SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Niki Ashton

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • Churchill—Keewatinook Aski
  • Manitoba
  • Voting Attendance: 61%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $142,937.96

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 195 - May/11/23
Ms. Niki Ashton
  • May/11/23 5:35:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a question that ties into meeting targets. I have to say that I too am the daughter of immigrants. Like my colleague, I am very proud to be one. I know that immigration is an essential part of our country and that it contributes to building a better Canada. They say they want to welcome more francophones in particular. In Canada, and more specifically in western Canada, we desperately need consular services to support these families. Does my colleague agree that we need to ensure that these services are offered on the ground? Does the government need to invest in these services?
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Context: House Hansard - 51 - Apr/1/22
Ms. Niki Ashton
  • Apr/1/22 1:15:15 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-13 
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, for raising this important question. We believe it was important for this bill to specifically address the need for an immigration policy, but it must go beyond that. The policy needs to include clear targets to get the numbers up to where they should be. As I said, the 4.4% target does not reflect the demographic weight of francophones, which is declining across the country. We need to get those numbers up and invest in community organizations, of course. This week I visited the Association des communautés francophones de l'Ontario, or ACFO, here in southeastern Ontario. Representatives from the association made it clear that in order to support immigrants, they need recurring investments, not investments renewed on an annual basis. The policy about accepting francophone students also needs to be changed, and we need to look at the unacceptable rejection rate among students from Africa. We need to bring in the francophones that our country needs. They want to contribute, and we want to build stronger francophone communities together. We have a lot of work to do.
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