OTTAWA – Canada's overall immigration levels aren't changing, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says…Overall, our target is consistent," Kenney told a House of Commons committee…Numbers released to CBC News, however, show a 20 per cent cut in the skilled worker category and 25 per cent cut for parents and grandparents who want to be reunited with children in Canada. NDP MP Libby Davies says the new target for parents and grandparents means some families will have to wait as long as 13 years for the government to decide whether their loved ones can come to Canada. "Now, that's clearly unacceptable in terms of wait times," Davies told Kenney in the committee meeting. "Your government has said repeatedly that the backlog is going to be cleaned up, that we won't have these incredible wait times. And yet … we're faced with dramatically different information."

NANAIMO, BC – The debate over cellular phone antennas and the possibility of associated health impacts continues to heat up around North America…Local governments should be more involved in site selection for these towers, according to Vancouver East MP Libby Davies. She is working on a private members bill that outlines why the federal government should take more of an active role in determining where the towers are installed. It explicitly demands that municipalities be far more involved in the process.

NANAIMO, BC – The proposal for a 43-metre cellular phone tower on Hammond Bay Road has sparked concern for some area residents, who fear their property values will drop because of the structure. The issue also opened debate about the health risks that some people say come with this type of technology. Vancouver East MP Libby Davies wants the federal government to take more of an active role in determining where the towers are installed. Her private members bill that should be introduced into the House of Commons this year, outlines why municipalities should be far more involved in the process. "I'm not saying they should be banned, but there should be full disclosure about their locations," said MP Libby Davies "It should also be mandatory that municipal governments be involved in where these towers are located".

OTTAWA – A bill that would enable generic drug companies to manufacture cheap AIDS drugs for developing countries cleared a major procedural hurdle in the House of Commons Feb 2 when unanimous consent was gained for the sponsorship to be transferred to NDP MP Paul Dewar. “There was a lot of work that went behind the scenes,” Masse says. “Libby Davies worked extremely well to try to gain compromise and to open the doors, and she felt that was brought forth and there was agreement on that".

OTTAWA – NDP House Leader Libby Davies persuaded the other parties to allow her NDP colleague Paul Dewar to be recognized as the bill’s new sponsor. Mr. Dewar has a slot near the top of Parliament’s order of precedence for private members’ bills, which means Bill C-393 could go to a final vote as early as March. “We saw proof today that Parliamentarians really can get things done together,” NDP industry critics Brian Masse, who has been fighting for the bill since Ms. Wasylycia-Leis’s departure, said in a press release.