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OPEN LETTER: Serious concerns on recent federal and BC housing initiatives

Public funds should guarantee affordable homes for people—not guaranteed returns for developers and speculators.  

Today, I sent an open letter to federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson and provincial Housing Minister Christine Boyle urging them to immediately reconsider recent housing policies that bail out private developers at the expense of everyday British Columbians.  

The federal government’s new "Condo Conversion" program plans to allocate billions of taxpayer dollars to buy up or convert unsold, investor-oriented condominium inventory. Meanwhile, local governments are being pressured to slash development fees and community amenity contributions.  

When the housing market was booming, developers pocketed massive private profits. Now that the speculative market is cooling, taxpayers are being asked to shoulder their financial risks. This is fundamentally unfair and completely misses the mark.  

The central problem in Metro Vancouver isn’t a shortage of high-end market condos—thousands of units are sitting empty and unabsorbed. The problem is a severe shortage of homes that working families, renters, seniors, and young people can actually afford.  

Imagine what we could achieve if those billions were invested directly into constructing and acquiring permanently affordable public, co-operative, Indigenous, and non-profit housing. Furthermore, the federal government needs to step up as a true partner to British Columbia by providing ongoing operating subsidies for affordable housing projects—the Province cannot be expected to carry this load alone.  

*Click [ Read more ] to read my open letter to the federal and BC Housing Minister.

Global News: Liberals dismiss ‘tinfoil hat’ privacy fears as lawful access bill passes

Liberals are dismissing the privacy concerns surrounding the government’s lawful access bill as “tinfoil hat” and “paranoid” conspiracy theories, even after amending the controversial legislation to address some of those issues.

The House of Commons passed Bill C-22 on Thursday before breaking for the summer, a day after approving a motion to fast-track the bill and end debate at the public safety committee, which was then forced to approve it just before midnight without debating dozens of outstanding amendments.

The amended bill will now head to the Senate.

The legislation would give law enforcement the ability to get access to digital information more quickly and easily for investigations under a judicial warrant.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who represented her party during the committee’s study, also criticized the process and said the amended bill “did not fix the central problem: Canadians are still being asked to trust broad surveillance powers, secret orders, and future regulations that Parliament itself has never fully examined.”

“Canadians deserve legislation that protects both public safety and fundamental rights,” Kwan said in a statement Thursday.

“Instead, the government chose to curtail committee debate while dozens of amendments remained under consideration. The centralizing approach of the Carney government continues.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://globalnews.ca/news/11911957/lawful-access-bill-passes-privacy-liberals-tinfoil-hat/

Toronto Star: How the Carney government will scale back its police powers bill: sources

OTTAWA—The Carney government is set to tweak some parts of its controversial reforms to police search powers, as it tries to push the bill through Parliament in the face of widespread opposition.

The Star has learned the Liberals are preparing to halve the time electronic service providers would have to retain Canadians’ metadata from one year to six months, according to two sources with knowledge of the changes who requested anonymity to speak freely.

A two-year expiry to potential ministerial orders requiring a company to upgrade their systems to make it easier for police to intercept private communications will also be added to the legislation, according to the sources. 

The Carney government is also expected to add “protections for encrypted communications,” as Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree promised this week, after critics warned that wording in the legislation — which gives providers the option to refuse compliance if it would introduce a “systemic vulnerability” — was too vague. It’s not yet clear what exactly that will look like.

Those concessions and other proposals from opposition parties are expected to be presented at a committee meeting Thursday, a final marathon hearing in the House of Commons after the Liberals moved to shut down debate and accelerate the legislation while accusing the Conservatives of obstructing Parliament.

Bill C-22, the lawful access legislation long-sought by Canadian police and spy agencies who say it’s a necessary modernization, still has to pass through the Senate before becoming law.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.thespec.com/politics/federal/how-the-carney-government-will-scale-back-its-police-powers-bill-sources/article_d5b6c356-8a7d-503b-aa71-8a570e30ae04.html

MEDIA RELEASE: NDP Public Safety Critic Jenny Kwan Condemns Liberals' Push to Fast-Track Bill C-22, Demands End to Secret Surveillance Powers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NDP Public Safety Critic Jenny Kwan Condemns Liberals' Push to Fast-Track Bill C-22, Demands End to Secret Surveillance Powers
 
New Democrats remain deeply concerned about Bill C-22 and the government's decision to force the bill through committee before parliamentarians had a meaningful opportunity to debate the full package of amendments adopted last night or listen to the concerns of civil liberties organizations across the country. While several amendments partially improve the legislation, they do not resolve its fundamental civil liberties and privacy concerns. The government fixed some of the most obvious problems in Bill C-22, but it did not fix the central problem: Canadians are still being asked to trust broad surveillance powers, secret orders, and future regulations that Parliament itself has never fully examined.

We welcome changes clarifying that electronic service providers cannot be compelled to introduce systemic vulnerabilities into their services and that providers cannot generally be forced to decrypt information they do not control, although loopholes and vague wording in these definitions still leave much room for concern.

However, concerns around lower thresholds for Canadian and foreign law enforcement to access personal information went unaddressed and the bill continues to create sweeping new surveillance authorities while granting significant discretion to ministers and Cabinet behind closed doors. The government has preserved broad powers to require the retention of metadata deemed "essential" for law enforcement and national security purposes, despite longstanding concerns that metadata can reveal intimate details about a person's life, associations, movements, and activities. The bill also continues to rely heavily on secret orders, confidentiality requirements, and regulatory powers that will receive far less parliamentary scrutiny than primary legislation.

Although new review and reporting provisions involving the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency are welcome, oversight after the fact is not a substitute for robust safeguards before personal information is collected, retained, or accessed.

Canadians deserve legislation that protects both public safety and fundamental rights. Instead, the government chose to curtail committee debate while dozens of amendments remained under consideration.  The centralizing approach of the Carney government continues.

New Democrats believe Parliament must carefully examine any legislation that expands state surveillance powers, affects digital privacy, or risks eroding civil liberties. Bill C-22 falls far short of that standard, and Canadians deserve better.

Associated Press: Minister says ‘lost Canadians’ must prove link to Canada in each generation

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Lena Diab says having a Canadian ancestor does not guarantee someone is eligible for Canadian citizenship.

Diab was pushed in question period Tuesday by Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner to state how many people got proof of citizenship under the new citizenship-by-descent law using inaccurate documents.

An unknown number of people who received citizenship certificates under the new law received letters from the federal government over the weekend demanding that they surrender them. A statement from the immigration department says “a limited number” of people received these letters.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2026/06/16/lost-canadians-told-to-surrender-citizenship-certificates-are-searching-for-answers/

 

CBC News: NDP wants minister to explain why citizenship certificates were abruptly suspended

The NDP's Jenny Kwan wants Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab to explain why her department abruptly suspended citizenship certificates issued to an unknown number of people around the world.

In an open letter on Tuesday, the NDP's immigration critic called on Diab to reveal how many certificates have been suspended by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and what prompted the move.

She also said Diab must halt any "adverse action" against affected certificate holders until a review has been completed.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-citizenship-suspension-diab-9.7237737

OPEN LETTER: Kwan Demands Immigration Minister Immediately Freeze Recall of Bill C-3 Citizenship Certificates

OPEN LETTER: Raising concerns on continued delay in fully implementing the Foreign Influence Transparency & Accountability Act

City News: Demonstrators hold rally for Hong Kong residents facing PR processing backlog

The rally is organized by the Hong Kong Pathway Alliance. Similar events are also taking place in Calgary and Toronto.

The pathway allows eligible Hong Kong residents in Canada, including people who studied or worked here, to apply for PR.

People here say they have waited for years and still do not know when their applications will be finished.

“Right now I’m stuck in limbo. It’s been a year and a half. I haven’t heard back from the IRCC regarding my application, and we’re continuously arguing with, we’re continuously hoping that IRCC sees our cases,” said Vikrambir Singh, another demonstrator.

“There’s not just me, there’s 40,000 plus applications that are stuck in limbo, and we don’t know when they’re going to get processed.”

They also point to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) processing time tool, which now suggests new applicants could wait more than 10 years for their PR.

The Immigration Minister recently told Parliament that there have been more than 46,000 applications under the Hong Kong PR pathways, and just over 13,000 had arrived.

“And the minister’s solution is, “don’t apply under the lifeboat scheme”. What is she even talking about? That scheme was specifically designed for Hong Kongers, said MP Jenny Kwan, representing Vancouver East for the NDP.

“So, it is absolutely outrageous that she would renege on the government’s promise in suggesting that the Hong Kongers should apply under a different stream. It is absolutely unacceptable.”

The federal government introduced special measures for Hong Kong residents in 2020, after China imposed the national security law in Hong Kong.

*Click image or link to read or watch the TV news story - https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/06/07/demonstrators-rally-hong-kong-pr-processing-backlog/

 

Toronto Star: Carney government testing use of AI in prisons to create profile reports of offenders

OTTAWA—The Canadian government is considering the use of artificial intelligence to save time creating influential assessment profile reports of offenders as they go to federal prisons, and is running a small-scale trial to test it, the Star has learned.

Carney government releases AI road map that aims to make Canada a leader
Federal Politics
Carney government releases AI road map that aims to make Canada a leader
Mentioned in lengthy documents tabled in Parliament last month and confirmed by Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the test run comes as the Carney government tries to ramp up AI adoption, including with billions in a national strategy released this week.

But the prison trial, which CSC says has not yet been used in real cases, is raising concerns from AI experts, criminal defence lawyers and the federal NDP’s public safety critic, who argue a widespread adoption could lead to crucial errors, exacerbate racial biases and put offenders and victims at risk.

Criminal profile reports, as they are called, are detailed “foundational documents” prepared by CSC staff during a prisoner’s intake process that identify risks and play a role in major decisions like access to programs and likelihood of parole.

Drawing from scores of official documents, they include details about an offender’s criminal history, the circumstances of their crimes, patterns of violence or behavioural, mental health and addiction issues, family and social background, trauma history, education and employment records, and even victim impact statements.

“This is what defines your offence cycle,” criminal defence lawyer Nora Demnati said of those reports. “It will have an impact on everything else that comes.”

That’s why the Carney government should slow down and consult widely, including with the CSC union, its lawyers and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada before going further, said NDP MP Jenny Kwan, the party’s public safety critic. Neither the Union of Safety and Justice Employees or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have been consulted yet, they told the Star.

Kwan warned of a multitude of legal concerns that go both ways and can have a “cascading impact”: Violating the rights of inmates if mistakes are added to reports, on one hand, or hurting victims and prison staff if crucial information is missed by the AI summaries, on the other.

“When you have those kinds of risks associated with correctional policing matters, you can imagine what the huge ramifications might be,” Kwan told the Star. “You could potentially compromise people’s legal rights.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/carney-government-testing-use-of-ai-in-prisons-to-create-profile-reports-of-offenders/article_ce33a6c9-794a-423c-884f-ace1e91872e2.html#tncms-source=login