South Asian communities.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said no formal request has been submitted, noting that terrorist listings follow an independent review process. NDP MP Jenny Kwan has also urged the government to suspend intelligence-sharing arrangements with India until interference concerns are addressed.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://toronto.redfm.ca/csis-urges-vigilance-on-india-even-as-ottawa-moves-to-repair-relations/

Hill Times - Alex Neve Opinion: Time to close the U.S. arms export loophole

Prime Minister Mark Carney talks about pragmatic principles, but Canada’s weapons exports to the United States tell a different story.

This sitting, Parliament will vote on the No More Loopholes Act, a private member’s bill introduced by NDP MP Jenny Kwan. The legislation would tighten up our arms export processes, and finally require American-bound arms to be regulated the same way as all other Canadian military exports, subjecting them to transparency requirements and human rights risk assessments.

Carney has insisted that Canada must apply consistent standards and lead with its values. This is a true test of that claim.

If this country is serious that our way forward must and will be “principled and pragmatic” then the path we must walk is clear: close the U.S. arms export loophole. Subject all Canadian weapons exports to the same scrutiny. And stop pretending that selectivity is a form of principled foreign policy.

This is where the rubber hits the road. Will Prime Minister Carney contend with the world as it is, with principles at the fore? Or will he continue to capitulate to hegemons and arm their atrocities?

Hill Times: Housing Minister Robertson ‘well regarded’ for municipal background, but needs a vision for housing, say sector experts

NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s housing critic, told The Hill Times that Build Canada Homes has no minimum requirements for affordability in its projects, and that only the six sites that the government has announced will achieve affordability.

“Without setting specific targets at Build Canada Homes, there is no guarantee of affordability in future projects. According to CMHC [the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation], to retain housing affordability at 2019 levels, 430,000 to 480,000 new housing units need to be built annually over the next decade,” said Kwan in an emailed statement on Jan. 22. “CMHC will be cut by $860-million per year according to the Parliamentary Budget Office. The government should commit to increasing Canada’s share of non-market housing to a target of 20 per cent nationally to make truly affordable housing available to all. The Liberal and Conservative approach of relying on the private market has consistently failed to bring down costs. Build Canada Homes is no different.”

The Hill Times reached out to Robertson to ask about housing and measures to address the housing crisis, including Build Canada Homes and Bill C-4, but did not receive a response by press time.

Kwan said she and Robertson “get along personally, but that’s irrelevant to the housing crisis that Canadians face from coast to coast to coast.”

“Build Canada Homes was supposed to signal a ‘new era’ of federal action. But the PBO shows it will produce only 26,000 units over five years—a 2.1 per cent bump in completions when we need transformative investment. The prime minister talks about doubling housing construction, but the PBO is clear: there is no roadmap, no strategy, no coherent plan to deliver it,” she said in the email. “We need real federal leadership that takes a continuum-of-housing approach—sustained public investment, non-market housing at scale, and a commitment to treating housing as a human right, not a speculative asset.”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2026/01/28/housing-minister-robertson-well-regarded-for-municipal-background-but-needs-a-vision-for-housing-say-housing-experts/489512/

Nunatsiaq News: New Democrats do Nunavut

The federal NDP caucus met in Rankin Inlet last week for its winter retreat. The party’s MPs were treated to Nunavummiut hospitality, endured blizzards and heard about the challenges of living in the North, interim party Leader Don Davies said in an interview Monday.

“I’ve spoken to a few people who said that when you go North, you start falling in love with it,” he said.

It was the Vancouver-area politician’s first time in Nunavut. Davies has been interim NDP leader since the party’s former head Jagmeet Singh lost his House of Commons seat in last April’s election.

New Democrats are expected to choose a new leader at a convention in late March.

Generally, the NDP holds a caucus retreat a week before a parliamentary sitting. For this year’s winter retreat, its MPs chose Rankin Inlet. Parliament resumed Monday, following a six-week break that began before Christmas.

One purpose of the retreat is to get to know the people and places that make up their constituencies, Davies said.

Members spent the week meeting with community leaders and members.

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout couldn’t attend the first day because a winter storm prevented her plane from landing, she said Monday.

Her fellow MPs sat for several presentations she said were “received very well” and that helped inform them about “some of the realities that Nunavummiut experience,” Idlout said.

Davies said the issues faced by the rest of Canada seem to be “experienced more acutely in the North.”

“Learning about the history, the traditions, the pride of the Inuit, and everybody else who has made the North their home was really striking. It was eye-opening,” Davies said.

“We have housing problems in the rest of Canada, but nowhere else, I don’t think, is it as serious as we experienced in Rankin.”

Nunavummiut homes are often overcrowded. Residents told MPs they had been on housing waitlists for more than 10 years, Davies said.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/new-democrats-do-nunavut/

Island Social Trend: NDP MPs visit Nunavut ahead of 2026 House of Commons session

Before heading back to Ottawa for the upcoming session of the House of Commons, several New Democrat MPs spent a few days in Rankin Inlet to meet with Nunavummiut and hear directly from them about their priorities.

“I am proud to welcome my NDP colleagues to Nunavut, and for them to see firsthand the issues northerners are facing,” said NDP MP for Nunavut, Lori Idlout.

She hosted three MPs whose ridings are in BC: NDP Leader Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway), Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) and Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni).

“New Democrats are committed to hearing from community members and working with them to bring solutions to Ottawa,” said Idlout in an NDP news release on January 19.

“Throughout the country, families are facing a lack of affordable homes, high cost of food, and a need for more family- and community-sustaining jobs,” said Davies.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://islandsocialtrends.ca/ndp-mps-visit-nunavut-ahead-of-2026-house-of-commons-session/

Open Letter: Continue funding for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence