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CBC: NDP MP, Beijing critics call on Ottawa to launch foreign agent registry quickly

NDP MP Jenny Kwan and vocal critics of China are calling on the federal government to swiftly introduce — and on Parliament to quickly pass — foreign agent registry legislation to safeguard the next federal election.

In a new petition, Kwan and a coalition of human rights and pro-democracy groups are urging the House of Commons to pass the yet-to-be introduced legislation as soon as possible.

Under intense scrutiny over its handling of alleged Beijing-backed interference operations in the last two federal elections, the Liberal government launched public consultations on a proposed foreign agent registry in March.

A government source told CBC News in March that a bill will be tabled in the House of Commons later this year.

"This should have been done yesterday," Kwan told CBC News. "If we head into the next election without some safeguards and measures in place, then it is us, Canadians, who will actually suffer.

"The government has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table to try and get this work done."

Globe & Mail: Hong Kong officials rebut criticism of police entry for World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg

Ms. Kwan said in an interview on Thursday that the police officers from the Chinese-ruled city should have been red flagged, particularly those who are recognized human-rights violators. “But none of that was flagged through the process, and they all just came through.”

Media Release: Jagmeet Singh: We are setting our expectations for Pharmacare legislation

New Democrats table the Pharmacare Act, outlining the model they expect the government to meet for the public, universal system where no one has to pay for prescription drugs...

Media Release: Liberals must invest in long-term housing solutions

Liberals must invest in long-term housing solutions

In response to the federal government’s announcement on shelters for refugees in Toronto, NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan issued the following statement:

Chek News: Nanaimo family moving to Alberta as housing crisis, inflation continues

They say the problem is that not enough homes are being built and corporations are buying some of the ones that are.

“That’s why we are fighting to address the issues that we’re seeing around the financialization of housing, to see a national acquisition fund and to see a moratorium on large corporations swooping in and buying those affordable homes,” said Lisa Marie Barron, MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith.

“The largest real estate investment trusts over the last number of years benefitted $1.7 billion that they did not pay,” said Jenny Kwan, the NDP’s Housing Critic as she criticized how corporate taxes are set up.

Excalibur News: Federal Politicians Call for Better Strategies and Supports for Toronto Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Jenny Kwan, who is a member of Parliament for Vancouver East and NDP critic of housing, immigration, refugees and citizenship, noted that the IHAP announcement is a good first step but highlighted the federal government’s lack of planning in the past.

“The federal government really needs to ensure that they’re working collaboratively with the provincial, municipal, and nonprofit organizations on the ground. And in particular, the NGOs. They’re the people who actually really know what’s going on,” says Kwan. 

A report by the Committee on Citizenship and Immigration conducted at the House of Commons in November 2016 examined the federal government’s resettlement efforts of 25,000 Syrian refugees between November 4, 2015 and February 29, 2016.

The committee recommended for “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [to] work with its partners to develop an affordable housing strategy for newcomers, and that the government work with the provinces and settlement agencies.” 

Kwan says the federal government did not implement the recommended measures, even after NGOs offered to partner. “History is repeating itself. We have a large number of asylum seekers coming to Canada — there’s no preparation for it,” she adds.

Nanaimo News Now: Housing headlines federal NDP B.C. caucus meeting in Nanaimo

Barron accused the Liberals of using housing “as a commodity” while suggesting proposals from the federal Conservatives failed to look at issues around affordability.  She said a moratorium needs to be put in place to prevent corporate landlords “swooping in” to purchase low-cost units.

“We know at one point we had a government where our federal government did invest in co-op housing, social housing, we need to see that happening again.”

Barron’s comments were echoed by caucus chair and Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan who said the issue dates back to the 1980s and 1990s when the private sector was embedded in the real estate and housing market.

“These are corporate landlords that are coming in and they started to buy up the existing, private, low-cost rental apartments. When they buy them up, it’s not like they’re fixing them up and putting them on the market at the same rate. They’re jacking up the rent, evicting people…and escalating the housing crisis.”

Statement on IRCC’s sudden stopping priority processing for Hongkongers

MP Jenny Kwan's statement on IRCC’s sudden stopping priority processing for Hongkongers:

Global News: Foreign interference: CSIS told B.C. premier it can’t share intelligence, documents show

The notes of the meeting show that while the premier wanted to know more so his government could respond with policies and legislation, the CSIS official explained his agency reported only to “one client”: the federal government.

Otherwise, CSIS was prohibited by law from disclosing classified intelligence, the official said. “The province doesn’t know what the province doesn’t know,” the official added, according to notes taken by the premier’s staff.

The meeting highlighted what some see as a critical weakness in Canada’s fight against foreign interference: although provincial and municipal governments are key targets of China, they are not in the intelligence loop.

Media Release: Justin Trudeau sits idly by while Conservative premiers promote for-profit clinics

Justin Trudeau sits idly by while Conservative premiers promote for-profit clinics

NDP Health critic Don Davies issued the following statement: