“People are anxious. They’re very worried about covering the costs of the everyday things they need, like gas and groceries,” said Singh. “Canadians are paying record-high prices at the pumps so that these big oil and gas companies can make more and more profits. This is exactly what is wrong with the system designed by Liberals and Conservatives – in times of crisis, the rich and powerful win – Canadian lose. It doesn’t have to be this way. New Democrats are urging the federal government to act and make things fairer for everyday Canadians.”
New Democrats are proposing that the government double the GST tax credit and increase the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for all recipients by $500. This would mean middle-class and low-income Canadians would get between $500 and $1000 to help them pay their bills. With these NDP proposals, at least 40 per cent of Canadians would get money back in their pockets to help with their growing expenses.
Canadian Press NEWS: Fraser pressed on why Immigration has not approved 2,900 Afghans who helped Canada
OTTAWA — NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan says she is seeking urgent answers about what has happened to the applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped the Canadian military.
Kwan is demanding Immigration Minister Sean Fraser explain why the Afghans, whose credentials were checked and verified by Canada’s military, have not had their applications to come to Canada approved.
Defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre told a parliamentary committee Monday night that the Defence Department had checked and verified the credentials of 3,800 Afghans, including interpreters, who supported the Canadian military.
Kwan said she is planning to pursue the matter vigorously with the department as the lives of Afghans who helped Canadian troops are in danger from the Taliban.
She also plans to ask if the Immigration Department has lost files of Afghan interpreters who want to come to Canada, saying the government has “betrayed them.”
Global NEWS: Immigration minister pressed on applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped Canada
NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan says she is seeking urgent answers about what has happened to the applications of 2,900 Afghans who helped the Canadian military.
Kwan is demanding Immigration Minister Sean Fraser explain why the Afghans, whose credentials were checked and verified by Canada’s military, have not had their applications to come to Canada approved.
Defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre told a parliamentary committee Monday night that the Defence Department had checked and verified the credentials of 3,800 Afghans, including interpreters, who supported the Canadian military.
But the committee heard from Eyre and Bill Matthews, deputy defence minister, that only 900 of them have had their applications to come to Canada accepted so far by the Immigration Department.
MEDIA RELEASE - Corporate pandering by Liberals and Conservatives puts housing prices out of reach
New Democrats propose real solutions to cool the housing market and provide affordable housing to Canadians
NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan and NDP Finance Critic Daniel Blaikie called on the government to help Canadians trying to afford a decent place to rent instead of allowing rich investors to buy up units and drive prices sky-high. Kwan and Blaikie shared Peggy Rafter’s story. Peggy is a low-income senior, who is facing renoviction from an apartment she’s lived in for 30 years. They were also joined by Bader Abu-Zohra, a local housing advocate and Co-Chair of the Ottawa-Vanier ACORN chapter.
"Huge corporations and wealthy investors are making big money by putting people like Peggy out of a home," said Kwan."The Liberals have to stop rewarding rich investors for buying up rental units and then jacking up the rent. This is what the financialization of housing means and it has to stop.”
MEDIA RELEASE - Canada Infrastructure Bank must serve people and communities facing greatest impact of the climate crisis
OTTAWA—Yesterday, a report from the Parliamentary Committee on Transport Infrastructure and Communities recommended that the government abolish the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). The Bank has widely been criticized for failing to address the needs of the communities it is supposed to help. While the CIB has received hundreds of project proposals, it has approved very few, neglecting projects which could help people in favor of a privatization agenda that helps maximize corporate profits at the expense of the public interests.
“Canadians are frustrated that the government isn’t investing in the infrastructure that communities desperately need in the face of the climate crisis. With the recommendation to abolish Canada’s Infrastructure Bank from the Transport Committee, the Liberals are at a crossroads because their current approach has failed,” said NDP Critic for Tax Fairness, Niki Ashton. “They have two options, let the Bank wither and die, having accomplished nothing but enrich their wealthy friends, or they can listen to reason, support my bill and use the Infrastructure Bank to support communities including Indigenous and Northern communities in the fight against climate change.”
MEDIA RELEASE - NDP MP pushes parliament to recognize genocide against Ukrainians
OTTAWA –Yesterday, NDP critic for Foreign Affairs, Heather McPherson, pushed Parliament to recognize that Russia is carrying out a genocide against the Ukrainian people. For weeks, there has been mounting evidence that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed against the people of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, including the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. McPherson says this motion is a confirmation that all parties agree about the severity of the situation and believes this is an important step to compel the government to provide more support for Ukrainians.
"Canadians are horrified by the reports they are seeing. The violence perpetrated by Putin and the Russian federation against the Ukrainian people must be labelled for what it is– a genocide,” said McPherson. “I moved this motion today to urge the government to do everything in its power to help Ukrainians who are fleeing violence. The government has been telling Canadians they’re doing everything they can, but we recently learned that the Liberals acted so slowly with their economic measures that a Russian oligarch had time to move his wealth --over 100 million dollars--before sanctions were imposed. The point of the motion is to reiterate our solidarity with Ukrainians as they fight through unspeakable violence and atrocities, and to put as much pressure as possible on the government to address the situation with the urgency needed.”
MEDIA RELEASE - The Liberal government is failing Canadians and our communities on the climate crisis
OTTAWA – Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh responded to the Environment Commissioner’s scathing reports that show the Liberal government is failing to provide credible plans to meet their climate goals or to support Canadians. The reports confirmed that, despite their promises, the Liberals are failing to address the climate emergency and they have no real plan in place to support workers, small businesses and Indigenous communities in transitioning to a greener future.
The Liberal government is letting big polluters off the hook, while the climate crisis disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities and small businesses. The reports shows that the Liberals are no where near reaching their climate goals and we’re lagging behind other countries on transitioning to renewable energy and meeting emission targets. Under the Liberal government, Canada is the worst greenhouse gas emitter of all G7 nations.
MEDIA RELEASE - The NDP is raising concerns about transparency for Canadians
“The use of the Emergencies Act was unprecedented, and Canadians rightly have many questions about how the government let the situation get to a point where that became necessary. Failures in leadership from several levels of government during the convoy crisis all contributed to the hardship Canadians endured. While governments argued over jurisdictions, people were abandoned. Canadians were abandoned because governments did not take the threat of this convoy seriously and took too long to act.
Canadians expect a thorough inquiry into the use of the Emergencies act and New Democrats support its broad mandate. However, the Liberals are doing everything possible to protect themselves from being held accountable for their delayed response to the illegal occupation. By claiming cabinet confidence, the Liberals are shielding themselves from scrutiny and this cannot be the government’s approach to the inquiry. Canadians deserve much better.
MEDIA RELEASE - After years of ignored reports, action on systemic racism in Canada’s military long overdue
Today’s report only amplifies what many people of colour, women, 2SLGBTQI+ and Indigenous people within the military have been saying for decades: systemic racism and discrimination is rampant in our armed forces, and real action to address this is long overdue.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives have failed to make systemic changes as numerous stories of discrimination and rising extremism within the military have gone unchecked. In the past 20 years, 41 panels and 258 recommendations alerted the government on the gravity of the situation, but just like reports of sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces, these calls for help were largely ignored. Service members and employees at the Department of Defence should not have to continue to wait for concrete steps to be taken to address systemic racism within the army ranks.
MEDIA RELEASE - Liberals fail to fix delays in our immigration system
“In his announcement today, the Minister failed to acknowledge the real reason why Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada quietly stopped the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Through an Access to Information and Privacy request, it was revealed that “These reductions are due to admissions space required to accommodate the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident stream and the resettlement of Afghan nationals to Canada.”
The truth is the Liberal government failed to listen to calls from the NDP and those affected by these delays to ensure adequate staffing and immigration levels are available to meet the announcement of these two new immigration measures.
The lack of transparency and communication from this government is appalling and an insult to the people who are trying to balance important life decisions around possible outcomes of their applications. It should not take an Access to Information request for those aspiring to come to Canada to learn the truth about the processing delays.