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Politics: ‘Slow as molasses’: Rollout of $4B housing accelerator fund criticized amid housing shortage

NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan said it was disappointing that the fund wasn’t getting rolled out sooner.

“It was disappointing even last year,” she told iPolitics on Wednesday. “It’s slow as molasses. Per usual, the Liberals always make promises and then they are always short on delivery. In the meantime, we’ve got a housing crisis.”

Kwan said the government needs to learn from the rapid housing initiative — another program aimed at boosting the housing supply — to ensure funding gets to municipalities and projects as quickly as possible. She also suggested that the HAF needs to be stackable with other housing programs and funding to ensure projects move forward.

Kwan said she would also like to see more focus on affordable housing and setting targets to help those who really need a home.

MEDIA RELEASE: NDP statement on extremism within Israel’s new government

NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson made the following statement

Globe & Mail: Immigration to Canada hits record high in 2022

The federal government has said immigration is crucial for the economy, and that it accounts for as much as 90 per cent of labour force growth in Canada. But critics of the plan have raised questions about the effects of higher immigration targets on the country’s already-unaffordable urban housing markets. And it is unclear whether Ottawa’s plan will help make up for shortages of labour in low-paid fields such as accommodation, food services, retail and health care assistance.
NDP immigration and housing critic Jenny Kwan said the federal government has missed an opportunity to give temporary foreign workers and undocumented workers permanent resident status. This would give them access to taxpayer-funded health care and allow them to live and work anywhere in Canada, indefinitely. (Temporary foreign workers are typically restricted to one employer and not allowed to switch jobs.)
“The government must stop relying on vulnerable workers and give them the protection of permanent status and ensure their rights are respected,” Ms. Kwan said in an e-mailed statement.
The flood of new permanent residents is expected to bring new homebuyers and renters to communities across the country. That could increase activity in the residential real estate market, which has slowed since early last year, when borrowing costs jumped with a rise in interest rates.

New York Times: Do You Want to Buy a House in Canada? Not So Fast.

Jenny Kwan, a member of Parliament who represents Vancouver East and the housing critic for Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party, said the law is missing the real culprits in the housing crisis. “The government must target real estate investment trusts,” or companies that invest in real estate for profit, she said. “We need to curb the financialization of housing.”

Canadian Press: As critics push Trudeau on China interference, Liberal MP says he has become ‘target’

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the Liberals need to take the allegations of interference more seriously.  “What has created a vacuum on the details of the information, in my view, is not the media but the prime minister himself,” the Vancouver MP said in an interview.
Kwan, who was born in Hong Kong, said the allegations “go to the heart of our democratic system” and argued that Trudeau and his ministers have given contradictory statements about them.  She noted that security officials have briefed Vancouver’s former mayor about possible Chinese influence in last fall’s municipal election. 

“The threat is real. Something is happening; we don’t know exactly what,” she said. “If the Liberals persist in hiding this information, they are not helping to clear the air.”

Canadian News: Ottawa urged to pressure Pakistan to stop deporting Afghans, speed up refugee claims

But that is cold comfort to NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, who says she has been warning the government about the impending deadline since the Pakistan government first announced its plan in October.
Kwan pointed to numerous reports in recent weeks of Pakistan authorities checking foreigners' visas and making arrests as proof of the threat.  "The situation on the ground for people who are trying to escape persecution from the Taliban is that this is not reassuring at all," she said. "The reality is that they are living in fear every day."
Kwan said she has personally received text messages about Pakistani police having raided a hotel where Afghan refugees were staying. "And the only way I'm told that people cannot get arrested in that process is to pay heavy bribes," she said.
"The reality is that people have been hiding, and they have not been working. They don't really have the resources to be able to afford to pay these hefty bribes. That is what's happening on the ground for people."

CBC: Refugee group partners with Ottawa to bring hundreds of LGBTQ Afghans to Canada

"Rainbow Railroad has a fantastic track record in helping to resettle members from the [LGBTQ]  community across the globe," said British Columbia MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP's immigration critic.
While she applauds the partnership with Rainbow Railroad, she said the federal government must expedite the resettlement process for " individuals who are being persecuted [and] whose lives are at risk.”

Kwan said wait times for processing refugee claims can take up to three or four years — the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada's website states the projected wait time is approximately 24 months — and vulnerable people such as LGBTQ Afghans don't have that much time to wait.

MEDIA RELEASE: NDP: Canada must lead by example in protecting the environment

In response to the agreement at the COP15 UN biodiversity summit in Montreal, NDP Critic for Environment and Climate Change Laurel Collins issued the following statement

CBC: Pierre Poilievre thinks he can win over new Canadians. Here's how he plans to do it

But the NDP's immigration critic, Jenny Kwan, threw water on the idea, saying in a statement that the Harper government cut settlement services for newcomers and made family reunifications more difficult.
Liberal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser didn't wade into the Tories' past, but in a statement said speaking to newcomers is the job of any political leader.
"Newcomers are not a voting block to pander to. They are Canadians, and soon-to-be Canadians."

MEDIA RELEASE: NDP MP Gord Johns calls for audit of government’s response to toxic drug crisis

OTTAWA – Yesterday, the Public Health Agency of Canada published updated data and modelling projections demonstrating the devastating toll the toxic drug crisis continues to have on families and communities across the country.

Between January 2016 and June 2022, 32,632 Canadians have died due to drug poisoning. The data shows that another 4,100 people may lose their lives in the first half of 2023 if urgent action isn’t taken.