NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan welcomed the government's announcement but said it was "long overdue."
"As more than two million people remain trapped under the devastating siege, many Canadians have been enduring daily distress that is beyond comprehension," she said in a media statement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked earlier in the day why the government didn't act sooner.
Media Release: NDP secures major investment in housing for indigenous peoples
OTTAWA — On Wednesday, New Democrats used their power to force the Liberal government to invest in a For-Indigenous/By-Indigenous housing strategy for First Nations, Métis and Inuit living away from their home community.
A few days after Pierre Poilievre’s cut-and-gut Conservatives voted to cut funding for homes for Indigenous peoples, the NDP is delivering critical funding, and a For-Indigenous/By-Indigenous Centre responsible for channelling the funds through both national and regional Indigenous-led housing organizations. Through the Confidence and Supply Agreement, the NDP used their power to secure $8.3 billion in total federal funding to address the urgent, unmet housing needs of Indigenous people living in urban, rural and northern areas. This includes $4 billion dedicated to community distinctions-based funding and $4.3 billion for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living away from their home community.
The Tyee: How a Palestinian Injured in a Drone Strike Came to Canada
The group lobbied federal members of Parliament, who wrote letters of support. Jenny Kwan, the NDP’s critic for immigration, refugees and citizenship and MP for Vancouver East, took Alzaza’s story directly to then-immigration minister Sean Fraser. Barkan reached out to friend and fellow activist Roger Waters, bassist for the rock group Pink Floyd, who spoke out on Alzaza’s behalf.
CBC: Victims' families, women's advocates demand RCMP halt plan to dispose of Robert Pickton evidence
The seven-page letter released Monday, titled "A Call To Preserve Evidence In The Pickton Case," is endorsed by nearly three dozen different organizations from across Canada, including several Indigenous women's groups, as well as several academics and other people including Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan.
The letter is co-signed by Sue Brown, a director and staff lawyer with the group Justice for Girls, and Sasha Reid, who is behind a database of missing people and unsolved murders in Canada.
Hamilton Spectator: Hamilton man leads lobby effort to evacuate family from war torn Gaza
Rani Hemaid’s quest to bring home relatives who live in fear and deprivation in war-torn Gaza took him to Parliament Hill.
The Hamilton man drove to Ottawa with two others at 3 a.m. on Dec. 4, and eight hours later was speaking at a microphone inside a lobby in the House of Commons, urging the federal government to step-up evacuation efforts for loved ones of Palestinian-Canadians.
The government's policy is to facilitate evacuation of immediate family members of Canadian citizens, defined as a spouse or child under 22.
"I want to ask the Canadian government, on what grounds do you define who qualifies to live and whose lives are not worth saving?" Hemaid said at the microphone, flanked by politicians and members of a group called "Campaign to Reunite Our Families."
CBC: Her parents, siblings and baby nephew are trapped in Gaza. Canada doesn't consider them 'immediate family’
The NDP is calling on the federal government to expand its definition of immediate family for Palestinians, and create special immigration measures to get more people safely out of Gaza and reunited with their loved ones in Canada.
"Time is of the essence. As we speak, people's lives are in jeopardy and we need the government to take action," NDP MP Jenny Kwan said during a Monday press conference, which also included an impassioned plea from Alsaafin.
Asked by reporters Tuesday whether Canada would consider expanding its eligibility criteria, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said: "We have tried our utmost, whenever there's a configuration of a family unit that doesn't fall within our current definitions, to be as flexible as possible to try and get people out.”
Globe: Publisher Jimmy Lai’s son presses Joly to publicly call for father’s release ahead of trial
Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and publisher of Hong Kong’s now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested and charged in December, 2020, under a national-security law imposed by Beijing. Apple Daily shuttered permanently six months later, and other top executives were also arrested.
Ostensibly intended to target secession, subversion and terrorism, the national-security law contains vaguely defined offences that critics say effectively criminalize dissent and opposition. The elder Mr. Lai, who turns 76 on Friday, was accused of conspiring with others to call for sanctions or blockades against Hong Kong or China, or engage in hostile activities.
He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted. His trial is scheduled to begin on Dec. 18. He plans to plead not guilty.
Globe: NDP Calls For Canada to Bring Extended Family of Canadians Safety Out of Gaza
Canadian Press: Calls grow to get Canadian extended families out of Gaza
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan asked the minister Monday to formalize the process of getting extended family members out of the embattled territory.
“I assume that the government is doing something on a one-off basis and perhaps that’s why some people managed to get to safety. But that’s not good enough, it is not the right approach,” Kwan said at a press conference Monday.
In an open letter signed by the entire NDP caucus, Kwan urged the government to facilitate the evacuation and reunification of extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents from Gaza.
“The situation in Gaza is getting so desperate that literally, as we speak, people’s lives are being lost,” she told reporters at a press conference outside the House of Commons.
CTV: 'Time is of the essence': Canadian government urged to introduce special immigration measures to help those with families in Gaza
The NDP made the announcement Monday during a press conference and in an open letter to the federal immigration and foreign affairs ministers. The party is calling for special immigration measures that would facilitate the evacuation of extended family members of Canadians and permanent residents in Gaza.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the Canadian government needs to create special rules for Palestinians as they did for Syrian, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.
According to Global Affairs, about 600 people have been able to leave the war-torn territory through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Those who left are Canadians, Canadian permanent residents and people who meet Ottawa's strict definition of an eligible family member, with exceptions. Eligible family members are spouses, partners or dependent children. Parents, siblings, or adult children over the age of 22 are excluded from this definition.