Vancouver East

Vancouver Is Awesome: Vancouver's inclusion festival connects people with disabilities with much-needed resources

Similarly, Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan grew up not knowing she had a disabled cousin in England because it was common to never mention disabled family members at the time, but times are changing, said the politician.

Open Letter to Vancouver Mayor and Council: Human Rights and Respect for the Unhoused

Park Rangers had moved to decamp the unhoused in Oppenheimer Park. This effort follows a series of previous actions from the City to further displace the unhoused without a plan in place to house them. Shelters are at maximum capacity, people have no where to go and their meagre possessions were being confiscated, and their tents being dragged away in front of them.

This week we are seeing the temperature drop to -13 Degrees Celsius in Vancouver. These individuals are living in tents for survival. This decision will only put their lives further at risk. I find it unconscionable that anyone could support displacing marginalized people, and confiscating what little they have, when they have no homes to go to.

I am sure you are aware that the 2023 Point-in-Time Homeless Count for Greater Vancouver show that there is a 32% increase since the last count in 2020, and Indigenous peoples are disproportionately represented. This is the latest in a failed string of actions – decampments, street sweeps, and evictions. This approach is neither collaborative nor productive – it serves only to trample the human rights and dignity of our most vulnerable residents, hoping that their needs can be swept under a rug if they are displaced to a less visible part of the city.

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.

HANSARD: Will the minister initiate a Vancouver Agreement bringing all levels of government together to address the crisis in DTES?

HANSARD: Comment on the Conservatives voted against the NDP’s push to get dental services to everyday Canadians

OPEN LETTER: The disastrous state of IRCC

It is with grave concerns that we write to you as the leader of the New Democratic Party, as the NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and as Caucus Chair, to demand immediate action to address the ongoing system-wide delays and utter chaos at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It’s important to remember that these are more than just files in a system, each application number corresponds to an individual and delays often have profound and expensive effects on their lives and prevents loved ones from being able to reunite.
One of the highest demands at a MP office is on immigration-related issues. Sadly, IRCC is in complete chaos with over 2 million applications stuck in the backlog that continues to escalate. The unprecedented massive delays in processing in virtually every immigration stream is far beyond a few months above processing standards, whether it’s a permanent resident application, family reunification, renewal of CoPRs, verification of citizenship, work permit or study permit application or renewal, PR card renewal, or refugee applications. Applicants are informed of a processing timeline, only to have it changed months later. The Canadian Council for Refugees latest report highlights the dire backlog and slow processing times for permanent residence of those who have received refugee protection in Canada. For some, the threats are so severe that it’s a matter of life and death. Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans who have previously assisted Canada’s missions abroad are left behind and are being hunted down by the Taliban.

UBCIC JOINT LETTER: Urgent Housing Crisis Emergency

Follow-Up Open Letter Re: Urgent Housing Crisis Emergency

We write you with renewed urgency about how the ongoing national housing crisis affects residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). The dire and life-threatening situation facing unhoused people will not resolve without federal leadership and immediate intervention and we plead for your action. The situation is a mounting human rights crisis as governments are failing to ensure the right to safe dignified shelter to those most in need and requires an urgent distinction and rights-based approach.

Open Letter to Federal Housing Minister on urgent housing crisis

I am therefore calling on the federal government to re-establish the Vancouver Agreement – a tripartite initiative that brought all levels of government together to support social, economic and community development in Vancouver, with a specific focus on the Downtown East Side.  We need an urgent and concerted effort between all levels of government working in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations to address the challenges in our community, with urgent interventions to find safe housing and supports for people in crisis, and long-term systemic solutions to address the needs of the community.  The status quo simply cannot continue.

IN THE NEWS: Van Sun - Ottawa bumps up social housing funds for shortchanged B.C.

Two years ago, NDP MP Jenny Kwan protested that the federal Liberals were directing less than one per cent of their social housing budget to B.C., despite the province being home to 11 per cent of the nation’s population.
The stark imbalance has improved since Kwan aired her complaints.
“Since exposing that B.C. only got 0.5 per cent of the funding, I’m glad to report that more funds have begun to flow to B.C.”

IN THE NEWS: Toronto Star - Vancouver sets ambitious building emissions example for Canadian municipalities

“The City of Vancouver is providing real leadership with this significant change in policies,” NDP MP for Vancouver East, Jenny Kwan, told Canada’s National Observer in an emailed statement.   She pointed to the heat dome that “shattered record temperatures and killed hundreds of people.” 
Homes and other infrastructure in B.C. are generally not built to withstand such temperatures, and solutions like heat pumps and improved insulation help keep us cool and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. 
Two other Canadian cities emerged as leaders in sustainability earlier this month.