NDP critic for housing, Jenny Kwan, and the critic for northern affairs, Lori Idlout, made the following joint statement:
STATEMENT: People in northern communities can’t afford more broken Liberal promises on housing: NDP
"For years, people living in northern communities have been dealing with a devastating housing crisis while consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments ignored their basic human rights. Houses in northern communities are often overcrowded, in desperate need of repair and many are filled with mould. Despite the Liberals promising to deliver an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy since 2017, Canadians are still waiting. Even these promises are not sufficient to meet the current housing needs which are hurting communities."
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The veteran politician plans to vote in favour of the Emergencies Act, but she promises that the NDP is not giving a "blank cheque" to the ruling Liberals
IN PARLIAMENT: VIDEO - Speak to support Bill C-242, the Reuniting Families Act
The super visa process is already in place, and the bill before us seeks to enhance it by addressing the high cost of the issue with respect to insurance coverage particularly, and then extending the period to which parents and grandparents can come to Canada under a super visa.
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The volume of calls and inquiries to the Immigration Department is through the roof and so is the frustration and helplessness among applicants who get no reply. ‘It’s been a total nightmare to have our lives in limbo,’ said one.
Federal Government To Reverse GIS Clawback with One-Time Payment
Since before the election, New Democrats have been hearing from seniors who have been seriously hurt by the Liberal government's unacceptable decision to claw back the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) from seniors who received emergency pandemic supports such as CERB. The NDP brought the issue directly to the attention of the Ministers before the election, sadly they just ignored it. For months, we continued to call for the government to fix this injustice immediately by excluding pandemic benefit benefits in the calculation of GIS eligibility.
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“I think the program design is flawed,” said NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan. The income and mortgage caps means “there are many homes that would not qualify.”
“You need to go to the core of the issue, to bring down the cost of housing and not necessarily look at mortgage subsidies,” she added.
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“It’s a start, and the NDP supports the measures in the motion, but the Conservative approach is not aggressive enough to meet the urgency of the housing crisis,” said NDP Housing critic Jenny Kwan.
Kwan put forward an amendment to the motion calling for a large campaign to build 500,000 social-housing units, but the Conservatives didn’t support it.
MEDIA RELEASE: Liberals failing on responsibilities to people in Afghanistan: NDP
OTTAWA– Today marks six months since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan which launched the country into the worst humanitarian crisis in decades. Since Canada pulled out of Afghanistan the situation has become desperate. Children are facing starvation and over 18 million Afghans are in need of emergency aid right now. The NDP’s critic for immigration, Jenny Kwan, and the critic for foreign affairs, Heather McPherson, are calling on the Liberal government to change its insufficient and unnecessarily bureaucratic response and immediately begin helping those people who are suffering.
“This past summer Canadians were horrified by the violence the Taliban used against people in Afghanistan. Six months later and the conditions for people there are certainly not improving,” said Kwan. “The Canadian government has a responsibility to people in Afghanistan and the Liberals must do everything in their power to help as many people as possible.”
The Criminal Code currently prohibits any individual from delivering goods or financial assistance that will benefit a terrorist organization like the Taliban, making it very difficult for humanitarian organizations from Canada to help Afghans trying to feed their families due to their fear of prosecution. Canadian humanitarian organizations have repeatedly asked the Liberal government to provide an exemption, as other countries have, that would allow them to deliver the aid that Afghans desperately need. The Liberal government has failed to respond to this call appropriately, leaving millions of Afghans, including children, on the brink of starvation and vulnerable to an escalating humanitarian crisis.