MP Jenny Kwan's statement on IRCC’s sudden stopping priority processing for Hongkongers:
Statement on IRCC’s sudden stopping priority processing for Hongkongers
Statement on IRCC’s sudden stopping priority processing for Hongkongers
MP Jenny Kwan shared her deep concerns with the media that IRCC has suddenly stopped prioritizing the processing of the Special Immigration measures for Hong Kongers. She highlighted the fact that the Hong Kong government has been increasing its persecution of pro-democracy activists and their families. The situation in Hong Kong not only has not improved, in fact, if anything, it has worsened. She also called out the underhanded way in which the deprioritizing of the Lifeboat streams for Hong Kongers was quietly posted on the government website, with no public announcement. Applicants in need of getting to safety will be stuck with processing delays and those already here will remain in limbo, unable to fully resettle in Canada. This move contradicts and undermines the government's claim that they stand with the people of Hong Kong and it's shameful. Kwan called for the government to reverse this decision.
While I am glad and relieved to learn that today IRCC has advised that the deprioritizing of applications for Hong Kongers was published in error and priority processing for Hong Kongers will continue; one has to wonder if the government was not held to account on this sudden change in policy, would they have corrected the error. Such mistakes can have significant implications, especially for those who are being persecuted and are desperate to get to saftey.
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How your data determines what you pay!
What if the price you pay at the store is different than the person standing next to you?
Corporations can use personal data such as location, device type, browsing history, purchase behavior, login status, and loyalty cards/programs to profile consumers and determine what different people are charged for the same goods and services.
How can we stop this from happening in Canada?
Join MP Jenny Kwan, Patrick Johnson - President of UFCW 1518, Jim Stanford - Economist and Director of Centre for Future Work, Avi Lewis - NDP Leader and Benjamin Fung - Canada Research Chair in Data Mining for Cybersecurity and other experts, for a public forum and community conversation about what surveillance pricing means for consumers and workers, how technology and personal data are changing the way prices are set, and what everyday people can do to fight back.
*Scan QR code, click the image or this link to register your attendance - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/your-data-their-price-a-town-hall-on-surveillance-pricing-tickets-1998495899032
IRCC taking 33 months to process applications in wake of 'lost Canadians' law
When Pascal Sud and Meisha Smith prepared in January for the arrival of their first child, the choice seemed simple.
Smith would give birth in her home country of Jamaica where she had family support, and then they would together return to Montreal three months later.
At the time, the wait time for the citizenship certificate that their daughter, Sofianne, needed to fly back to Canada was between four and six weeks.
But more than eight months later, they're still waiting.
Sud is back at work in Montreal while Smith and Sofianne are still in Jamaica.
"It's been very frustrating," said Sud. "I was lucky to be there for three months … but I've been missing every step since, and it's been very difficult to be apart from them."
He's not alone.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is struggling to handle a flood of citizenship applications — many of them from a change to federal law late last year that allows anyone who can prove they have a Canadian ancestor to apply.
That backlog is preventing Canadians born abroad like Sofianne from coming home.
According to the department's most recent update on Sept. 3, there are 136,000 applications waiting to be processed. Those applying for a citizenship certificate now face a wait of 33 months.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan called on the government to restore staffing and resources that were cut at IRCC, calling the processing delays "simply unreasonable and unacceptable."
*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-citizenship-lost-canadians-c3-backlog-9.7366981