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Globe NEWS: Former Afghan drivers who worked for Canada say their lives are in danger from Taliban reprisals

“For two decades, Afghan drivers served our Canadian embassies, military and our RCMP. After years of trusted service, the Liberal government is refusing to allow a pathway to safety for Afghans who served Canada. Trudeau is turning his back on them in their hour of need,” he said.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan has also called on the government to help Afghan employees who worked for the Canadian government.
On Friday, Ms. Kwan wrote an open letter to Mr. Mendicino urging him to put in place a special immigration measure to provide immediate refuge to Afghan interpreters and their families who have been left behind.

IN THE NEWS: Montreal Gazette - Rejections for permanent residency requests in Canada doubled since 2019

The data comes from an access to information request filed by the New Democratic Party.
“The Liberal government must explain why there is such a surge in denials of humanitarian requests and take immediate action to rectify this,” said NDP MP Jenny Kwan in a statement. She is accusing the Liberals of having “discreetly made decisions behind closed doors” concerning an already “opaque and arbitrary” immigration process.
“We don’t understand what’s going on,” Hussan said. “There has been no policy change, no announcement.”  Hussan added that by doubling rejections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is doubling the exploitation of migrant workers without status. The change of direction “condemns the migrants already here” by “depriving them of the possibility of having rights,” he said.

Globe News: Canada working to resettle dozens of Afghan interpreters and staff facing retaliation from Taliban

Dozens of Afghan interpreters and others who worked for the Canadian government during its military mission in Afghanistan are hoping to be resettled in Canada amid fears their lives are in danger from Taliban reprisals as the U.S. withdraws its troops from the war-torn country.

New Democrat immigration critic Jenny Kwan said as Canada’s allies withdraw troops from the country, “time is of the essence” to resettle Afghan employees who aided the Canadian government.
“To say that Canada will monitor the situation, which is the minister’s response, that’s akin to saying that Canada will stand on the sideline and watch as Afghan interpreters receive the death sentence,” she said in an interview.
Ms. Kwan also took issue with the idea of dealing with cases individually, calling it a “stock answer to quell public pressure.”
Afghan interpreters who helped the Canadian military, Ms. Kwan said, should not be left behind.

IN THE NEWS: CBC - Citizenship study guide remains outdated in its ‘simplistic’ account of Indigenous history, critics say

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan says the time it took for the bill to pass is an example of how slowly the Trudeau government is moving when it comes to reconciliation.

"It is slow as molasses and, frankly, it's inexcusable. This call to action is what is deemed to be a really low-hanging fruit," Kwan said. She also criticized the time the Trudeau government has taken to compile the new Discover Canada guide. 
"The new citizenship guidebook has been in the works for more than five years now," she said. 
She added that she has asked the office of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship about the timeline of an update but has yet to receive an answer. 

IN THE NEWS: Toronto Star - Closure of Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy newspaper should spur Ottawa to action, critics say

“The forced closure of the newspaper, Apple Daily, as a result of charges under the National Security Law for Hong Kong is a significant blow to freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, and makes it clear that the powers under the National Security Law are being used as a tool to suppress media freedom and punish dissidents,” read the statement.
Vancouver NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the journalists who helped produce Apple Daily are now being “targeted” by the CCP, and said the federal government should make it easier for them to seek refuge in Canada.
Kwan said, so far, measures brought in by Ottawa to help Hong Kong democracy activists come to Canada are geared toward what would economically benefit Canada rather than humanitarian measures.
“How will we help (the Apple Daily staff) escape this persecution?” Kwan said. “We’re not. Let’s be clear about that.”
She said Canada’s response to China’s aggressions in the city have been weak and do not back up the Canadian government’s earlier claim it “stands with the people of Hong Kong.”

IN THE NEWS: Georgia Straight - Indigenous identity, reconciliation, and why Canada Day festivities have fallen out of favour with some

Jenny Kwan, the NDP MP for Vancouver East, said the rising violence against Asian Canadians, as well as the terrorist attack on the Afzaal family, reflects deep-seated issues within the country.
“People always say when those incidents occur that, ‘This is not our Canada,’ ” Kwan told the Straight by phone. “Well, I’m sorry, this is our Canada. And this is not the first time the Muslim community has suffered such a violent and unspeakable attack for being who they are.”
The next bombshell raising questions about Canada’s commitment to equality came on June 15 when Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq delivered a scathing farewell speech in Parliament.  The Inuk politician talked about everything from being racially profiled by House of Commons security staff to the lack of government action in response to the high rate of suicide among her people.
According to Kwan, Qaqqaq said out loud what many Indigenous peoples and Inuit have always felt.  Kwan suggested that every time the government brags about its work, it’s insulting to someone like Qaqqaq, who is watching members of her own community suffer immensely, including taking their own lives, because of Canada’s colonial history.
“I think this Canada Day, we need to reflect on, first and foremost, Canada’s colonization history and the ongoing impact for Indigenous peoples, especially with the finding of the mass graves in Kamloops,” the Vancouver NDP MP added.

IN THE NEWS: CBC - For many young Hong Kong graduates, Canada’s new routes to immigration have turned into a dead end

The crackdown has seen dozens of former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists arrested.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan is part of the parliamentary committee that published a report this month on pathways to Canadian permanent residency for Hong Kong residents. She argues that the Liberal government should eliminate all education and work experience limitations on people who wish to come to Canada before Hong Kong's exit ban takes effect. 
"If the government doesn't take further action to support the people of Hong Kong, I fear that it would be too late," she said.  "Unfortunately, the humanitarian component is not part of the package — the government is only thinking about what economic benefit can we get from the people of Hong Kong."

IN THE NEWS: Georgia Straight - Jenny Kwan: Clearly, the Liberals’ current approach to housing is failing Canadians

“As Canadians struggle with the affordability of the housing market, a developer in Toronto is set to buy $1 billion worth of single-family houses for rentals. This will inevitably drive up the rental costs and the prospective of homeownership will only become more remote—especially for first time buyers.

“The right to housing must be more than just words. The government must take immediate and aggressive action to ensure housing remains affordable for Canadians. This should include the creation of 500,000 social housing units, putting in place a housing acquisition fund for non-profits and controls on real estate investment trusts who acquire existing affordable units and erode the rental market with renovictions.
“The government also needs to crack down on foreign speculators and money laundering. The parliamentary secretary for housing admitted that we have 'a very safe market for foreign investment' but ‘not a great market for Canadians looking for choices around housing’. The government’s solution is an ineffective one percent tax on foreign investors which is far too weak to have any meaningful impact.

IN THE NEWS: CBC - Ottawa mom fed up with immigration delay to children stuck in Gaza

Qunoo has received support from MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP critic for IRCC, who has sent a letter to the minister urging Qunoo's temporary resident permit application be granted immediately.

"It is simply unacceptable that there is no process in place to allow a parent to not be separated from children while going through the asylum process," wrote Kwan.

Kwan is also advocating for a six-month limit on applications that involve children, instead of the current delay she now estimates at 39 months for permanent resident status applications of family members of refugee applicants.

IN THE NEWS: OMNI TV - Celebrating Asian Heritage with NDP MP Jenny Kwan

To celebrate Asian Heritage Month, OMNI Television sat down with some Canadian politicians of Asian descent to hear about their career path in politics, their thoughts on how to get more Asian voices into parliament and what Asian Heritage Month means to them. 
In our second installment, we hear from Jenny Kwan, NDP MP for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant