Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, NDP MP Jenny Kwan described Gaza as “the most dangerous place for children in the world” and called for special immigration measures so that Palestinian families in Canada could be reunited with their loved ones. Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly responded by saying that “too many” children and women have lost their lives, adding that 130 Canadians were able to cross the Rafah border on Sunday night.
Public Policy: Emissions Pricing and Affordability: Lessons from British Columbia
Globe: Mayors push for more funding following disappointing government fall economic statement
NDP MP Jenny Kwan took issue with the fact that even the $1-billion in funding that was in the update is not budgeted until after April 1, 2025.
“People are living in tent encampments, being evicted from their homes or trapped paying sky-high rent and the Liberals continue to delay and disappoint in their fall economic statement,” she said during Question Period, describing the funding timeline as “absurd and completely out of touch.”
Mr. Fraser responded, saying existing programs are currently available.
“What we’ve done in the fall economic statement is demonstrate our long-term commitment,” he said.
Time Colonist: B.C. MP Jenny Kwan tables petition for foreign agent registry
A national registry for foreign agents should be expedited, says Vancouver East Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan, after tabling a petition in Parliament Tuesday.
“Foreign actors will try to coerce, co-op, reorient, neutralize, or even silence our voices. We must not allow foreign interference to suppress our voices and deter us from fighting for those who do not enjoy basic human rights,” said Kwan, who said last May she herself has been a target of affiliates of the People’s Republic of China.
The official petition garnered 5,799 citizen signatures and was largely a reaction to multiple media reports indicating the Chinese government promoted the election of certain politicians. It also follows years of heightened concerns in the Chinese-Canadian community that the PRC government is becoming more involved in civic affairs through the state-operated foreign propaganda network, the United Front Work Department.
Kwan specifically cited human rights and free speech matters the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to suppress in Canada, according to pro-democracy groups that organized the petition.
CBC: Rogers Communications reaches tentative agreement with Metro Vancouver technicians
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan joined Rogers employees on the picket line to celebrate the tentative agreement Saturday morning.
"They wanted security and they wanted a fair wage," said Singh. "These are things that all workers deserve.”
The Inertia: Canadian Official Calls for Erin Brooks To Be Granted Citizenship
Erin Brooks was once Canada’s greatest hope for Olympic surfing gold. Then it was discovered that she was not legally a Canadian and shortly afterwards her application for citizenship was officially rejected. Now, a member of the Canadian government has taken up the ongoing fight to get Brooks citizenship in time to qualify for Paris.
Jenny Kwan, a Member of Parliament affiliated with the New Democratic Party, called on Marc Miller, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, to step in and grant Brooks citizenship. Furthermore, Kwan accused the Conservative opposition in Ottawa of stalling Bill S-245, an amendment to the Citizenship Act that would allow second-generation people born abroad to be granted Citizenship, as the Vancouver Sun reports.
CBC: MP Jenny Kwan tells feds to help Erin Brooks surf for Canada at Paris Olympics
A full-court press is underway to get Erin Brooks on a surfboard for Canada at the upcoming world championships and Olympic Games.
Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan, the NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, asked Minister Marc Miller on Thursday to grant Brooks citizenship because an amendment to the Citizenship Act has stalled in Ottawa.
"I'm asking the Minister of Immigration to grant Erin's citizenship under special grant, citing undue hardship," Kwan said Thursday at a press conference in Vancouver.
The 16-year-old Brooks earned a silver medal at this year's world championship and claimed a 2022 world junior title competing for Canada under an International Surfing Association citizenship waiver.
She also won a World Surf League Challenger Series event Oct. 21 in Saquarema, Brazil.
"Erin is a prodigy," Surf Canada executive director Dom Domic said.
Canada's recent denial of Brooks' citizenship application threw a spanner in her career.
Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan, the NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, asked Minister Marc Miller on Thursday to grant Brooks citizenship because an amendment to the Citizenship Act has stalled in Ottawa.
"I'm asking the Minister of Immigration to grant Erin's citizenship under special grant, citing undue hardship," Kwan said Thursday at a press conference in Vancouver.
The 16-year-old Brooks earned a silver medal at this year's world championship and claimed a 2022 world junior title competing for Canada under an International Surfing Association citizenship waiver.
She also won a World Surf League Challenger Series event Oct. 21 in Saquarema, Brazil.
"Erin is a prodigy," Surf Canada executive director Dom Domic said.
Canada's recent denial of Brooks' citizenship application threw a spanner in her career.
Kwan accused the Conservative opposition in Ottawa of stalling an amendment to the Citizenship Act, Bill S-245, that restores citizenship rights for second-generation people born abroad.
Bill C-37 in 2009 ended those rights and Kwan says Brooks is emblematic of those experiencing the fallout.
Bill S-245 won't return to the House of Commons for third reading before mid-December, Kwan said.
"As the Canadian law stands right now, people who are second generation born abroad, do not have Canadian citizenship conferred to them from their Canadian parents. This was not always the case," Kwan said.
Bill C-37 in 2009 ended those rights and Kwan says Brooks is emblematic of those experiencing the fallout.
Bill S-245 won't return to the House of Commons for third reading before mid-December, Kwan said.
"As the Canadian law stands right now, people who are second generation born abroad, do not have Canadian citizenship conferred to them from their Canadian parents. This was not always the case," Kwan said.
Globe: Liberals, NDP urge Conservatives not to stall citizenship rights for ‘lost Canadians’
Bill S-245 would change the law so if a Canadian parent could demonstrate a “substantial connection” to Canada, their child would again qualify for a passport.
It would also reinstate citizenship for a group of people born between 1977 and 1981, classified as “second generation born abroad,” who failed to reaffirm their citizenship by the age of 28.
The bill has passed through the Senate and most of its Commons stages, including in committee.
“We support the bill and encourage all parties to do so as well,” said Bahoz Dara Aziz, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
But the NDP’s immigration critic Jenny Kwan accused the Conservatives of stalling its progress and “playing petty political games,” including filibustering debate at committee, to reduce its chances of becoming law.
She accused the sponsor of the Senate bill in the Commons, Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan, of slowing the bill’s passage in the House by twice switching its scheduled third reading debate with another bill. Mr. Hallan and Tom Kmiec, the Conservative immigration critic, would not comment.
“Canada needs to fix the lost Canadians issue once and for all. The Conservatives were wrong to strip the right of parents to pass on their Canadian citizenship to their second-generation-born-abroad children 14 years ago,” she said. “In the case of William and Jack Cowling, it means they do not have the legal status to work in Canada and the family farm that has been in their family for six generations is now in jeopardy.”
CBC: Liberals table bill to ban replacement workers, fulfilling a key NDP demand
British Columbia and Quebec have similar legislation. New Democrats have attempted to bring in a bill of their own more than eight times over the past 15 years. The last time an NDP bill banning replacement workers went to a vote, in 2016, both Liberals and Conservatives voted against it.
Anti replacement worker legislation was one of the NDP's demands when it signed an agreement with the Liberals promising the government support on key pieces of legislation in exchange for progress on New Democrats' policy priorities.
The agreement specifically calls on the government to introduce "legislation by the end of 2023 to prohibit the use of replacement workers ... when a union employer in a federally regulated industry has locked out employees or is in a strike.”
Immigration.ca: Marc Miller Says that the Canada Closed Work Permit is Set for Reform
The committee meeting saw NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan saying that action was long overdue and workers under this permit often failed to speak up owing to fears of losing their jobs and being deported.
When questioned by her on whether temporary workers should be given a direct path to permanent residence, Miller said that his government was considering such a route for construction workers. However, he does not believe that all temporary workers should have an automatic route to citizenship, and neither does he believe in abolishing the closed work permit.