Jenny Kwan, MP

In July, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration completed an emergency study on the situation of asylum seekers crossing into Canada irregularly from the US border.

As displacement and forced migration increases, the willingness to share in the responsibility to provide vulnerable people a safe haven to rebuild their lives is decreasing, especially amongst the wealthiest nations in the world. Canada has thus far gone against that trend, remaining a welcoming nation with a humanitarian spirit. However, the trust Canadians have in the system is at risk of being lost if the situation with irregular migrants is not managed properly.

In March, I asked the Minister whether the 2018 budget has increased much needed funding to the SWIS program to ensure that students and families do not fail in the resettlement process. In addition, I inquired as to whether the government is doing anything to address the issue of lack of affordable housing, particularly for newcomers. Unfortunately, it seems that there is no funding specifically allocated to housing when it comes to resettlement, hence the large number of refugees in shelters.

Back in February the Committee had a hearing from the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship on Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan.  During this meeting, I once again brought the issue of the discriminatory nature of medical inadmissibility in Canada’s immigration system, Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

On February 15th, 2018, I tabled Bill C-398 urgently calling on the Minister of Immigration to repeal an immigration law that discriminates against people with disabilities.  The Minister of Immigration admitted that Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration Refugee Protection Act goes against Canada's stated values on inclusion and the ideals we purportedly uphold as Canadians.  

OTTAWA – In order to repeal an existing law in Canada’s Immigration Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), NDP Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Critic, Jenny Kwan, is tabling a private member’s bill to remove the discriminatory clause. As it stands, Section 38(1) (c) of the Act discriminates against people with disabilities by allowing for the rejection of an entire family of applicants if one individual has a disability or medical condition.

https://www.hilltimes.com/2018/02/05/biotechnology-153/133189

No two ridings are the same, and with a large immigrant population, more than 70 different languages spoken, and a high proportion of low-income families, NDP MP Jenny Kwan’s downtown riding of Vancouver East, B.C. is one of the busiest in Canada.

“We fly by the seat of our pants a lot of the time,” said Ms. Kwan in an interview with The Hill Times in her Confederation Building office in Ottawa.

On January 29th, one year ago, this country was shaken by a senseless act of violence. A young man radicalized by white nationalist ideology ​entered the Great Mosque of Quebec City and shot twenty-five people, killing six.

On Dec. 13, events will be held in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and B.C. to mark the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

Eighty years ago, Imperial Japanese army forces raped an estimated 20,000 to 80,000 Chinese women and girls, and some 300,000 people were killed. Western eye-witnesses in Nanjing described the atrocities as “hell on earth”.

After the Nanjing massacre, the military sexual slavery system for the Japanese military expanded rapidly. Some 200,000 women from Korea, the Philippines, China, Burma, Indonesia, and other Japanese occupied territories were tricked, kidnapped or coerced into working in brothels to serve as “comfort women” to the Imperial Japanese Army.

Documents of the Nanjing massacre were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

Thekla Lit, from BC ALPHA, worked with the B.C. NDP government to develop a resource guide, including The Rape of Nanking.

I thank Canada ALPHA for its dedication to ensuring that Canadians remember and learn from this history.

Strong families build strong communities, and strong communities build a strong economy. In order for families and communities to thrive, the local economy must be sustainable. Motion M-39 was tabled in part to identify ways to increase newcomer retention to Atlantic Canada. It was quickly identified that just increasing immigration isn’t enough – substantial work needs to be done to increase the sustainability of the region so that those born there and newcomers alike wish to stay and can thrive in the region.