Statement on C-12 amendments being rejected by committee

Statement from MP Jenny Kwan on Bill C-12 Amendments Being Rejected at Public Safety and National Security Committee

I condemn the Public Safety Committee’s decision to reject vital amendments to Bill C-12. This legislation is a dangerous step backwards for refugee rights in Canada. The Liberals should be criticized for taking their direction from Conservatives and even from Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant playbook, rushing the bill forward with minimal consultation and ignoring the voices of those most knowledgeable about its consequences. Critical stakeholders—including the Canadian Council for Refugees—were not even invited to appear as witnesses. Instead, the Liberals teamed up with the Bloc and Conservatives to force the bill through committee without proper scrutiny.

Bill C-12 embeds a stigmatizing narrative that treats refugees as security threats rather than human beings seeking protection. Its arbitrary one-year bar on making an asylum claim—applied retroactively—will endanger people who only later face persecution.

The bill’s sweeping information-sharing powers, which the Liberals refused to limit despite clear warnings from Amnesty International, the Canadian Bar Association and refugee advocates. Without safeguards, personal data could be shared across government departments and level of government, increasing the risk that LGBTQ+ claimants or survivors of gender-based violence could be inadvertently outed—placing them in serious danger.

The Liberals, supported by the Bloc and Conservatives, rejected amendments that would have prevented claimants from being trapped in pre-screening limbo; ensured clear limits on documents the Minister can demand; protected vulnerable people from wrongful “abandonment” of claims; maintained timelines for Refugee Appeal Division decisions; ensured access to a fair pre-removal risk-assessment hearing; set parliamentary oversight over sweeping “public interest” cancellation powers; and prevented retroactive, unjust application of new rules.

Bill C-12 is being pushed through by the Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc Québécois working hand-in-hand to take this regressive turn. Copying Trump-style policies is discriminatory, dangerous, and fundamentally un-Canadian.

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iPOLITICS: Carney’s minority Liberals, opposition parties locked in existential impasse as sitting winds down

If the two-time former central bank governor had hopes that would be the beginning of a trend, however, the past three months would have made short work of any such unbridled — or even bridled — optimism.

Leaving aside the supply bills required to authorize pre-approved spending, since the House of Commons reopened for business on Sept. 16, the only government-initiated legislation to make it through a third reading vote was its bid to rejig the rules for recognizing the citizenship of the children of Canadians born abroad, which was introduced in response to a 2023 Ontario court ruling that found the current law to be unconstitutional with a court-imposed deadline of Nov. 21 to be in place before the offending sections would be automatically declared null and void.

Even that, it’s worth noting, wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the New Democrats — particularly B.C. MP Jenny Kwan, who, despite her party’s lack of official status, was nevertheless able to work with the government to reverse a series of changes made at committee by the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois, which cleared the way for the bill to proceed to a third reading vote — and, ultimately, through the Senate. It was signed into law on Nov. 20, just one day before the existing law was set to expire, although by that point, the court had extended the deadline to Jan. 20, 2026, to allow for an orderly transition.

Click image or link to read the article - https://www.ipolitics.ca/2025/12/10/carneys-minority-liberals-opposition-parties-locked-in-existential-impasse-as-sitting-winds-down/

CPAC: NDP MPs Discuss Liberals’ Border Bill

NDP MPs Jenny Kwan and Leah Gazan hold a news conference on Parliament Hill to discuss Bill C-12, the Liberal government’s border security bill. They are joined by representatives from women’s organizations and advocates for immigrant and refugee rights. (December 9, 2025) (no interpretation)

Click image or link to watch the press conference video - https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/ndp-mps-discuss-liberals-border-bill?id=4387467a-f6bc-4914-8f9a-57162568dfc6

Media Release: NDP MPs Join Women’s Organizations and Migrant Rights Advocates Condemning Bill C-12

NDP MPs Join Women’s Organizations and Migrant Rights Advocates Condemning Bill C-12

OTTAWA—NDP MPs Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) and Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) are standing alongside women’s organizations and migrant rights advocates calling on all Members of Parliament to reject the Liberals’ border and immigration legislation, Bill C-12, expected to be voted on at third reading this week.

“With Bill C-12, we’re again seeing the Liberals abandon their commitments to gender equality, pushing through legislation straight out of Trump’s playbook,” said Gazan. “Bill C-12 would place greater restrictions on women asylum seekers fleeing gender based violence, and would force many to stay in abusive relationships or unsafe working conditions as their immigration or refugee status is made more precarious. It clearly undermines women’s safety, but the Liberals do not seem to care.”

Among those joined by Gazan and Kwan include representatives of Fédération des femmes du Québec, Amnesty International, Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants, Action Réfugiés Montréal, and the Canadian Council for Refugees. According to these organizations, Bill C-12 retains many of the human rights violating provisions from the Government’s border bill, Bill C-2, which disproportionately harm women and gender diverse populations.

As NDP critic for Public Safety, MP Kwan shared her disappointment that the Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois voted down NDP amendments to minimize harms on newcomers and asylum claimants. Civil society organizations have said loud and clear that Bill C-12 should be withdrawn. Despite that, the Liberals worked hand in glove with the Conservatives and Bloc to push it through the legislative process.

"Canada should not be violating migrants’ rights, especially those of women and children,” Kwan said. “I am dismayed that the Liberals have joined hands with both the Conservatives and Bloc to reject all of the NDP amendments, including amendments to exempt unaccompanied children, survivors of gender based violence and 2SLGBTQI+ members from being arbitrarily sent back to war zones, places ravaged by environmental disaster or where they face persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender identity."

“This bill is a total affront to dignity, fairness, due process and gender equality. The NDP will continue to fight for the rights of newcomers, migrants and refugees," said Kwan.