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LINK: Canada halts imminent deportation of international students, but with a clause

NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan who has been supporting international students welcomed the news but said Fraser failed to say if he’ll waive inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation or grant a pathway to permanent status for the students as called for systematically by the NDP. New Democrats urge the Minister on act on those quickly.

“While the task force evaluates these cases, the government must also ensure that these students will be able to continue to work or study in Canada—otherwise they cannot survive. If they don’t have an Open work permit or study permit, they cannot afford rent or food. And these students have already invested everything they had to come study in Canada. The Minister must urgently act to ensure they are supported,” she said. 

Media Release: NDP reacts to the Supreme Court decision regarding the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA)

“Today’s Supreme Court of Canada's decision regarding the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is a partial victory for advocates for asylum seekers' rights.

The Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, Canadian Council of Churches and others challenged the Liberal government in the Supreme Court stating that the STCA violates Section 7, related to right to life, liberty and security of a person, and section 15, related to equality rights within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In their decision, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that Section 15 on equality rights are just as important as every other human right and ruled that this challenge to the STCA should be sent back to the Federal Court for determination.

In particular, girls, women and 2SLGTBQIA+ people fearing gender-based persecution are adversely affected by the Safe Third Country Agreement. Even the government’s own lawyers acknowledged that the recent expansion of the STCA could increase the risks of human trafficking and sexual violence often disproportionately targeted at migrant women, girls, and 2SLGTBQIA+ people. They further noted that an urgent exemption for those faced with gender-based persecution is needed.

OPEN LETTER: Urging Immigration Minister to exercise discretion and have inadmisibility waived under section 25.2

As Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, you also have the authority to exercise discretion and have inadmissibility waived to a broader class of individuals through a temporary public policy, under section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act. Once the task force has completed their important work, I urge that you use this authority to assist victims of fraud by having their inadmissibility waived.

I have continuously called on the government to waive inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation for these students who have been exploited by bad actors. As you know, students deemed to be inadmissible are subject to a 5-year ban from entering Canada. The international students have already suffered enough. Some have sold everything they own to pay tuition to complete their education and to hire lawyers. This is wrong and you have the authority to act.

I also continue to urge that you provide an alternate pathway to permanent residency to allow the students to remain in Canada.

I remain willing to work with you on this important matter so that we can find a solution for all impacted students and prevent further suffering.

TYEE: A Two-Year Strike Tests Hotel Workers’ Wills

Since then, Richmond city council has voted to effectively boycott use of the hotel. So has the BC Federation of Labour, whose secretary-treasurer Hermender Singh Kailley appeared on the picket line to mark the two-year anniversary of the strike.

So did NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who criticized the hotel’s owners for their position, noting they had received substantial federal funding during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting in 2020, the federal government contracted 38 locations across Canada to be used as designated quarantine facilities for international travellers, including the hotel.

Media Release: NDP reacts to announcement regarding defrauded International Students

However, the minister failed to say if he’ll waive inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation or grant a pathway to permanent status for the students as called for systematically by the NDP. New Democrats urge the Minister on act on those quickly.

While the task force evaluates these cases, the government must also ensure that these students will be able to continue to work or study in Canada—otherwise they cannot survive. If they don’t have an Open work permit or study permit, they cannot afford rent or food. And these students have already invested everything they had to come study in Canada. The Minister must urgently act to ensure they are supported.

We cannot ignore the impactful and strong advocacy by the community and the students themselves calling on the Liberal government to take action. It is admirable to see mothers from the South Asian community looking after international students as their own children. A sense of compassion and action from the community makes a big difference in the lives of these students away from their own families.

These students can count on me and the NDP to continue to advocate for them.”

Voice: International students who are genuine victims of fraud will not be deported; others will be: Immigration Minister

Last Monday, Fraser in response to a query by NDP’s Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Jenny Kwan, had reiterated in Parliament that the 700 Indian students, mainly from the state of Punjab, “will have an opportunity to remain in Canada.”

Kwan, who has taken up the students’ case in a very forceful way, said in Parliament: “International students who have been defrauded by crooked consultants should not be punished with deportation and inadmissibility based on misrepresentation. They have invested everything they have for a better future. They work hard, they study hard and under very difficult conditions. They are under enormous strain and their lives are in limbo. The Liberals can eliminate this uncertainty by allowing them to stay in Canada and build the lives of their dreams.”

Global News: RCMP investigating foreign meddling against Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan

There are dozens of investigations into foreign interference currently underway in this country, and one of them involves Vancouver East MP, Jenny Kwan. The acting RCMP Commissioner says Kwan is one of three MPs involved in the investigation. Kristen Robinson reports.

B.C. man among scores of international students facing deportation in suspected immigration scam

Recently, the NDP MP for Vancouver East, Jenny Kwan, moved a motion at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration calling for deportations to be stayed, inadmissibility to be waived, and the affected students worked with to move them toward permanent residency.  "We need to do everything we can for the genuine victims of this fraud scam for them to be made whole," said Kwan.

A second motion has called on the government to conduct a study on how this scam occurred and how the government and the CBSA failed to catch the fraudulent documents when they were first submitted as part of the visa application process.

During house debates on Monday, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said his team is working to develop a process to allow legitimate victims of fraud to stay in Canada.
"However, to the extent that people committed fraud or were complicit in a fraudulent scheme, they will bear the consequences of not following Canadian laws," he said.

Media Release: NDP secures critical funding for Indigenous housing through Confidence and Supply Agreement

OTTAWA – On Thursday, NDP Critic for Housing, Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) and NDP Critic for Indigenous Services, MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) secured $287.1 million for National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated (NICHI) to address the housing crisis for Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous, Metis and Inuit people leaving away from their home community. Under the Liberal government, Indigenous people are now 11 times more likely to use a shelter or live in inadequate homes than non-Indigenous people.

New Democrats have been relentlessly pushing for the government to close the funding gap. Today's announcement wouldn’t have been possible without New Democrats who forced the government to act by including support for Indigenous housing in their Confidence and Supply agreement with the Liberals.

Globe: NDP stands by Liberal pact amid foreign-interference discontent

B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who is one of only three MPs (all on the opposition benches) who have been publicly identified as a target of Beijing’s interference, said going to an election amid foreign-interference concerns doesn’t make sense.

“If we’re going to go to an election, I am a sitting duck,” she said. “Others are as well.”

Moreover, she said, foreign interference isn’t the only issue voters expect Parliament to address. There are seniors in her riding who are left to eat blended food because they can’t afford to pay for a dentist, she said. Giving up on the deal would also mean letting the Liberals off the hook on the promises in it, Ms. Kwan said.

In the House of Commons since 2004 and in his fifth minority Parliament, Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus said this is the first where he has a chance to directly shape government policy. As one of the NDP critics for natural resources, he has regular meetings with Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson and says those talks have forced the government to shift its sustainable-jobs policies aimed at helping workers transition to a net-zero economy.

Mr. Angus said the Liberals have worked with him in good faith and as a result of his advocacy have strengthened labour standards and the role of unions.

“The dance partner we have is a government that is tired, that is sloppy, that makes a lot of mistakes,” said Mr. Angus. “But my focus in opposition right now is to make them deliver on the promises that we made to Canadians.”

“If I came back to Northern Ontario and said, ‘hey, people, we forced a summer election over allegations that we still need to investigate.’ They’d kick my ass all over Northern Ontario.”

In terms of the priorities of Canadians, Nanos Research founder Nik Nanos said the polling shows that on the policy front, the NDP calculation is correct: The foreign-interference issue is of interest but not more so than the economy, health care and the environment.

Mr. Nanos described the NDP as “policy mercenaries” who are squeezing the government on the issues that matter most to them but stopping short of being full governing partners. However, he said there’s a risk for the NDP that they end up appearing too closely linked to the Liberals by the time the next election comes around.