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National Post: Trudeau's security adviser plays down concealing documents from foreign interference inquiry

Opposition MPs remained unconvinced by Drouin’s testimony and proceeded to press Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc over why the government is withholding information from a commission that is working under a tight deadline to have a final report completed by Dec. 31.
“Ultimately, what we all want coming out of this inquiry is to have faith in the process and in the inquiry and its outcome. If documents are withheld, you are going to undermine and undercut the work of the commissioner,” said NDP MP Jenny Kwan.

LeBlanc reiterated that public servants, not politicians, were involved in deciding what information is considered a cabinet confidence.

 

CTV News: New Canadian citizenship rules for those born abroad could be delayed until December

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan helped draft the bill alongside the Liberals. She attempted to push it through by asking for unanimous consent from MPs, but Conservatives voted against it twice.

"I've talked to family members who've been separated from their loved ones because of this unjust law that Conservatives brought in 15 years ago," the Vancouver East NDP MP said last month. "I've talked to family members where their children are deemed stateless, lost in the system, because of this unjust, punitive, unconstitutional law."

If the federal government is not given another court extension before Bill C-71 passes, it may be up to the immigration minister himself to decide individual citizenship cases.

"If it doesn't come through we're sort of in no man's land," Miller said before Wednesday's court extension. "Basically, it's my discretion deciding who's Canadian or not. Obviously, that shouldn't be up to the discretion of a minister."

Anyone affected by the 2009 change will be able to apply online for a Canadian citizenship certificate. The government also has a digital tool that can help you find out if you are Canadian.

CBC: Court grants government another extension to fix unconstitutional citizenship law

So-called "lost Canadians" will have to wait longer to obtain their right to citizenship now that a court has granted the federal government more time to fix legislation it ruled was unconstitutional.

The courts initially gave the federal government until today to replace legislation that prevents Canadians born abroad from passing on their citizenship to children also born abroad.

In May, the Liberals introduced Bill C-71, which introduced sweeping changes to Canada's citizenship laws. The government says the legislation addresses the concerns of the court.

But the Liberals did not get the bill through the House of Commons before it rose for the summer on Wednesday. MPs will not return to the Commons until mid-September.

Canadian Press: National security adviser defends cabinet confidence in foreign meddling probe

The opposition demanded the meeting to ask questions about the redactions and what else the government hasn't handed over.

"The commission is now asking for the unredacted cabinet documents in order to assist them with their work," NDP MP Jenny Kwan said.

"So if the commissioner is asking for this, if they did not feel that it was important to fulfil their mandate, they wouldn't ask for it."

Kwan said a big part of Hogue's mission is to determine what the government knew about foreign interference, when it knew about it and what it did to respond. She questioned why it wasn't up to the commissioner to decide what was relevant.

CBC: NDP MP says interference report has cast suspicion on all MPs, calls on House to release names

An NDP MP is calling on the House of Commons to find a way to release the names of the MPs implicated in a foreign interference report released earlier this month.

Jenny Kwan raised a question of privilege in the House on Tuesday, suggesting that the report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) had damaged the reputation of all sitting members.

That report alleged, based on intelligence reports, that some parliamentarians have been "semi-witting or witting" participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics. The unredacted version of the report did not specifically name any MP.

Kwan said that while the names of the MPs identified in the report remain secret, Canadians will lose trust in their elected officials.

"The report did not provide any names and as such all 338 members of this House, including those who have since left this chamber, are under a cloud of suspicion," Kwan said Tuesday.

She said the matter should be referred to the House procedures committee to explore possible ways of releasing the names from the report without compromising national security.

"In the face of such alarming revelation without knowledge of who the elected official is associated with each allegation, it means that all members are tainted and that the reputation of the whole House is put in question," Kwan said.

The Conservatives have been pressing the Liberals to release the names of the MPs in the report. But Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has insisted that it would violate national security law, even suggesting that he could be arrested for revealing top secret information.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn confirmed during a House committee meeting on Tuesday that if a government minister were to release the names of MPs in the NSICOP report, they would be charged with a crime.

 

Globe NEWS: NDP MP Kwan calls on Parliament to identify MPs implicated in foreign interference

New Democratic MP Jenny Kwan called on the House of Commons Tuesday to find a way to publicly name the politicians identified in a secret report as being compromised by hostile foreign states, saying the revelations have left all parliamentarians under a cloud of suspicion.

Ms. Kwan raised a question of privilege in the Commons, telling Speaker Greg Fergus that the only way to stop MPs and senators from betraying their country is to disclose their names.

A report earlier this month from the National Security Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), an oversight body set up by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017, revealed that some current and former parliamentarians have been unwittingly or wittingly collaborating with foreign states. NSICOP did not name the politicians in the redacted report released to the public.

“I believe we must find a way to disclose who are the MPs knowingly, intentionally, wittingly or semi-wittingly engaging with foreign states or their proxies to undermine Canada’s democratic processes and institutions,” Ms. Kwan told the House.

Ms. Kwan, who the Canadian Security Intelligence Service last year revealed has been targeted by the Chinese government, argued that the matter should be referred to the Procedure and House affairs committee to figure out how to reveal the names without compromising national security.

“If there continues to be no consequences for MPs who knowingly help foreign governments act against Canadian interests, we will continue to be an easy target,” she said.

As it stands, Ms. Kwan said all 338 MPs, including those who left the House, are “under a cloud of suspicion,” which, she added, means that “all members are tainted and that the reputation of the whole House is put in question.”

Since the NSICOP report largely identified China and India as the main players in foreign interference, Ms. Kwan said Chinese-Canadian or Indo-Canadian MPs are at “heightened risk of unjust reputational damage.”

“Revealing which members of Parliament, former or present, is a willing participant of foreign interference activities would not only have the effect of deterring this kind of behaviour, it will send a clear message to those foreign states that they will not be able to continue to use parliamentarians in this way,” Ms. Kwan said.

 

Canadian Press NEWS: Court-imposed deadline to pass new citizenship law approaching next week

Last year, the court found that Canadians born abroad received a lower class of citizenship than those born in Canada, and it gave the government until June 19 to correct the problem.

Miller introduced a bill on May 23 that would allow Canadians who were born abroad to pass their citizenship down to their children, and asked the court for a deadline extension the following day.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan made two attempts to push the bill through the legislative process more quickly by asking for the unanimous consent of MPs, but Conservatives voted no both times.

"We have no time to waste and we have to get the law passed," Kwan said at a press conference Tuesday.

In 2009, former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper's government changed the law so that Canadian parents who were abroad could not pass down their citizenship, unless their child was born in Canada.

Those who've not had access to citizenship rights as a result of the amendments are known as "Lost Canadians."

Kwan said the House of Commons immigration committee already studied the issue of Lost Canadians when it considered a Senate public bill brought forward by Conservative Sen. Yonah Martin last year.

"We spent over 30 hours at committee debating Bill S-245," said Kwan.

That bill was heavily amended by Kwan and Liberal members of the committee to grant citizenship to a broader group of people, but the Conservatives felt the changes were too drastic and have not brought it back to the House for third reading.

Politico NEWS: Canada’s Parliament rocked by allegations of treason

OTTAWA — The capital of one of the world’s most stable democracies is gripped by growing panic about foreign agents working in elected office. A bombshell report by Canadian lawmakers has unnerved Parliament Hill, alleging that unnamed politicians have been covertly working with foreign governments.

The revelation in heavily redacted findings released this week by an all-party national security committee adds intrigue to a separate and ongoing inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections.

The new report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is the first to suggest that lawmakers in Canada’s parliament may have helped foreign actors meddle in political campaigns and leadership races. Heightened anxiety in Ottawa about foreign interference comes in the middle of historic global elections where factors such as artificial intelligence and emboldened foreign powers are testing the resilience of democratic systems.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been on the defensive since the allegations broke Monday. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the government to name names.

CBC NEWS: Federal parties aligning on need for speed with anti-foreign meddling bill

In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday, NDP MP Jenny Kwan — who says CSIS has told her she has been targeted by the Chinese government — said some amendments to the bill would be introduced, but that it did need to be in place before the next election.

"That process will unfold, but absolutely this law needs to be in place before the next election," Kwan told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

The Bloc Québécois also told CBC News it would be putting forward some amendments to the legislation. The bill was unanimously sent forward to committee consideration late last month.

Bill C-70 would introduce new criminal provisions against deceptive or surreptitious acts, allow for the broader sharing of sensitive information and establish a foreign influence transparency registry.

Vancouver Is Awesome NEWS: Vancouver councillor hints at city memorial for Tiananmen Square massacre

Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MP Jenny Kwan told Glacier Media by email she is supportive of Zhou’s memorial ambition.

“I would support having a memorial in Vancouver as well. Having it at UBC allows for easy access for students and the student movement; that said, having a second memorial in Vancouver is certainly something I would support,” stated Kwan.

Chinese government critics such as Tung note the massacre was a milestone for Canadian immigration.

Between 1987 and 1997, 225,000 people emigrated from Hong Kong to Canada, according to a Statistics Canada website outlining the biggest immigration waves in history.