At a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, NDP MP Jenny Kwan outlines her private members’ bill aimed at closing loopholes in Canadian law related to arms exports.Joining her at this event are Michael Bueckert (Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East) and James Kafieh (Palestinian Canadian Congress) as well as lawyer James Yap. (September 4, 2025)
Kwan said Ottawa needs to be much more transparent about its arms exports generally, and apply the same scrutiny to exports made through the U.S. that it would for arms destined for any other country.
“Every bullet that leaves Canada and lands in the hands of human-rights abusers is a betrayal of international law, of our commitments (and) of Canadians who want no part in war crimes,” she said.
Kwan said the NDP still wants a full arms embargo on Israel and that her bill is meant “to advance what we can.”
Ottawa’s arms exports to Israel have sparked controversy in recent months. Advocacy groups and 32 senators argued recently that Canada’s restrictions on arms reaching Gaza are not stringent enough and risk making it complicit in war crimes.
The government maintains that it has kept to its commitments and is not afraid to suspend or prosecute companies who breach the rules.
Israel has pushed back on the existing restrictions and insists that it is following international law in its military campaign against Hamas, launched in response to the group’s deadly attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Today at the National Press Gallery in Ottawa, Jenny Kwan, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, was joined by civil society and human rights organizations announcing her intention to introduce a Private Member’s Bill in the upcoming Parliamentary session to finally close the loophole in Canada’s arms export laws. For years, Canadian governments have promised accountability, yet Canadian-made weapons, bullets, and military components continue to flow into the world’s bloodiest conflicts—often through the back door of the U.S., including for use by the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank.
“Building on a recent media article about a new study by Martine August and Cloe St-Hilaire from the University of Waterloo’s Planning Department, the research reveals that financial landlords — including real estate investment trusts (REITs), publicly traded property firms, and asset managers — file eviction applications at significantly higher rates than any other type of landlord. These corporate entities are evicting nearly 1 in 9 tenants each year, highlighting how legislative loopholes have contributed to a growing housing crisis.
Housing is a human right, not a luxury for investors to make quick profits. We cannot allow large financial firms, similar to the ones that Prime Minister Carney used to work for, to continue treating people’s homes as commodities to be bought and sold for maximum profit. The alarming rise in evictions is a direct consequence of the financialization of our housing market — and it’s time for that to end.
The Housing Minister, Gregor Robertson, must bring in legislation immediately that ensures:
We need federal policies enacted immediately that protect renters across the country while new affordable housing is waiting to be built under Canada Homes.”
Looking through the Lankin Investments website, the Pulis connection that ties it all together can be found and connected to the company’s founder and CEO Kyle Pulis. According to his own bio, he successfully has over $2 billion in assets under his management.
CHCH News tried to reach out to the company to get a hold of him, but was told by one of its employees that it would be difficult.
And inquiries to the federal housing minister, would be answered by Monday.
“These financialized landlords, what are they in for?” says NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan.
They’re in it for making profits, they don’t care about their tenants and in fact, many of them, what they want to do is let the buildings run down and let the tenants out because once they force the tenants out, they can jack up their rents, because that’s how they increase their profit even greater,”
Hong Kong officials have issued overseas warrants for nineteen people, including Canadians. NDP MP Jenny Kwan has spoken out against previous iterations of the warrants, and she joins us for more on the latest round.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan has called the approach illogical, urging the government to find more affordable and sustainable housing solutions. “Renting hotel rooms for asylum seekers at these costs doesn’t make sense,” Kwan said.
“We need a system that supports newcomers without straining public resources.”
Earlier this year, IRCC announced its plans to cut 3,300 jobs from its workforce, citing Canada’s reduced immigration targets.
In November 2024, then-immigration minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, Que.) announced drastic cuts to the targeted number of permanent residents admitted to Canada in the next two years, and tighter rules around temporary worker permits.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) said the Liberals are “plowing ahead” with cuts despite persistent and prolonged delays in processing immigration cases.
“As it stands in the system, the backlog is unbelievable,” said Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic. “Families are separated, people are being persecuted, and it can’t be processed in an expeditious way. It’s a giant mess.”
Wait times for spousal sponsorship applications outside Quebec have jumped from 12 to 24 months, she said, and applications for parents and grandparents have been frozen for two years.
Refugees who are fleeing persecution, who are “in dire straits” and are privately sponsored by Canadian citizens, can face wait times of over three years.
“This is just a snapshot of some of the problems that exist within our system,” she said. “Cuts to IRCC staff will only further delay the processing, and create greater pain and anguish for the people stuck in the system.”